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Touring Paris France - The City of Light
| Bicycle: |
Bullfrog Bike Tours (06-09-98-08-60) cost 120F (~$19.20 US) and operate from May to September 15. Tours depart daily at 11:00 am
and 3:30 pm from avenue Gustave-Eiffel. Night tours are offered on Monday and Thursday at 9:00 pm. Enjoy this English-speaking
tour of Paris and its landmarks.
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| Boat: |
Boat cruises are offered by Bateaux-Mouche cruises (01-42-25-96-10) and Paris Canal (01-42-40-96-97). The 75-minute tour along the
Seine provided by Bateaux-Mouche cruises cost 40F (~$6.40 US) for adults and 20F (~$3.20 US) for children ages 5 to 15. Three hour
evening dinner cruises are also offered at a rate of 500F to 800F (~$80-128.00 US) depending on the menu you order. The cruises
depart from the Right Bank, next to pont de l'Alma. A longer excursion along the Seine and its canal network are offered by Paris
Canal at a rate of 75F (~$12 US) for passengers between the ages of 12 and 25 and those over 60, and to 55F (~$8.80 US) for children
ages 4 to 11. Children under 4 ride free. On Sundays and holidays, the price is increased to 100F (~$16 US) for adults. The
cruises depart at 9:30 am from the quays in front of the Musee d'Orsay, and in front of the Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie
at Parc de La Villette at 2:30 pm.
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| Bus: |
Cityrama (01-44-55-61-00) offers you a view of Paris through the windows of their double-decker buses. Whether you're looking for
a general tour of Paris, or more specifically of Versailles, Chartres, or the interiors of Notre-Dame or the Louvre, this company
offers it all. Tours range in price from 150F to 320F (~$24-$51 US) and take between 1.5 and 3.5 hours.
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| Walking: |
There are an abundance of self-guided walking tours that you can take while in Paris.
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| Montmartre (18th Arrondissement): |
| This 3-mile walking tour begins and ends at Place Pigalle and takes a minimum of 5 hours to complete. |
- Turn right after leaving the Metro station onto boulevard de Clichy. Turn left at the Cirque Medrano and proceed up rue des Martyrs. Turn left onto rue des Abbesses and then cross place des Abbesses. Walk up rue Ravignan until you reach place Emile-Goudeau. You will then see the Bateau-Lavoir (Boat Washhouse) at number 13. This residence was once home to such artists as Picasso, Dongen, Gris, and Jacob.
- Rue Ravignon ends at place Jean-Baptiste-Clement. Walk to the end of the street, turn right onto rue Norvins, and turn right onto rue Poulbot. You will then see Espace Montmartre Dali at number 11 where you can view 300 original Dali works.
- Rue Poulbot crosses Place du Calvaire where the one time residence of artist/lithographer/painter Maurice Neumont can be found.
- Walk east along rue Gabrielle, then take the first left north onto rue de Calvaire that leads you to Place du Tertre. This ultra-touristy spot has an abundance of restaurants, cafes and art galleries.
- Just off of Place du Tertre fronting rue du Mont-Cenis is St-Pierre, one of Paris' oldest churches.
- Facing St-Pierre, turn right onto rue Azais where you will find the Sacre-Coeur basilica.
- Facing the basilica, turn left onto rue du Cardinal-Guibert, turn left onto rue du Chevalier-de-la-Barre, and turn right onto rue du Mont-Cenis. Continue on this street to rue Cortot (6?-directions cut off at bottom of my photocopied page). It is here that you will find the Musee de Vieux Montmartre, a famous 17th-century home that was once residence to Dufy, Renoir, Valadon, van Gogh, and Utrillo.
- Turn right onto rue des Saules. At the intersection of rue des Saules and rue St-Vincent you will find the Au Lapin Agile. This cottage/café was previously called Cabaret des Assassins when Picasso and Utrillo frequented it.
- Turn left onto rue St-Vincent, turn left onto rue Girardon and walk up the stairs. On your right you will see two windmills. At number 75 is the Moulin de la Galette that was once populated by Toulouse-Lautrec, Utillo, and van Gogh.
- Turn right onto rue Lepic. In 1886, van Gogh and his brother Guillaumin lived at number 54.
- Turn right onto rue Joseph-de-Maistre, and turn left onto rue Caulaincourt. It is here that you will find the Cimetiere de Montmartre that contains the remains of Degas, Stendhal, and Nijinsky, among others.
- Take avenue Rachel; turn left onto boulevard de Clichy and go to place Blanche where you will find another windmill. The Moulin Rouge is a popular nightclub that includes cancan dancing and scantily clad females in its variety shows.
- Continue walking along boulevard de Clichy with its many sex joints.
- You will eventually return to Place Pigalle where your tour began.
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| The Latin Quarter (5th Arrondissement): |
| This 3-mile walking tour begins at Place St-Michel and ends at The Pantheon and takes a minimum of 3 hours to
complete. |
- Begin at Place St-Michel where frequent fights between the Germans and the Resistance occurred in the summer of 1944. View the plaques around the square engraved with the names of those who died here.
- With your back to the Seine, turn left down rue de la Huchette and you will view the setting of Elliot Paul's The Last Time I Saw Paris (1942). Paul once lived at number 28, the Hotel Mont-Blanc.
- To your left you can see rue du Chat-qui-Peche, which is said to be the narrowest and shortest street in the world.
- Walk back towards St-Michel and turn left onto rue de la Harpe that takes you to rue St-Severin. Walk to your left to view St-Severin, a Gothic church built from 1210 to 1230 and reconstructed in 1458.
- Take rue St-Severin to rue Galande until you reach St-Julien-le-Pauvre on the south side of square Rene-Viviani.
- Turn left onto rue St-Severin, turn left onto rue St-Jacques, and turn right onto boulevard St-Germain. Turn left onto rue de Cluny and you will see the entrance to the Musee de Cluny. This museum houses the remains of the Roman baths and The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestry.
- Exit onto boulevard St-Michel, and turn left towards place de la Sorbonne. It is here that you will find the Sorbonne, one of the most famous academic institutions in the world. You can also see the Eglise de la Sorbonne, a church built in 1635 by Le Mercier.
- Walk south on rue Victor-Cousin upon leaving the church and turn left onto rue Soufflot. The Pantheon is located at the end of the street and is the final resting place of Curie, Hugo, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Zola.
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| The Marais (3rd and 4th Arrondissement) |
| This 2 and three quarter-mile walking tour begins and ends at Place de la Bastille and takes a minimum of 4 and
a half hours to complete. |
- Begin at Place de la Bastille where on July 14, 1789, the Bastille prison was attacked by mobs which in turn began the French Revolution.
- You can also view the Colonne de Juillet (July Column) that honors the victims of the 1830 July Revolution, from your vantage point.
- Walk west onto rue St-Antoine, and turn right onto rue des Tournelles where you will view the Statue of Beaumarchais. This statue honors the author of The Marriage of Figaro and The Barber of Seville.
- Turn left onto rue Pas-de-la-Mule. This street opens onto the northeastern corner of the Place des Vosges, Paris' oldest square.
- You will find the Maison de Victor Hugo at the southeastern corner of the square. Located at 6 place des Voges, you can visit this museum that was the residence of Victor Hugo from 1832 to 1848.
- Exit from the northwestern corner of place des Voges and walk west along rue des Fracs-Bourgeois. Turn right onto rue de Sevigne and you will see the Musee Carnavalet at number 23. This museum focuses on the French Revolution and the history of Paris. The Hotel le Peletier de St-Fargeau can be found at number 29.
- Turn left onto rue du parc-Royal once you reach the end of rue de Sevigne. This street leads to place de Thorigny where the Musee Picasso is located at number 5.
- Walk northeast along rue Thorigny and turn left onto rue Debelleyme. You will find Yvon Lambert, an excellent art gallery at the corner of rue Vieille-du-Temple.
- Continue walking along rue Debelleyme until you reach rue de Bretagne. A wonderful deli called Les Iles Grecques can be found at number 14.
- Walk southeast along rue Charlot to the corner of rue Pastourelle where you will find a stylish fabric shop called Dominique Picquier.
- Adjacent to the corner of rue Charlot and rue de Perche is Passage de Retz, Marais' most experimental and largest art gallery.
- Walk along rue de Charlot, turn left onto rue des 4 Fils, and turn right onto rue Vieille-du-Temple. Delamair's Hotel de Rohan is located at number 87 and was once occupied by the fourth Cardinal Rohan. The sculpture of The Watering of the Horses of the Sun is located in the courtyard.
- Turn left onto rue des Rosiers, a typical street remaining from the old Jewish quarter of Paris.
- Turn right onto rue Pavee and walk south to the St-Paul Metro stop. Turn right along rue Francois-Miron and you will locate one of Paris' most charming hotels, the Hotel de Beauvais. Mozart lived here in 1763.
- Turn left along rue de Jouy, walk across rue Fourcy, and turn onto rue du Figuier. It is here that you will find Hotel de Sens, Paris' only domestic architecture remaining from the 15th century.
- Retrace your steps back to the St-Paul Metro Stop, and then turn right onto rue St-Antoine. This brings you to the last attraction on your tour, the Hotel de Bethune-Sully. This mansion is now the seat of the National Office of Historical Monuments and Sites.
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