The thought of exploring, visiting places and simply going somewhere new has completely overtaken me the past few days. I have a number of places I'd like to visit but my always top two are Paris and New York, and lately I’m in a very Parisian mood.
I’ve only once been to France while on a family holiday to Disneyland, Paris when I was around ten/eleven, however we never got the chance to go around the city of Paris. As I've grown older and fallen in love with the city, I’ve come to appreciate, adore and hold great admiration for this location I’m desperate to visit!
I want to talk about the top places I want to see/visit when I go to Paris, albeit some are very touristy, but either way they’ll mean everything if I ever get to see them.
Eiffel Tower
Let’s start with the most obvious, shall we? The Eiffel Tower, also known as the Iron Lady and located in Champ de Mars, was built from 1887 to 1889 and is globally famous as the beautiful Parisian landmark and icon of Paris, France. This structure is simply stunning and accents the culture and architecture of the glorious city perfectly.
As an artist, I can appreciate the attraction that the tower has bestowed to a range of movements. Within the 1920's, the tower became a symbol of modernity as well as a symbol for avant-garde. French civil engineer, Gustave Eiffel, was renowned for his enhanced design and work on the tower, thus, resulting the structure to be named after him.
The tower was designed as a monument for the Exposition Universelle of 1889 (Universal Exposition), to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution; when completed the tower acted as a gateway to the exposition. It was scheduled to be taken down 20 years after its completion, as Gustave Eiffel was only given a 20 year permit for the temporary structure. Although, as the tower became valuable as a communications resource, it was allowed to remain in place after the permit had expired and now serves as a highly loved monument of Paris.
I personally believe that this structure, so unique in a collection of global monuments, is beautiful and would be a treasure to visit and view from anywhere on the grounds of Paris.
Palais de Chaillot
For the French Exposition Internationale of 1937 (International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques Applied to Modern Life), the old 1878 Palais du Trocadero was partly demolished and rebuilt to create the Palais de Chaillot. The redesign of the building, by architects Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques Carlu and Leon Azema, was to classicise the modern style. Like the old Palais, the Palais de Chaillot features two large wing pavilions, separated by the Parvis des Droits l'Homme, that offers a famous view onto the Trocadero gardens and the Eiffel Tower.
The wings, beautiful on the outside and contributing to the stunning architecture of French buildings, homes four cultural institutions inside, the Cite de l 'Architecture et du Patrimoine, the Musee national de la Marine, the Musee de l'Homme and Chaillot Theatre national de la Danse.
It would be magnificent to visit this building, inside and out. To visit each of the museums and to walk through the garden of Trocadero (Jardin du Trocadero), stand by the Fountain of Warsaw and look towards the Eiffel Tower and Champ de Mars.
Canal Saint Martin and the Seine
The Canal Saint Martin, that runs over 4.5km, is a beautiful canal that connects the Canal de l'Ourcq to the river Seine and is surrounded by the charming buildings of Paris. Alongside either banks of the canal, numerous shops hold 'canal side' cafes, restaurants, museums and galleries.
The canal today is a place that serves as a popular destination for tourists and Parisians. It is known that many take cruises up and down the canal on boats, some visit the canal to watch the barges pass and others come to visit for the beautiful scenery the canal and surrounding structures creates. I personally would love to walk along the canal and take in the scenery as I follow it. It has been the source of inspiration for many artists such as painters, musicians and even features in a number of movies.
The Seine, that runs at 775km long, is a river that flows through northern France, in the heart of Paris. In relation to the Canal Saint Martin, the Seine flows past the Notre Dame Cathedral, following the Seine will lead you to find Canal Saint Martin which, compared to surrounding areas, is a quiet and calm haven in the centre of Paris that is filled with beauty.
Louvre Museum and Louvre Palace
The Louvre museum, Musee du Louvre, is a grand national museum and art gallery of France that is housed in the Louvre Palace courtyard in Paris. It has become a central landmark of the city and is located on the right bank of the Seine.
It is the worlds most visited art museum that holds collections ranging from Egyptian and Eastern antiquities, Islamic, Greek and Roman arts as well as decorative arts, paintings, prints and drawings. It's eye catching and memorising glass pyramid structure holds a brilliant modern appeal while still capturing the Parisian architecture and is surrounded by three smaller pyramids in the Palace courtyard. The construction of the pyramid was completed in 1989, while the Louvre Palace dates back to the 13th century, built in the medieval period and was used by the Kings of France as their main Paris residence.
Today, the Louvre museum holds 38,000 objects in it's wide spread collection and is home to the famous painting, the Mona Lisa by artist Leonardo Da Vinci.
While there are many art museums and galleries to visit in Paris, I believe the Louvre would be the most anticipated one to visit while in Paris.
Notre Dame Cathedral
One of the places I would be incredibly, incredibly excited to visit would be the Notre Dame Cathedral. It is the one building in Paris that I've known about the longest due to the Disney movie, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, I watched this movie at a very young age and believe this was my first little connection to France (as well as Beauty and the Beast). I've grown up loving this building and the beautiful cathedral that it is.
It's official name being, Notre-Dame de Paris, the meaning behind the name is 'Our Lady of Paris'. It's French gothic architectural style, which emerged in France in 1140, started construction in 1163 and was completed in 1345. The two towers are 69 metres high and were the tallest structures in Paris until the completion of the Eiffel Tower in 1889. The two towers hold a total of ten bells, the two largest bells, named Emmanuel and Marie, are mounted in the south tower. The remaining eight smaller bells, named Gabriel, Anne, Genevieve, Denis, Marcel, Etienne, Bonoit-Joseph, Maurice and Jean-Marie, are mounted in the north tower.
One of the many, many features of the Notre Dame, are the three great rose stain glass windows that retain their 13th century glass. From the outside, they serve as beautiful decorative details, adding to the architecture, from the inside they pour out a holy light and magnificent picture of colour depicting the life of Christ and those who witnessed his time on earth. The surrounding rose stain glass windows depicts celebrated martyrs, angels, virgins, testaments, prophets and saints that are important to Paris, such as Saint Denis, Margaret the virgin and Saint Eustace.
On the evening of 15th April 2019, the Notre Dame caught fire which destroyed it's only spire and also destroyed part of the historic building that is still under construction today.
Apart from the extraordinary presence this building emits, the historic and religious feeling and overall beauty of it, another reason for my wanting to visit this location is due to a story of a man that I find truly inspiring and is something I hold quite dear. The courageous French artist, Philippe Petit took his passion and walked a high wire between the two towers of the Notre Dame in 1971 as well as between the twin towers in New York City in 1974. There is so, so much to this story that I wish I could dive into but don't think this blog has the capacity to hold this much information. But, for some reason, this story has meant a great deal to me since I discovered it a small number of years ago. Just to be able to visit a location where Petit has once walked, would mean something I can't even comprehend into words.
Boris Lume Patisserie Boulangerie
A bakery, I would very much love to visit, is one that isn't massively famous or well known like the many of the places I've listed. It's a bakery I've come to know about almost by accident, but a happy accident at that. Once I discovered this bakery and did some research about it, I immediately wanted to go. If I ever go to Paris, I will be stepping out of my way to go and find this little hidden gem to taste some of their amazing produce that look simply delicious.
Boris Lume Patisserie Boulangerie is a bakery situated near the Sacre-Coeur, on a long neighbourhood road in Montmarte. It is a 30-40 minute train ride from the centre of Paris (about an hour on foot), and away from many of the tourist sites.
The street in which the bakery resides is a beautiful, friendly street with several other cafes and restaurants resulting to a charming little area. As well as having the architecture of the Parisian buildings either side of you, the street is also canopied with tall trees that only add to the aesthetic of the road.
I would love to know more about the bakery, get a chance to speak to the owners and have my own opinions on the confectionary they offer; it is 100% one to go on my bucket list. Until then, I can simply enjoy the beautiful and aesthetic photographs the owners post online of their amazing looking confectionary.
Bakery, Pastry shop, classified as a historical monument located in the Montmartre district in Paris. Photos from their facebook page. I could go on and on about the places I'd love to visit in Paris but I'm afraid I can only post so much. I would absolutely love the chance to stay in Le Grand Paris Hotel, go and see the Arc de Triomphe and go and see the love lock bridges along the Seine (Pont des Arts) and others places I've not spoken about. Paris is one of the locations that everyone, one way or another, will have wanted to visit and I can definitely count myself as one of them. There's just something about the city that brings out a certain emotion in me and I can predict that when I turn the corner as see the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame, the Louvre and so many other places, I'll have tears in my eyes. I think the entire holiday will be one overwhelming and exciting experience and I already feel the dying need to go back - even before I've been there!
I've really enjoyed researching into these places for this little blog, in some way, it feels like I've now been by simply looking into the history of some of my most anticipated places to visit. The photographs out there, of these locations, are professionally breath taking and one day, hopefully, I'll be able to take my own.
Arc de Triomphe, Le Grand Paris Hotel and the love lock bridge.
Photos from WeHeartIt