Seine and the City: the Best of Paris by Daphne Beames
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Perhaps it has all been said and the last word on the French capital has already been written? Time to press rewind then - and travel back to the first words. This is my Paris: not the peripheral, quirky, out of the way places (fashionable one day and gone the next); but those enthralling, super-star sights that are as spell-binding today, as they were a hundred years ago.
Paris owes a huge debt to Louis Napoleon III (the under-valued nephew of the great Emperor) whose 19th-century, transforming zeal created an architectural jewel - and fashioned the wide, tree-lined boulevards that today add such éclat to the city of light.
Celts, Romans, Barbarians and Franks have all played parts. In the 3rd-century BC a Celtic tribe, the Parisii, first took possession of a boat-shaped, floating island in the River Seine: the Île de Cité – still and forever the soul of Paris. The settlement was vanquished by the Romans and then by successive waves of avaricious conquerors until Clovis, King of the Franks, finally made Paris his capital in AD 508.
The fast-flowing Seine - with its riverine walks and gracefully arched bridges, flanked by immense stone statues, is intricately linked with the history of a city that is clearly divided by the ‘river with a view’: the Right Bank on the north side and the Left Bank on the south.
Three Favourite Hideaways
I have three Parisian ‘escapes’. The first is to the centrally located Hôtel Bourgogne et Montana (44 Rue de Bourgogne in the Invalides Quarter). Tucked away in a side street - with a quiet courtyard, double glazing, a wrought iron lift straight out of the movies, and conveniently situated for the Place de la Concorde, the Avenue des Champs-Elysées and the Tour Eiffel; this is an old favourite.
My second ‘hide-a-way’ is La Residence du Bois. There’s a small hotel, nestling in a charming garden of geraniums and lilacs, just blocks away from the Arc de Triomphe (16 Rue Chalgrin – off the Avenue de la Grand Armee). An affordable, little haven – this Parisian villa began life over 300 years ago and was later revamped into a Napoleon III-style mansion. Wake to birdsong - surrounded by period furniture - and enjoy an all inclusive, fragrant breakfast under the trees or in a huge salon with a blazing fireplace.
Parking in Paris is a perennial problem, so the third option is to drive straight out to the royal suburb of St-Germain-en-Laye – from where there is a fast (RER) rail link to the city centre. Stay at the elegant Pavillon Henri IV: fit for a king - this intoxicating château, where Louis XIV was born, commands stunning views of the Seine valley all the way up to Paris.
The Best of the Sights
Having selected a pied-à-terre, it is time to trip the sights fantastic.
Begin at the beginning. For over 2000 years the Île the Cité has been hallowed ground: Druid idols, Roman temples and primitive Christian churches have all claimed this holy site. My favourite approach is from the frenetic Forum des Halles, past the Centre Pompidou and across the Pont d’Arcole. Like a lodestone, the huge bulk of the Cathédrale de Notre-Dame hovers on the horizon.
This is Gothic architecture at its very best - born of inspiration - soaring and sweeping, with delicate sculptures on an intricate exterior (check out St. Denis on the Virgin’s Portal, still holding his severed head in his hands); then drink in the beauty of the rose windows, towers, elegant pinnacles and flying buttresses: graceful, cascading arches of impossibly curved stone. The majestic interior is cool, stern and sombre; rest awhile - under the lofty, vaulted roof - to contemplate the weight of the past: St. Louis’s funeral and the coronations of Henry VI and Napoleon Bonaparte were enacted here and have left indelible imprints in the stone.
Do not leave the island in the Seine before paying homage at a small chapel in the sinister Conciergerie - where a fragile spectre flits across history’s page. Here, the 37-year-old Marie Antoinette was imprisoned during the Revolution and from here she left in a wooden cart – to be transported to the Place de la Concorde and the guillotine.
Cross the Pont au Change to the Right Bank and drink in the delights downstream. There is magic in the air as one nears the controversial, talismanic, glass pyramid (completed in 1989) in the Cour Napoléon: a courtyard in the one-and-only Museé du Louvre - touted as the largest palace in the world. Here, achievement, grace, form and craftsmanship intertwine and the treasure trove is so vast that a selection, of objets d’art to be viewed, must be made.
The most famous collections are European Painting (1400 – 1900) and the chambers of Oriental, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities. These rich halls capture the quiddity of ancient civilization, and masterpieces in bronze and stone avidly reveal the ‘Glory that was Greece’ and the ‘Grandeur that was Rome’. Arguably, the two most popular attractions are the ‘Venus de Milo’ and Leonardo da Vinci’s enigmatic ‘Mona Lisa’ - this extraordinary painting seems somehow to have captured the ‘essence of life’! The display of French crown jewels is another much admired attraction. (So extensive are the grand galleries that it is advisable to check floor plans for the location of items before visiting.)
A Little Green Space
Continue downstream through the manicured gardens of the Tuileries (André le Nôtre’s soul-stirring spaces were formerly tile-kilns, hence the name) - taking in the Jeu de Paume on the way. This charming, little gallery was once a tennis court, then housed Impressionist paintings, and now exhibits displays of contemporary art.
The green scene opens into the Place de la Concorde: illuminated by night, sporting great fountains, starting point for an off-beat tour of the sewers and famous for the giant obelisk that once graced Luxor. From Concorde you start up one of the world’s most famous promenades: the stately Avenue des Champs-Elysées - flanked by flowerbeds and pleasure pavilions. Fouquet’s Café (No.99) has been an ideal people watching spot since 1901.
At the top of the Avenue, crowning the Place Charles de Gaulle, stands an immense symphony of white masonry: the Arc de Triomphe or ‘Etoile’ - Jean Chalgrin’s famous monument to Napoleonic victory. Twelve smart streets radiate star-like from this magnificent, triumphal arch and a concealed engine room - one of the capital’s busiest rail stations - pulsates beneath it.
Take the Avenue d’Iena and cross to the Left Bank by the bridge of the same name. (RER station Champs de Mars.) In 1889 a 324m high, iron-lattice tower was erected as a ‘temporary’ entrance arch for the World Trade Exhibition and today the Eiffel Tower (as intricate as lace) is the symbol for the entire nation of France. There are three stages to tempt the sightseer and lifts ascend at a bizarre angle as the giant legs taper in towards the slender body. The restaurants on platforms one and two command spectacular, panoramic views over the Seine and the city. Twilight is the best time to visit – all Paris lies at one’s feet, as seen from the dizzy heights of the third stage (statues and river tinged with gold) and, when darkness falls, the world’s most recognisable monument is lit, irresistibly, by iridescent beams of coloured light.
Shop 'Til You Drop
For thrills and excitement shopping in Paris ranks alongside sightseeing. Stroll down Boulevard Haussmann to discover the joys of the deluxe grands magazins. Au Printemps (No.64) boasts a palatial, stained glass dome that belongs in a cathedral and the classy Galeries Lafayette (No.40) glitters under its own spectacular, vaulted roof of blue glass. Café au lait or an apéritif in the roof restaurant of one of these grand department stores is a must.
Glance up any of the side streets (where Blvd Haussmann meets Blvd Montmartre) and - glistening like some surreal, transplanted Taj Mahal - the great, white cupolas of the Sacré-Coeur rise above the all-enveloping beauty that is the French capital. Climb the heights of the butte (hill) - culminating in the steep steps that lead to the terrace of the basilica - or take the fast track and ride the funiculaire cable railway to the foot of the citadel that watches over all Paris. Catch your breath inside the grandiose, 19th-century cathedral which houses one of the world’s heaviest bells, can seat 8000 people and is decorated with impressive mosaics and a stained glass gallery.
Then wander through the traditional artists’ quarter in the shadow of the great domes: a palette-and-canvas shrine where painters pour out their trapped emotion; and explore the maze of small studios, picturesque garrets and a riot of colourful souvenir stalls - many selling quaint curios. Here flair, energy and impetuosity are the order of every minute and life is lived at fever pitch.
Exquisitely laid-out in an aura of atmosphere combining the epitome of good taste, the warmth of creativity, and pride born of centuries when an era of dignity reigned - there is only one Paris – and it is the finest city in the world.
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