No city is as romantic as
the ‘City of Light’. With its
famous museums and
landmarks, legendary café
life and catwalk fashion,
Paris is every bit as elegant
as people imagine it to be.
The city isn’t just fabulous
however, it’s fun too. Think
riverside beaches, boats on
the Seine, art galleries in
recycled train stations, and
18,000 public bikes ready to
go on a city spin.
SWEET DREAMS
Paris cooks up some of the
finest cakes and pastries on
this planet! Local children
grow up on chocolate-cream
éclairs from L’Éclair de Génie
and colourful macaroons
from Ladurée tearoom. La
Pâtisserie des Rêves is a
gourmet cake shop in St-
Germain-des-Prés. Its Paris-
Brest
, a choux pastry wheel
filled with praline cream
created in 1910 for the Paris-
Brest-Paris cycling race, is
the scrummiest in town.
MUSIC IN THE METRO
Paris’ underground stations are filled with music!
Live performance is so important to travellers, the
metro even employs its own artistic director.
Each year thousands of musicians
audition for 300 prized spots in the
city’s underground. Licensed
performers are allowed
to play in the long
corridors, but not on
train platforms.
THEFT AT THE LOUVRE
The star of the show at the Louvre is
the mysterious Mona Lisa
, painted by
Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th
century. King Francis I of France bought
it to hang in his bathroom. It is the most
famous painting in the world, which is
why such a scandal erupted when it was
stolen in 1911. It took two years for police
to track down the robber and recover
the masterpiece. Handyman Vincenzo
Peruggia was working in the museum
when he simply popped Mona Lisa
under
his smock and walked out.
MERCI PARIS!
The French capital
gave the world
the Cancan dance,
plaster of Paris, the Etch
A Sketch, and the little
black dress courtesy of iconic
French fashion designer, Coco
Chanel. It began to be known as
the ‘City of Light’ during the
18th century because of
the many bright ideas
dreamt up by its
philosophers, artists
and intellectuals.
It was also one of
the first European
cities to get gas
streetlights.
AMAZING ARCHITECTURE
Not many buildings are built inside out like
the Centre Pompidou. All of its pipes and
ducts are brazenly displayed on the exterior
of the building. Pea-green pipes carry
liquids, yellow carry electricity, and blue
carry air. The lifts and escalators are
painted pillar-box red. The colour-coded
structure houses a huge public library,
a music centre and the largest
museum for modern art in Europe.
PARK
LIFE
When they
need a break
from the hustle
and bustle,
Parisians escape to
their elegant parks
and tree-lined squares.
Adults like to flop on a
sage-green chair in the
Jardin du Luxembourg, while
children use sticks to chase
boats around the lake.
PARIS PLAGES
Life’s a beach for four weeks
in July and August when 5,000
tonnes (5,511 US tons) of fine
golden sand are dumped onto
the banks of the River Seine.
Parisians play volleyball, lick
ice lollies, lounge beneath
palm trees on oversized
deckchairs and then cool off
under de-misters.
A CITY SYMBOL
When the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889, Parisians rudely called
it the ‘metal asparagus’. For 41 years, it was the tallest structure in the world and
even now is still the loftiest building in Paris. Queues form every day to climb
the tower’s 1,665 steps to the top. Over the years, some wacky, brave
and downright silly individuals have found other ways of clambering over
Gustave Eiffel’s creation. On its 100th birthday, tightrope walker Philippe
Petit stepped along a very thin wire from the neighbouring
Palais de Chaillot to the tower’s second level.