Paris
Paris, the capital of France, and to many, the
cultural capital of the world, has been a prominent tourist destination for
decades. Yearly, over 45 million people visit Paris to see an experience its
fascinating sights and rich culture. Most famous of the sights is the stunning
Eiffel Tower which dominates the Paris skyline. Other popular attractions
include the Louvre Museum, Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, and Notre Dame
cathedral. Paris is also home to multiple opera houses, endless exquisite
restaurants, and incredibly hotels. It’s a tourist friendly city that is easy
to explore on foot, by bike, hop-on hop-off bus, or public transportation.
As
museums go, the Louvre in Paris is quite simply a mammoth. The word
"museum" may even be unfitting when it comes to the Louvre: the
collections are so vast, diverse, and breathtaking that visitors may have the
impression of navigating a maze of distinct artistic and cultural worlds.
Housed in the Palais
du Louvre (Louvre Palace),
the former seat of French royalty, the Louvre emerged in the 12th century as a
medieval fortress, slowly evolving toward its status as a public arts museum
during the French Revolution in the late 18th century. Since then, it has
become the globe's most-visited museum, and an enduring symbol of French
excellence in the arts.
Spanning eight
thematic departments and 35,000 pieces of artwork dating from the antiquity to
the early modern period, the Louvre's permanent collection includes
masterpieces by European masters such as Da Vinci, Delacroix, Vermeer, and
Rubens, as well as unsurpassed Greco-Roman, Egyptian, or Islamic arts
collections. Frequent temporary exhibits often highlight particular artists or
movements, and are almost always worthwhile.
The most
recent addition to the Louvre was the construction of the glass pyramid,
which functions as the museum's main entrance. The pyramid was built in 1989 by
the renowned American architect I.M. Pei. The glass pyramid allows the sunlight
to come in on the underground floor.
The modern addition originally received mixed
reviews, as it contrasts sharply with the classical design of the surrounding
buildings, but today it is generally accepted as a clever solution which has
given the museum a spacious central entrance without the need to touch the historic
patrimony.
Eiffel
Tower
You
couldn't possibly visit Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower.
Even if you do not want to visit this world famous structure, you will see its
top from all over Paris. The tower rises 300 meters tall (984 ft); when it was
completed at the end of the 19th century it was twice as high as the Washington Monument, at the time the tallest structure in the world.
The man behind the Eiffel
Tower was Gustave Eiffel, known from his revolutionary bridge building
techniques, as employed in the great viaduct at Garabit in 1884. These
techniques would form the basis for the construction of the Eiffel Tower. He
was also known for the construction of the Statue of
Liberty's iron framework.
The structure took more
than two years to complete. Each one of the about 12,000 iron pieces were
designed separately to give them exactly the shape needed. All pieces were
prefabricated and fit together using approx. 7 million nails.
The Tallest
Inaugurated March 31, 1889,
the Eiffel Tower would be the tallest structure in the world until the
completion of the Chrysler Building in
1930.
|
Eiffel Tower At Night
|
Opera House
Home to the Paris Opera, the beautifully ornate Palais
Garnier in Paris, France was built as part of the great Parisian reconstruction
project and was founded by Louis XIV in 1669.
Paris Opera Commentary
"Although
described by a contemporary critic as 'looking like an overloaded sideboard',
it (the Paris Opera House) is now regarded as one of the masterpieces of the
period. Here Garnier triumphed over a cramped and difficult site, handling the
carriage-ramps and approach steps, the foyers and staircases, both in section
and plan, with confidence and skill. The style is monumental, classically based
and opulently expressed, as the times demanded, in an elaborate language of
multicoloured marbles and lavish statuary. Throughout his life, Garnier was
criticized for his excessive use of ornament, as Napoleon and Haussman are
still accused of being inspired by an out-of-date and imperialist showmanship
expressed in a language already debased. Such critics forget that every city
needs its occasional monuments and occasions of grandeur, and that thanks
largely to these three men, Paris remains one of the most beautiful cities in
the world."
— John
Julius Norwich, ed. Great Architecture of the World.