Best Historic Sites in Paris, France

The Best Historic Sites

• Invoking Ancient Rome at the Musée National du Moyen Age/Thermes de Cluny (Musée de Cluny): This museum associates two historic edifices: the medieval Hôtel of the Abbots of Cluny and the ruins of the city's Gallo-Roman baths. These ancient thermal baths date from when the city -- then known as Lutetia -- was under Roman rule, between the 1st and 3rd centuries. Thermae, or municipal baths, were at the center of daily life in Roman society, providing a social forum for citizens. These ruins, along with the nearby outdoor amphitheater, are the only significant traces of the city's Roman period.

• Discovering the Oldest Church in Paris at St-Germain-des-Prés: This is the oldest church in Paris, predating the Gothic Notre-Dame cathedral nearby by at least 600 years. The site was originally a Benedictine abbey founded in 542 by the Merovingian King Childebert to house a relic of the cross brought back from Spain. The Vikings pillaged the building in the 7th century, but the tower and nave were rebuilt 2 centuries later, and are now the only remaining vestiges of Romanesque architecture left in Paris.

• Remembering Marie Antoinette at the Conciergerie: The seat of royal power for 400 years, from the 10th to the 14th centuries, this is the oldest royal palace in the capital. After Charles V abandoned the palace for a new residence in the current Marais, it was converted into a prison, and during the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette was held there before being guillotined. It's a great example of the architecture of the Middle Ages; don't miss the Gens d'Armes room, the Guard room, and the kitchens. On the northeastern corner you can still see the city's first public clock, installed in 1370.

• Exploring the Musée du Louvre: The history of the Louvre and the history of Paris are practically one. This emblematic building has dominated the center of the city since the 12th century, changing over the years from a medieval fortress (you can still see these foundations in the basement today) to the gargantuan palace it became under the Sun King, Louis XIV, in the 17th century. Today, the Louvre is one of the world's most important museums.

• Commemorating Medieval Times at La Sainte-Chapelle: This medieval monument on the Ile de la Cité was built to house Christ's crown of thorns, which King Louis IX (Saint Louis) bought from the emperor of Constantinople in the 13th century. Considered a veritable masterpiece of Gothic architecture, it features 600 sq. m (6,460 sq. ft.) of magnificent stained-glass windows. The architecture is so delicate that when you are inside the church, you feel as if you are in palace entirely constructed of colored glass.

• Reliving the French Revolution at Place de la Bastille: The Bastille prison once stood here, and its storming on July 14, 1789, signaled the start of the French Revolution. In 1794, the revolutionary authorities beheaded 75 enemies of the state with its guillotine. Today the Bastille Square remains a powerfully symbolic site for Parisians and many marches and demonstrations start or finish here.

• Honoring Napoleon at the Arc de Triomphe: Napoleon commissioned this triumphal arch in 1806 in homage to his military victories. It is decorated with reliefs and sculptures representing scenes from his epic battles, and is the centerpiece of the Place Charles de Gaulle-Etoile. Twelve majestic avenues commence at the base of the monument, most of which bear the names of famous battles fought by Napoleon (for example, Friedland and Wagram). The view from the top is incredible.

• Drinking with the literary greats at Café de Flore: The Café de Flore has been at the center of the city's intellectual life since it opened its doors in 1887. The writer Charles Maurras wrote his book Au signe de Flore there. The cafe has been associated with poets Guillaume Apollinaire, Louis Aragon, and Jacques Prévert; philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre; and expat American writers Arthur Koestler, Ernest Hemingway, and Truman Capote. Today, you can still order a glass of vin, and toast to all the drinks, arguments, and ideas that have passed through this exceptional place.

Best Museums in Paris, France

The Best Museums

• Palais de Tokyo: The Palais de Tokyo is a contemporary "art mall" that displays radical emerging art -- even its hours (noon-midnight) are radical. After its 2011 renovation and expansion, the museum has become even more monumental, with double the exhibition space. You're bound to see thought-provoking exhibitions that you'd be unlikely to see elsewhere.

• Musée du Louvre: The Louvre's exterior is a triumph of French architecture, and its interior shelters an embarrassment of art, one of the greatest treasure troves known to Western civilization. Of the Louvre's more than 300,000 paintings, only a small percentage can be displayed at one time. The museum maintains its staid dignity and timelessness even though thousands of visitors traipse daily through its corridors, looking for the Mona Lisa or the Venus de Milo. I. M. Pei's controversial Great Pyramid nearly offsets the grandeur of the Cour Carrée, but it has a real functional purpose.

• Musée d'Orsay: The spidery glass-and-iron canopies of a former railway station frame one of Europe's greatest museums of art. Devoted mainly to paintings of the 19th century, d'Orsay contains some of the most celebrated masterpieces of the French Impressionists, along with sculptures and decorative objects whose designs forever changed the way European artists interpreted line, movement, and color. This is also where Whistler's Mother sits in her rocker.

• Centre Pompidou: "The most avant-garde building in the world," or so it is known, is a citadel of modern art, with exhibitions drawn from more than 40,000 works. Everything seemingly is here -- from Calder's 1928 Josephine Baker (one of his earliest versions of the mobile) to a re-creation of Brancusi's Jazz Age studio.

• Musée Jacquemart-André: The 19th-century town house, with its gilt salons and elegant winding staircase, contains the best small collection of 18th-century decorative art in Paris. The building and its contents were a bequest to the Institut de France by the late Mme Nélie Jacquemart-André, herself an artist of note.

• Musée National du Moyen Age/Thermes de Cluny: This museum houses some of the most beautiful medieval art still in existence. Dark, rough-walled, and evocative, the Cluny is devoted to the church art and castle crafts of the Middle Ages. It is more celebrated for its tapestries -- among them the world-famed series of The Lady and the Unicorn. Here you can also visit the ruins of Roman baths, dating from around A.D. 200.

• Musée Marmottan Monet: On the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, this museum is home to 130 paintings, watercolors, pastels, and drawings of Claude Monet, the "father of Impressionism." A gift of Monet's son Michel, the bequest is one of the greatest art acquisitions in France. Exhibited here is the painting Impression: Sunrise, which named the artistic movement.

• Musée Rodin: Auguste Rodin, the man credited with freeing French sculpture from classicism, once lived at and had his studio in this charming 18th-century mansion across from Napoleon's tomb. Today, the house and its garden are filled with his works, including The Thinker crouched on his pedestal, the Burghers of Calais, and the writhing Gates of Hell.

Free Things to Do in Paris, France

Best Free Things to Do

• Meeting the Natives: Meeting Parisians is one of the adventures of traveling to Paris -- and it's free. Visitors often find Parisians brusque to the point of rudeness, but this hardened crust often protects a soft center. Compliment a surly bistro owner on her cuisine, and -- 9 times out of 10 -- she'll melt before your eyes. Admire a Parisian's dog or praise a window display and you'll find a loquaciously knowledgeable companion. Try to meet a Parisian halfway with some kind of personalized contact. Only then do you learn their best qualities: their famed charm, their savoir-faire -- and, yes, believe it or not, the delightful courtesy that marks their social life.

• Attending a Free Concert: Summer brings a Paris joy: free concerts in parks and churches all over the city. Pick up an entertainment weekly for details. Some of the best concerts are held at the American Church in Paris, 65 quai d'Orsay, 7e (tel. 01-40-62-05-00), which sponsors free concerts from September to June on Sunday at 5pm. You can also attend free concerts at Eglise St-Merry, 78 rue St-Martin, 4e (tel. 01-42-71-93-93). These performances are staged based on the availability of the performers, from September to July on Saturday at 9pm and again on Sunday at 4pm.

• Hanging Out at Place des Vosges: Deep in the Marais, place des Vosges is more an enchanted island than a city square. Laid out in 1605 by order of Henri IV, this lovely oasis is the oldest square in Paris. In the middle is a tiny park where you can sit and sun, listen to the splashing waters of the fountains, or watch the kids at play. On three sides is an encircling arcaded walk, supported by arches and paved with ancient, worn flagstones. Sit sipping an espresso and people-watch as the day passes you by.

• Viewing Contemporary Art: Space is too tight to document the dozens of art galleries that abound in Paris, but the true devotee will find that not all great art in Paris is displayed in a museum. There is a tendency, however, for owners to open galleries around major museums, hoping to lure the art lovers in. This is especially true around the Centre Pompidou, in the Marais. Our favorite galleries in the Marais include big guns Emmanuel Perrotin, 76 rue du Turenne, 3e (tel. 01-42-16-79-79; www.galerieperrotin.com), and Yvon Lambert, 108 rue Vieille du Temple, 3e (tel. 01-42-71-09-330; www.yvon-lambert.com). They display changing exhibits from both Parisian and international avant-garde artists. More traditional galleries are found in St-Germain-des-Prés, many along the Rue de Seine.

• Strolling the World's Grandest Promenade: Pointing from place de la Concorde like a broad, straight arrow to the Arc de Triomphe at the far end, the Champs-Élysées (the main street of Paris) presents its grandest spectacle at night. Paris guidebook writers grow tired of repeating "the most in the world," but, of course, the Champs-Élysées is the world's most famous promenade. For the first third of the stroll from place de la Concorde, the avenue is lined by chestnut trees. Then it changes into a double row of palatial hotels and shops, office buildings, and endless sidewalk cafes.

• Cooling Off in the Jardin des Tuileries: Parisians head to the Tuileries Gardens to cool off on a hot summer day. The park stretches on the Right Bank of the Seine from the place de la Concorde to the doorstep of the Louvre. This exquisitely formal garden was laid out as a royal pleasure ground in 1564, but was thrown open to the public by the French Revolution. Filled with statues (some by Rodin), fountains, and mathematically trimmed hedges, its nicest feature is a series of round ponds on which kids sail armadas of model boats. Stand on the elevated terrace by the Seine, enjoying panoramic views over Paris.

• Seeing Paris from a Bus: Most tours of Paris are expensive, but for only 1.60€ you can ride one of the city's public buses traversing some of the most scenic streets. Our favorite is no. 29, which begins at historic Gare St-Lazare, subject of Monet's painting La Gare St-Lazare at Musée d'Orsay and featured in Zola's novel La Bête Humainee. Aboard no. 29, you pass the famous Opéra Garnier and proceed into the Marais district, passing by Paris's most beautiful square, place des Vosges. You end up at the Bastille district, home of the new opera. It's a close encounter with backstreet Paris and a cheap way to see the city without a tour guide's commentary.

Places of Interest in Paris, France

The Best Neighborhoods

• Montmartre: Striding a hill atop Paris, Montmartre used to be a village of artists, glorified by masters such as Utrillo, and painted, sketched, sculpted, and photographed by 10,000 lesser talents. Today, it's overrun by tourists, building speculators, and nightclub entrepreneurs who moved in as the artists moved out. However, a few still linger and so does much of the villagelike charm.

• Quartier Latin: Over the Seine on the Left Bank, the Latin Quarter lies in the 5th arrondissement and consists of streets winding around the Paris University, of which the Sorbonne is only a part. The logical starting point is place Saint-Michel, right on the river. From here you can wander at leisure, getting lost as you discover the doglegged cluster of alleys adjoining the river -- rue de la Huchette, rue de la Harpe, rue St-Séverin. End up by strolling along boulevard St-Germain, lined with sophisticated cafes and shops.

• Le Marais: The vaguely defined maze of streets north of place de la Bastille, known as Le Marais, or "the Marsh," is an attraction in itself. During the 17th century, this was a region of aristocratic mansions, which lost their elegance when the fashionable set moved elsewhere. The houses lost status, but they remain standing and restored today, as the once-decaying Marais has been gentrified. Today, it's one of the most fashionable districts in Paris, home to funky shops, offbeat hotels, dozens of bistros, hot bars, and "gay Paree."

• Ile St-Louis: A footbridge behind Notre-Dame leads to this enchanting island on the Seine, full of tree-shaded quays, town houses with courtyards, and antiques shops. This smaller and more tranquil of the Seine islands has remained much as it was in the 17th century. Over the years, many illustrious French have called St-Louis home -- none more famous than Voltaire. This is our favorite real estate for wandering in the whole city.

• Ile de la Cité: "The cradle of Paris," where the city was born, is actually an island shaped like a great ship in the middle of the Seine. The site of France's greatest cathedral, Notre-Dame, it invites exploration and wandering. Home to French kings until the 14th century, Cité still has a curiously medieval air, with massive gray walls rising up all around you, relieved by tiny patches of parkland. Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie are both found on the island.