What to See...What Not to See
Trip Start
Unknown
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Trip End
Ongoing
Paris,
France
Monday, June 6, 2005
Opera Garnier - it's gaudy, it's baroque...it also has a ceiling painted by Chagall. go here if you are a chagall fan..or a baroque fan...but skip it if you don't have a lot of time in the city.
Musee D'Orsay - obviously you have to go here...but please see more than just the impressionist collection. The building itself is also wonderful and it holds some great pre-impressionist works of art as well as some questionable but fun stuff by the symbolists.
The Louvre - if you really like art...you will not get through it in one day
Chagall Ceiling at the Garnier Opera
. if you are staying for awhile and are a student, get the louvre card. it costs about as much as two visits to the museum so it can save you lots of money and you get to skip the lines! hmmm what to say...the mona lisa is overrated...the winged victory is not. visit the etruscan and egyptian art as its just plain cool. napoleon sure had good taste when he was pillaging other countriesinvalides - good for history buffs, military buffs, people who love napoleon. has a good world war II museum...lots of canons...stuff like that
catacombs - definitely a must see and so far the only tourist attraction where your bags get searched on the way out instead of in.
pere lachaise cemetery - even more dead people! but this time there's lots of famous and rich ones. lots of the famous bohemians and impressionists, moliere, david...and of course...jim morrison, who may, in fact, have the most boring grave in the whole place. also finding specific people isn't easy even with a map so it's best to just wander. oh and to get to morrison's grave just follow the depressed looking teenagers dressed in black.
Drinking Champagne at Sacre Couer
musee du moyen age - mainly for medieval art lovers. however, unlike musee d'orsay and the louvre this museum can be a very nice break as it is easily doable in an hour or two. also it's housed in one of the few surviving medieval buildings and features the famous unicorn tapestries (!!!).
notre dame - can't miss it but, in my opinion, not as nice as other cathedrals. do pay the extra $3 or whatever to see the treasury. lots of glitzy chalices and reliquaries.
sainte-chappelle - yes it's beautiful, yes it was groundbreaking on so many levels...but if you are travelling in june, july you may want to skip it. it was by far the most touristy thing i was in. the massive amounts of people...the waiting in line for tickets...and the chapel itself is really really loud as everyone's voices echo off. kinda ruined the whole thing for me.
pompidou - it's a giant hamster cage! if you hate post modern art...then you probably won't like the pompidou that much. however...it offers the BEST view of the city...whoda thunk? of course you have to pay the entrance fee first
Gaudy Baroque Stuff
. the view is awesome because the building is just tall enough to see over the rooftops but still offers a fairly close up view.sacre-couer - the other really touristy place in paris. however, it's also really fun. whoever stuck a church on top of a red light district should have known better. it's easy to forget a church is behind you as concerts are often performed in front and many many american use the absense of an open container law to their advantage on the steps. i highly reccommend you do the same.
picasso museum - eh...only go if you are crazy about picasso. when i went there were too many school groups, it was stuffy, and i just wasn't all that crazy about the set-up of the museum.
pont neuf - apparently the cool hang out for french hippies on a weekend night...as is anywhere along the seine around the ile de la cite. tell them you didn't vote for bush and they'll probably be nice to you. there will also probably be lots of drinking and bongos.
festivals!- i missed bastille day :-( but i did make it to the gay pride parade. i spent nearly 5 hours there and still failed to see the entire thing. people put a ton of work into their costumes and almost every float has it's own dj. and everyone can join the parade. just find a dj playing fun music and follow the float. apparently at the end of the parade route the whole area turns into a massive party...i didn't make it that far. wear good shoes as you may walk across half the city.
