Days
| Middle Age Museum Notre-Dame Sainte Chapelle Tour St Jacques Musée du Louvre Le Marais Versailles Palace Invalides The Arc de Triomphe Montmartre Pigalle |
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Morning
1- Middle-Age Museum Hotel de Cluny
Metro : "Cluny la Sorbonne" line 10 or R.E.R. B.
Built on the ruins of a roman public bath, for the Abbots of Cluny, this XVI th century castle is housing the famous XV th century tapestry "Lady with unicorn".
2- Notre-Dame
15 mn. walk down the Boulevard St Michel will take you to the Ile de la Cité where the Parisis, our Gaul ancestors used to live out of fishing and trading from their dugout canoes. As the historical heart of Paris this Island was also the birthplace of Christianity in France under the late Roman Empire (3rd to 5th century A.D.)with a first cathedral built during the 4 th century. Notre-Dame, jewel of Gothic architecture was built from the XII th century until its consecration in 1345.
3- Sainte Chapelle
Still on the Ile de la Cité, 10 mn. walk will take you to this jewel of gothic style consecrated in 1248 to exhibit some Jesus-Christ relics bought for an orageous price by Philippe Auguste to the Byzantine Empire. Let's cross to the right bank. a 5 mn. walk to the Tour St Jacques.
4- Tour St Jacques
5 mn. walk. This magnificent bell tower is the only remain of a former church built in the "Gothique flamboyant" style. It used to be a protected halt on the pilgrimage way to St Jacques de Compostelle at a time when travelling wasn't a safe experience . For your lunch there are many brasseries, restaurants and cafés rue de Rivoli on your way to the Louvre, unless you prefer to wait until you get to the museum offering a choice of cafés and restaurants.
Afternoon
5- Louvre museum
A15 mn. walk along rue de Rivoli will lead you to one of the former royal palaces built on the ruins of the old Philippe Auguste defensive wall?converted into the largest museum throughout the world. Start with the visit of the Aile Richelieu covering a range of collections going from the Antiquity to the XIX th century. After this art history class, you deserve a break in the Palais Royal garden to catch a breath, on the other side of rue de Rivoli.
6- Le Marais
Métro : "St Paul" line 1 Direction "Chateau de Vincennes".
From the XII th century some religious fraternities started drying up this swamp area north of the Philippe Auguste wall permitting later the urbanization of Le Marais which remains today a typical medieval district. With your map of Paris in hand, you will enjoy this maze of narrow streets where the traditionnal jewish shopkeepers find themselves in competition with the gay ones. You will find a multitude of mansions such as beautiful Hotel Salé, today Picasso Museum, as well as many art galleries. Don't miss the Place des Vosges where Victor Hugo used to live (museum in his former appartment at n° 6).