//Assignment\\ [Guide] A Day in Paris

Bonjour! And welcome to my guide, A Day in Paris.
-This Guide was written in response to a request by The Dark, to write a Guide that would teach him something.

Paris (Lutèce in old times) is a wonderful city, with a great variety of places to visit. It may have a higher cost of living, but the landmarks and monuments make your stay worthwhile. In this guide, you will be taught of the famous and well-known landmarks in Paris; and know what to expect to see, when you are to make a visit.

We will be visiting the following places in France:

Paris is a town of over 2,100,000 individuals, but the Parisian region has more than 10 million inhabitants. Paris is known to be the political, industrial, and commericial Capital of France. The town of Paris is seperated into two sections, divided by the Seinne River. The two sides of Paris are known as (la rive gauche) and (la rive droite). In the Middle of the Seinne, you can find two islands - l'île de la Cité, and l'île Saint-Louis.

Paris is divided into 20 different sections, also known as arrondissiments. Below are the 20 seperate neighborhoods.

I. Places of France

01. l'Arc de Triomphe

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The Arc de Triomph was originally to be constructed by Napolean in 1806. The Arc was to be built for his army to go under as they returned triumphant into France. Today, the Arc de Triomph stands engraved with the names of Generals who had commanded the French troops during Napoleon's time. The Arc was not finished until 1836. The Arc also is home to the famous Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

02. la Bastille

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The Bastille was once a prison in Paris, standing four and a half stories tall. The construction of the Bastille was started in 1370, to serve as a fortress to protect the city. The Bastille was also used as a Castle, and for to keep Royal Treasure up until the 17th century. By the later half of the 18th century, most of the subterranean cells were no longer in use.

03. le bois de Boulogne

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The bois de Boulogne is a park that at night-time, becomes one of Paris' most prominent red-light districts. The bois de Boulogne was formerly a forest, and is Paris' largest park. The park has quiet lakes, several restaurants, a baseball diamond, and two racetracks. The park is located on the most western part of Paris.

04. le Centre Pompidou / Beaubourg

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The Centre Pompidou was opened in 1977. The museum is known for it's imaginative architecture, and it's modernistic feel. The Centre Pompidou draws in more vistors each year than any other museum or monument in France. A variety of artistic, cultural, and musical activities are also hosted here. The Centre Pompidou also has pipes throughout it's infrastructure, which are painted and can be seen from the outside.

05. les Champs-Élysées

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Also known as a wide, tree-line avenue, the Champs-Élysées extends from the place Charles de Gaulle to the place de la Concorde. The avenue is a place of boutiques, hotels, theaters, upscale shops, and restaurants. The Champs-Élysées is also used for many celebrations, where New Year's Eve and July 14th (Bastille Day) are hosted. Parades shall also stream through these streets, as inhabitants and tourists will flock to witness the amazing scene.

06. la Conciergerie

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Located on l'île de la Cité, the Conciergerie is a famous former prison and royal palace. It was once a holding place for Marie Antoinette, in which she said her famous quote, "If they have no bread, then let them eat cake!". Marie Antoinette was later killed by way of the guillotine in 1793 for the act of treason.

07. la Defénse

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La Defénse is known to be a sub-part of Paris. The place is located just outside the northwestern section of Paris, and is known for it's many buildings involved in business. Unlike Paris, la Defénse has very many tall towers to be existant, as Paris is consistently flat. La Grande Arche is the main structure of la Defénse. The Arche is mainly a huge square, in which the Notre Dame Cathedral would be able to fit inside.

08. l'Hôtel de Ville

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L'Hôtel de Ville is known as the Town Hall, and is also known as the Administrative building in Paris.

09. l'île de la Cité

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L'île de la Cité is also known as "le berceau de Paris", or "the cradle of Paris". L'île de la Cité is connected to the left and right banks by 9 different bridges. The most ancient and well known bridge that l'île de la Cité is connected to is known as le Pont Neuf. Le Pont Neuf is known as "the new bridge". On the island exists many different buildings as well, including Notre Dame, the Conciergerie, Sainte-Chapelle, and other landmarks.

10. l'île Saint-Louis

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L'île Saint-Louis is known as the second island located on the Seine river. Lîle Saint-Louis is named after King Louis IX of France, who also had the Saint-Chapelle built in his time to house the Crown of Thorns (couronne d'épines).

11. les Invalides

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The Hôtel des Invalides, built by Louis XIV, is where the red marble tomb of Napoleon lies, and also contains a military museum. Napoleon was the emperor of France from 1804-1815, and died in 1821. The Musée de l'Armée is also a military museum that is on both sides of the cour d'honneur. This monument can be found east of the Eiffel Tower.

12. le Jardin du Luxembourg

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The Luxembourg Garden is located on the left bank, and is a favorite meeting place for many students.

13. le Louvre

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The Louvre is one of the largest and most visted museums in the world, and perhaps the most famous. The Louvre is a museum of Art Paintings, Sculptures, and includes many galleries that are witnessed by tourists everyday. The Louvre is also home to the 3 Ladies: The Mona Lisa (La Joconde), Winged Victory, and Venus de Milo. The majority of schools choose to visit The Louvre for a field trip, rather than The Centre Pompidou. The Louvre also has a Pyramid in front of the building, which was constructed and build by I.M. Pei. The Pyramid also serves as a second entrance to The Louvre, as the sunlight shines through to the bottom floor.

14. la Madeleine

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La Madeleine is an elegant church that was built in the form of a Greek temple. The church was originally built and to be dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. The classical design was implemented for the glory of Napoleon's army.

15. Montmartre

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This 130 meter high hill overlooks all of Paris. Montmartre is also where artists gather, and the location of the famous Sacre-Coeur Cathedral.

16. Montparnasse

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The Montparnasse tower was built in 1973, and known as one of Paris' only tall towers. It serves mainly as a place for business.

17. Musée d'Orsay

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The Musee d'Orsay is built inside a grand railway station, and was built in 1900. The museum is known for its impressionist works of art, and has become a very popular museum. The train station was built for the World Expedition, such as the Tour Eiffel for the World's Fair. As the train station became abandoned by 1961, the museum was used to house works of art.

18. Notre Dame

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Notre Dame is a Gothic Cathedral created in the 13th Century. It may be one of the most famous of all the Cathedrals, and is known as The Cradle of Paris. To visit Notre Dame, one must travel up 387 steps to reach the summit. Notre Dame has many Stained Glass Windows, but also Gargoyles and Flying Buttresses, that make the Cathedral Gothic. In a seating, Notre Dame can sit 9000 people, when a grand ceremony of some sort is to occur.

19. l'Opéra

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The Opéra was designed by was designed by Charles Garnier, and was not finished until 1875. Today, the Opéra is used mainly for ballet performances. The Opéra is also known as one of the largest theatres in the world.

20. le Palais de Chaillot

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The Palais de Chaillot is located on the right bank, straight across from the Eiffel Tower. The spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower can be seen just beyond the Seine river. The Palais de Chaillot also has beautiful fountains to be seen, as well as the gardens that surround it.

21. le Palais du Luxembourg

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The Palais du Luxembourg is mainly known for the building that stands here, in which the Senate sits. The entire place was created initially for Marie de Médicis.

22. le Palais Royal

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The Royal Palace was once used by Louis the XIV for some time, and is no longer open to the public. The courtyard presiding is known as Cour d'Honneur, and also has a garden that surrounds it.

23. le Panthéon
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The Panthéon was originally designed to be a church, but was later turned into a temple. The Panthéon serves also as a tomb places for great French writers: Voltaire, Hugo, Monnet, Rousseau, Zola, and other writers. On the front of the Panthéon, the following inscription exists:
<Aux grands hommes, la patrie reconnasissante>

24. le Place de la Concorde

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The Place de la Concorde is home to the Obelisk du Louksor, a gift from the Egyptian Government. Also housed here was the Guillotine, where Marie Antoinette's head was decapitated for the act of treason. Much bloodshed is left here in history, and shall remain the largest square in Paris.

25. la Place Vendôme

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La Place Vendôme is located in the section near the Tuileries, the Opéra, and the Palais Royal. A column also stands at the very center, which was to commemorate the battle of Austerlitz, requested by Napoleon.

26. Pont-Neuf

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The Pont-Neuf is is the oldest bridge in Paris. It's translation is "New Bridge". King Henry III had a new bridge built in 1578, for their were only 2 bridges that crossed the Seine River. The Pont-Neuf is also known to be the most beautiful bridge in Paris.

27. le Quartier Latin

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The Latin Quarter is located on the left bank of the Seine. It's name comes from the previous inhabitants, who had only spoken Latin. It is located near Sorbonne, a place of higher learning. Other such places exist here as well, as the Latin Quarter is well known for its places of greater intellegence.

28. la Rive Driote​

La Rive Droite is known as the right bank, which are places located on the Northern part of the Seine. Such places include, the Opéra, the Louvre, Centre Pompidou, Montmartre, the Villette, among many other things.

29. la Rive Gauche​

La Rive Gauche is known as the left bank, which is anything existent South of the Seine. Places may include the Latin Quarter, Montparnasse, Eiffel Tower, the Invalides, and les égouts (famous sewers that smell especially bad in the summer).

30. le Sacré Coeur

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Sacré Coeur is well known for it's white domes, which draws in a great amount of tourists. Sacré Coeur sits on top of the Montmartre hill, and is a majestic church that many come to see.

31. Saint-Chapelle

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The Saint-Chapelle is a famous building located on the île de la Cité. It was arranged to be built by Louis IX, to house the Crown of Thorns (couronne d'épines). The Sainte-Chapelle is well-known for its fabulous stained glass windows, found on both the lower and upper chapel.

32. la Seine

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The Seine River divides Paris into two different sections. These sections are known as la rive driote (right bank) and la rive gauche (left bank). The Seine has many bridges that go across it, and has two islands in the middle. These islands are l'île de la Cité and île Saint-Louis.

33. la Sorbonne

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The Sorbonne was made to be the University of Paris. It was made to be a College, and the Pope approved of it being built in 1253. The Sorbonne was later torn down and rebuilt as a Church, but still remains to be known as the place of higher learning.

34. la Tour Eiffel

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The Eiffel Tower was created in response to The World's Fair in 1889. The man behind building this structure is known as Gustav Eiffel. The Eiffel Tower took a total of 2 years to build, with 700 people that helped to create the Eiffel Tower. At first, the inhabitants of Paris did not want the structure to exist, and it was going to be torn down. The Eiffel Tower was used as a Communication System, and still remains as one today. Every 7 years, the Eiffel Tower is painted it's Brownish Layers. Also, the Tower's lights go off once every hour, and the lights will sparkle for a total of 10 minutes.

35. les Tuileries

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The Tuileries are in the middle of the Voie Triomphale (The Triumphal Way). The Tuileries is Paris' most central garden, and connects directly with the Place de la Concorde and the Louvre. The Tuileries gardens are a place where one can sit and relax, with fountains, sculptures, and museums surrounding it.

36. Versaille

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The Versaille is a beautiful museum where Louis XIV once stayed with his family, after the building of the Saint-Chapelle. Today Versaille stands as a great cheateau, with it's French History all within.

37. la Villette

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The Villette is known mainly for it's scientific arrangement, and can be compared to being a COSI.


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And that's my Guide on Paris. I know that it was a little short, and more information could have been included.

If you have any additional information / comments / questions, please post them here.
-I will act upon them accordingly.

Thank you for reading, and I hope I informed you all.

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Sources Cited:
http://www.parisnet.com/parismap.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
http://www.aviewoncities.com

 

I have never been to Paris and probably never would, very unique guide about a location. Giving sites to see and a short description about them. 8/10.

EDIT: FUCK YOU MATT

 

This is great! 10/10 - I know that there are travel guides and whatnot, but those either have a lot of bullshit info, and you don't really want to read the full 2-page guide to each event. This is really great because it summarizes each location nicely - one possible addition could be places to eat . Other than that, I think you mixed very nicely attractions that are purely for entertainment, with stuff you need to view to get the true essence of Paris.

Edit: David is a moron.

 

nice guide, very discriptive + accurate. 9/10

 

I like it. 10/10

 

Holy shit, nice guide. Once again, your layout of it is amazing. But, even though it's not very descriptive... you could totally add on to it very easily. I think a good thing to add would be what are some things you can do in those different parts of France? Other than that, I love it. 9.5/10

 

lol pretty good for vactioning and school projectes etc.

9/10 you were very accurate on this guide.

 

Woah my name's in 10.

 

wow very nice in depth guide

 

Very cool guide and very nice descriptions

9/10

 

Love the accuracy. Been there myself, for 2 days in fact.

Do be honest, you can't go to all these in a day(no shit) xD. Barely went to even half of em =/

Nice guide nonetheless, looks like someone did their homework.

 

lmao, i thought this was a guide to the paris hilton porn film.
anyways nice guide, never been to paris
9/10

 

i thought this was about paris hiltion porn lmfao