Sunday 5 September
7:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
What’s Here
Paris, France, the nation's capital and largest city. It is in north-central France, on the Seine River, about 90 miles (145 km) from the English Channel. To a considerable extent, the economic, intellectual, and cultural life of the nation focuses on Paris. Paris is often called “the City of Light,” in recognition of its great contributions to learning and the arts, as well as for its physical beauty. Few cities are more popular with tourists; few have been praised so lavishly for beauty, sophistication, and romantic charm.
Paris, the capital city of France, is a beautiful, artistic city, situated in the north-central part of France. The city lies on both banks of the River Seine. The north bank was historically the area where Royalty and the wealthy merchant-class lived, and today it is the government and commercial district. While the south bank, with its image of an intellectual and bohemian playground, is the site where the university was founded.
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Central Paris
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Panoramic Paris
Defense bldg?
| Temperature | Fahrenheit | Celsius |
|---|---|---|
| Average High | 69° | 21° |
| Average Low | 51° | 11° |
| Humidity | Percentage | |
| Average | 91 | |
| Precipitation | Inches | Centimeters |
| Average Precip. | 0.6 | 54 |
Paris Links
The name Paris comes from the Parisii, a Celtic tribe who inhabited the area from around 250BC. However, during the Roman occupation of Gaul from around 50BC, the city was known as Lutetia and didn’t become Paris until around 400AD.
More people per capita visit the doctor in France than any other country and there is a higher pharmacy to resident ratio in Paris than in any other major city in the world. So Parisians are either the healthiest or unhealthiest people in the world depending on how you interpret it.
The city of Paris forms the shape of an escalope.
Despite having one of the lowest average height of buildings of any major city in the world, until 1930 Paris boasted the world’s tallest building – The Eiffel Tower.
Paris has the most densely spaced subway network in the world, with 245 stations within 16 square miles.
Driving around the Arc de Triomphe is considered so hazardous and the traffic system so complicated that, no matter who runs into who, any liability in an accident must legally be completely shared. Possibly it is so chaotic because the man who invented it’s "system", the man known as the father of modern traffic rules, Eno Phelps, never actually learned to drive.
The pistons that operate the lifts at the Eiffel tower are still greased with animal fat as their design and age mean that more modern oil-based lubricants won’t work.
Baron Haussmann, the man credited with entirely re-shaping Paris in the 19th century and creating the city we know today was not actually a Baron. He decided to give himself gave the title to sound more important
.The flow of the river Seine through Paris is actually controlled by a computer. The system, known as G.A.AS.PAR also monitors all water distribution throughout the city.
Paris is actually a comparatively tiny city when compared to some of the other great capitals of the world. The whole city of Paris is less than a third of the size of New York’s largest borough Queens, and could fit 18 times into Greater London.
General Plan and Description
Paris lies on predominantly flat land on the banks of the Seine River. It covers an area of about 40 square miles (104 km2) and is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe. Paris grew within a series of fortified walls, which gave the city a roughly circular shape. A high-speed expressway encircles the city where the last and outermost wall once stood. Within Paris are two large parks, Boulogne in the west and Vincennes in the east.
The Seine River divides the city into two roughly equal parts—the Right Bank (Rive Droite) to the north and the Left Bank (Rive Gauche) to the south. The Île de la Cité and the Île St. Louis are islands in the Seine. The Île de la Cité is the site of the first Paris settlement, founded more than 2,000 years ago. It is linked to the banks by several bridges and connected by a pedestrian bridge to the Île St. Louis. This island is mainly residential and has many 17th-century buildings.
The Right Bank was for centuries an area of royal palaces and mansions of the aristocracy; many of these structures now house public institutions. The remainder of the northern section is comparatively modern, having undergone considerable renovation since the 1950's. The Right Bank is the center of commerce and the fashion industry and has many of the city's most elegant theaters, hotels, restaurants, and shops.
The western Left Bank, along the Seine, is the location of the Eiffel Tower and a number of other noted landmarks. It is also an important government area, containing the Bourbon Palace, which houses the National Assembly, and many government ministries and foreign embassies. Much of the eastern Left Bank is dominated by educational institutions. The remaining area is mostly residential.
Numerous bridges cross the Seine. The Pont Neuf (New Bridge), contrary to its name, is the oldest, dating from 1607. The Pont des Arts, connecting the Left and Right Banks in the vicinity of the Louvre, is for pedestrians only and offers a good view of the Île de la Cité. The bridges, in general, provide excellent views along the river.
Along the banks of the Seine are embankments called quais. The quais of the Île de la Cité and Île St. Louis, as well as those of the central part of the city, provide broad treeshaded walkways. They are favorite promenades for Parisians. Some quais along other parts of the river have docking facilities for river craft.
A number of the main streets run either parallel or perpendicular to the Seine; however, the pattern is quite irregular. Boulevards, many of which run in short arcs, often connect to form long semicircular routes. Many boulevards are broad, shady, and extremely picturesque. A number of streets meet at odd angles or in open squares. Some intersections resemble the hub of a wheel, with the streets as spokes. The most famous of these intersections is the Place Charles de Gaulle, location of the Are de Triomphe. Short streets run in a haphazard fashion and many times are quite narrow.
Much of the present appearance of the city, particularly the Right Bank, is the work of Baron G. E. Haussmann, planner and administrator of a massive public works project under Napoleon III. In the period from 1853 until 1870, Haussmann razed and rebuilt some of the older and more crowded sections of the city and initiated the system of broad, tree-lined boulevards and open squares.
Frommer's says
Paris is surprisingly compact. Occupying 2,723 sq. km (1,051 sq. miles), its urban area is home to more than 11 million people. The river Seine divides Paris into the Rive Droite (Right Bank) to the north and the Rive Gauche (Left Bank) to the south. These designations make sense when you stand on a bridge and face downstream (west) -- to your right is the north bank, to your left the south. A total of 32 bridges link the Right Bank and the Left Bank. Some provide access to the two islands at the heart of the city -- Ile de la Cité, the city's birthplace and site of Notre-Dame; and Ile St-Louis, a moat-guarded oasis of 17th-century mansions.
The main street on the Right Bank is avenue des Champs-Elysées, beginning at the Arc de Triomphe and running to place de la Concorde. Avenue des Champs-Elysées and 11 other avenues radiate like the arms of an asterisk from the Arc de Triomphe, giving it its original name, place de l'Etoile (étoile means "star"). It was renamed place Charles-de-Gaulle following the general's death; today, it's often referred to as place Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile.
Finding an Address -- Paris is divided into 20 municipal wards called arrondissements, each with its own city hall, police station, and post office; some have remnants of market squares. Arrondissements spiral out clockwise from the 1st, in the geographical center of the city. The 2nd through the 8th form a ring around the 1st, and the 9th through the 17th form an outer ring around the inner ring. The 18th, 19th, and 20th are at the far northern and eastern reaches of the Right Bank. Arrondissements 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, and 15 are on the Left Bank.
Most city maps are divided by arrondissement, and addresses include the arrondissement number (in Roman or Arabic numerals and followed by "er" or "e"). Paris also has its own version of a zip code. The mailing address for a hotel is written as, for example, "Paris 75014." The last two digits, 14, indicate that the address is in the 14th arrondissement -- in this case, Montparnasse.
Numbers on buildings running parallel to the Seine usually follow the course of the river -- east to west. On perpendicular streets, building numbers begin low closer to the river.
History of Paris
Historical knowledge of Paris goes back to the time of Julius Caesar in the first century B.C. The community on the Île de la Cité, occupied by a Gallic tribe called the Parisii, was known to the invading Romans as Lutetia. As a Roman trading center, it came to be known as Paris. In the late fifth century it fell to the Franks, whose chieftain Clovis made it his capital in 508. Under Charlemagne (reigned 771–814) the seat of government was moved to Aachen, and Paris declined in importance. It was raided repeatedly by Norsemen during the 9th and 10th centuries.
In 987 Hugh Capet, count of Paris, became king of France, and made Paris the capital city. As the monarchy grew stronger, Paris became the center of all activity, political, religious, and cultural. Construction of Notre Dame cathedral began in 1163, the University of Paris was chartered in 1200, and the original Louvre palace was built about 1204. By 1300 Paris was the largest city in the world, with a population estimated between 200,000 and 300,000.
During the Hundred Years' War Henry VI of England was crowned king of France in Paris, and occupied the city, 1431–46. When Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot (Protestant) leader, assumed the French crown as Henry IV in 1593, he declared Paris “well worth a mass,” and became a Catholic in order to win the capital. Paris became an archbishopric in 1623.
In World War I German forces penetrated to within 20 miles (32 km) of Paris. Reserve troops, rushed to the battlefront in taxicabs, helped save the city. In World War II Paris was declared an open city, to prevent bombing. German forces took Paris in 1940, and it was the center of German occupation until its liberation in 1944.
A long-range building program was undertaken in the 1960's to modernize Paris and relieve shortages of housing and office space. In 1977 a mayor of Paris was elected for the first time in more than a century. (The post, abolished in 1871, had been reestablished-in 1976.) During 1981–95 President François Mitterrand commissioned several major public-works projects in and around the city. Among these projects were a new national library, a new opera house, and a new entrance to the Louvre.
Population: 2,152,329 (city); 9,319,367 (metropolitan area).
Eiffel Tower (Frommer’s)
- Hours Sept-May daily 9:30am-11:45pm; June-Aug daily 9am-12:45am. Sept-June stairs open only to 6:30pm
- Location Champ de Mars, 7e
- Transportation Métro: Trocadéro, Ecole Militaire, or Bir Hakeim. RER: Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel
- Phone 01-44-11-23-23
- Web site www.tour-eiffel.fr
- Prices Admission to 1st landing 4.50€ ($6.60), 2nd landing 7.80€ ($11), 3rd landing 12€ ($17). Stairs to 2nd floor 4€ ($5.80)
This is without doubt one of the most recognizable structures in the world. Weighing 7,000 tons, but exerting about the same pressure on the ground as an average-size person sitting in a chair, the wrought-iron tower wasn't meant to be permanent. Gustave-Alexandre Eiffel, the French engineer whose fame rested mainly on his iron bridges, built it for the 1889 Universal Exhibition. (Eiffel also designed the framework for the Statue of Liberty.) Praised by some and denounced by others (some called it a "giraffe," the "world's greatest lamppost," or the "iron monster"), the tower created as much controversy in the 1880s as I. M. Pei's glass pyramid at the Louvre did in the 1980s. What saved it from demolition was the advent of radio -- as the tallest structure in Europe, it made a perfect spot to place a radio antenna (now a TV antenna).
The tower, including its TV antenna, is 317m (1,040 ft.) high. On a clear day you can see it from 65km (40 miles) away. An open-framework construction, the tower unlocked the almost unlimited possibilities of steel construction, paving the way for skyscrapers. Skeptics said it couldn't be built, and Eiffel actually wanted to make it soar higher. For years it remained the tallest man-made structure on earth, until skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building surpassed it.
We could fill an entire page with tower statistics. (Its plans spanned 5,400 sq. m/58,000 sq. ft. of paper, and it contains 2.5 million rivets.) But forget the numbers. Just stand beneath the tower, and look straight up. It's like a rocket of steel lacework shooting into the sky.
In 2004 it became possible to ice-skate inside the Eiffel Tower, doing figure eights while taking in views of the rooftops of Paris. Skating takes place on an observation deck 57m (188 ft.) above ground. The rectangular rink is a bit larger than an average tennis court, holding 80 skaters at once -- half the capacity of New York City's Rockefeller Center rink. Rink admission and skate rental are free, after you pay the initial entry fee below.
To get to Le Jules Verne (tel. 08-25-56-66-62), the second-platform restaurant, take the private south foundation elevator. You can enjoy an aperitif in the piano bar and then take a seat at one of the dining room's tables, all of which provide an inspiring view. The menu changes seasonally, offering fish and meat dishes that range from filet of turbot with seaweed and buttered sea urchins to veal chops with truffled vegetables. Reservations are recommended.
Tour Eiffel Bargain -- The least expensive way to see the Tour Eiffel (www.tour-eiffel.frr) is to walk up the first two floors at a cost of 4€ ($5.80) adults, or 3.10€ ($4.50) ages 25 and younger. That way, you also avoid the long lines waiting for the elevator -- although the views are less spectacular from this platform. If you dine at the tower's own Altitude 95 (tel. 01-45-55-20-04), an Eiffel restaurant on the first floor, management allows patrons to cut to the head of the line.
Time Out at the Tower -- To see the Eiffel Tower best, don't sprint -- approach it gradually. We suggest taking the Métro to the Trocadéro stop and walking from the Palais de Chaillot to the Seine to get the full effect of the tower and its surroundings; then cross the pont d'Iéna and head for the base, where you'll find elevators in two of the pillars -- expect long lines. (When the tower is open, you can see the 1889 lift machinery in the east and west pillars.) You visit the tower in three stages: The first landing provides a view over the rooftops, as well as a cinema museum showing films, restaurants, and a bar. The second landing offers a panoramic look at the city. The third landing gives the most spectacular view; Eiffel's office has been re-created on this level, with wax figures depicting the engineer receiving Thomas Edison.
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/paris/A25288.html#ixzz0R05UfNQG
The Eiffel Tower is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the Seine River in Paris. The structure was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. Eiffel originally planned to build the tower in Barcelona, for the Universal Exposition of 1888, but those responsible at the Barcelona city hall thought it was a strange and expensive construction, which did not fit into the design of the city. After the refusal of the Consistory of Barcelona, Eiffel submitted his draft to those responsible for the Universal Exhibition in Paris, where he would build his tower a year later, in 1889. The tower was inaugurated on March 31, 1889, and opened on 6 May. Three hundred workers joined together 18,038 pieces of puddled iron (a very pure form of structural iron), using two and a half million rivets, in a structural design by Maurice Koechlin. The risk of accident was great, for unlike modern skyscrapers the tower is an open frame without any intermediate floors except the two platforms. However, because Eiffel took safety precautions, including the use of movable stagings, guard-rails and screens, only one man died.The tower has become a global icon of France and is one of the most recognizable structures in the world.A great deal of criticism swirled around the Eiffel Tower during construction. Guy de Maupassant ridiculed it as a "high and skinny pyramid of iron ladders," while novelist Léon Bloy labeled it a "truly tragic street lamp."
The designs and calculations for the tower, built for the Paris Exhibition of 1889 which marked the centenary of the French Revolution, were the work of Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923), an engineer from Dijon. He designed the tower in such a way that even under extreme wind pressure the structural weight is sufficient to prevent it from being blown over. Moreover the lattice construction reduced the pressure on the structure by about half, thus giving a double insurance against collapse. Standing 307m/1,007ft high (320.75m/1,052ft to the tip of the aerial), the tower consists of 15,000 steel sections held together by 2.5 million rivets. Originally the structure's total weight of 7,500 tons was distributed in such a way that at ground level the pressure exerted was only four kilograms per sq. centimeter (57 lb per sq. inch), roughly the pressure exerted by a normal-sized adult on the seat of a chair. As individual sections are not replaced by a similar section but by a heavier concrete section, however, the total weight has increased to 11,000 tons. In the course of the recent renovation 1,500 concrete sections were replaced by steel plates.
Since the recent modernization the top platform, at a height of 274m/900ft (orientation table), can be reached by lift. From this platform there are panoramic views extending in fine weather for some 70km/45mi. The views from the first and second platforms, at 57m/187ft and 112m/367ft, are less extensive but have the advantage that surrounding districts of the city can be seen in more detail. At these levels there are restaurants, a post office (with a special franking, "Tour Eiffel") and a cinema, with an audiovisual show on the history of the Eiffel Tower. After dark the tower is impressively illuminated.
Eiffel Tower comments
The walk from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame is indeed a lovely walk, but if you only have a total of 3 hours in Paris it would probably take up too much of your time.
the line for the lifts (elevators) was around 30 mins and there was no line for the stairs, we took about two hours and went to the second level,(thats as far as the stairs go) we had coffee and snacks and then came down again I think its about 700 steps but the views are great all the way up, the cost is 4.50 euro (I know we did it in under 2 hours because we had parked our car with a 2 hour ticket and we were back with a few minutes to spare) there was another long long line for the lift to the top but we have done that several times and its about another 15 euro's
We are going to do the ships tour where there is only three hours on our own and want to take in Notre Dame. We understand that we will be dropped by the ships tour at the Eiffel Tower so we would need to be able to get to Notre Dame and back in the three hours.
Batobus runs a circle route so it would depend on what the timing between boats would be.
We were on the Paris On Your Own tour so we had about 5 hours. It would be quicker to use the Metro if you only have 3 hours since it takes time to tour Notre Dame. You could check the schedule of the Batobus when you get to Paris and then decide your route.
Here's a good Paris Metro/RER map that you can print out if you like: Paris Metro map (
115 kB). As you will see there is a direct RER line between the Notre Dame stop and the Eiffel Tower stop with only 3 stops between. Not sure on the exact timing but it shouldn't be more than 15 min, probably less. Should be an easy hop, would be a very long walk.
Last September when we were in Paris we used the Batobus which is a riverboat shuttle that goes along the Seine with various stops. Notre Dame was the one where we got off and toured the cathedral. You can get it near the Eiffel Tower. They have a website for more information.
A person can walk from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame Cathedral and if so, approximately how long would it take if you didn't make any stops?
its just under 3 miles. Apart from a taxi, its 4 stops on line C on the RER train, which will be miles cheaper than a cab. Probably €1 or €2 each.
Arc de Triomphe (Frommer’s)
- Hours Apr-Sept daily 10am-11pm; Oct-Mar daily 10am-10:30pm
- Location Place Charles de Gaulle-Etoile, 8e
- Transportation Métro: Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile. Bus: 22, 30, 31, 52, 73, or 92
- Phone 01-55-37-73-77
- Web site www.monum.fr
- Prices Admission 8€ ($12) adults, free for children 18 and younger
At the western end of the Champs-Elysées, the Arc de Triomphe suggests an ancient Roman arch, only it's larger. Actually, it's the biggest triumphal arch in the world, about 49m (161 ft.) high and 44m (144 ft.) wide. To reach it, don't try to cross the square, Paris's busiest traffic hub. With a dozen streets radiating from the "Star," the roundabout has been called by one writer "vehicular roulette with more balls than numbers" (death is certain!). Take the underground passage, and live a little longer.
Commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate the victories of his Grand Armée, the arch wasn't ready for the entrance of his empress, Marie-Louise, in 1810 (he had divorced Joséphine because she couldn't provide him an heir). It wasn't completed until 1836, under the reign of Louis-Philippe. Four years later, Napoleon's remains, brought from St. Helena, passed under the arch on their journey to his tomb at the Hôtel des Invalides. Since that time, it has become the focal point for state funerals. It's also the site of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in whose honor an eternal flame burns.
The greatest state funeral was Victor Hugo's in 1885; his coffin was placed under the arch, and much of Paris came to pay tribute. Another notable funeral was in 1929 for Ferdinand Foch, commander of the Allied forces in World War I. The arch has been the centerpiece of some of France's proudest moments and some of its most humiliating defeats, notably in 1871 and 1940. The memory of German troops marching under the arch is still painful to the French. Who can forget the 1940 newsreel of the Frenchman standing on the Champs-Elysées weeping as the Nazi storm troopers goose-stepped through Paris? The arch's happiest moment occurred in 1944, when the liberation-of-Paris parade passed beneath it. That same year, Eisenhower paid a visit to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a new tradition among leaders of state and important figures. After Charles de Gaulle's death, the French government (despite protests from anti-Gaullists) voted to change the name of this site from place de l'Etoile to place Charles de Gaulle. Nowadays it's often known as place Charles de Gaulle-Etoile.
Of the sculptures on the monument, the best known is Rude's Marseillaise, or The Departure of the Volunteers. J. P. Cortot's Triumph of Napoléon in 1810 and Etex's Resistance of 1814 and Peace of 1815 also adorn the facade. The monument is engraved with the names of hundreds of generals (those underlined died in battle) who commanded French troops in Napoleonic victories.
You can take an elevator or climb the stairway to the top, where there's an exhibition hall with lithographs and photos depicting the arch throughout its history, as well as an observation deck with a fantastic view.
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/paris/A25281.html#ixzz0R057H7Qc
Cathédrale de Notre-Dame (Frommer’s)
- Hours Cathedral year-round daily 8am-6:45pm. Towers April 1-Sept 30, 10am-6.30pm; June, July and August, 10am-11pm Sat and Sun only. Oct 1-March 31, 10am-5:30pm. Crypt: Tues-Sun 10am-6pm. Treasury Mon-Sat 2:30-6:30pm; Sun 1:30-5:30pm
- Address 6 place du Parvis Notre-Dame, 4e
- Transportation Métro: Cité or St-Michel. RER: St-Michel
- Phone 01-42-34-56-10
- Web site www.notredamedeparis.fr
- Prices Admission free to cathedral. Towers 7.50€ ($12) adults, 4.80€ ($7.60) seniors and ages 18-25, free for children under 18. Treasury 5.50€ ($7.15) adults, 4.50€ ($5.85) seniors and ages 5-25, free for children under 5
- For Cathedral's Towers: http://notre-dame-de-paris.monuments-nationaux.fr/fr/bdd/page/visites
Notre-Dame is the heart of Paris and even of the country itself: Distances from the city to all parts of France are calculated from a spot at the far end of place du Parvis, in front of the cathedral, where a circular bronze plaque marks Kilomètre Zéro.
The cathedral's setting on the banks of the Seine has always been memorable. Founded in the 12th century by Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris, Notre-Dame has grown over the years, changing as Paris has changed; often falling victim to whims of taste. Its flying buttresses (the external side supports, giving the massive interior a sense of weightlessness) were rebuilt in 1330. Though many disagree, we feel Notre-Dame is more interesting outside than in, and you'll want to walk all around it to fully appreciate this "vast symphony of stone." Better yet, cross over the pont au Double to the Left Bank and view it from the quay.
The histories of Paris and Notre-Dame are inseparable. Many prayed here before going off to fight in the Crusades. The revolutionaries who destroyed the Galerie des Rois and converted the building into a secular temple didn't spare "Our Lady of Paris." Later, Napoleon crowned himself emperor here; yanking the crown out of Pius VII's hands and placing it on his own head before crowning his Joséphine empress (as referenced in David's Coronation of Napoléon in the Louvre). But carelessness, vandalism, embellishments, and wars of religion had already demolished much of the previously existing structure.
The cathedral was once scheduled for demolition, but because of the popularity of Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre-Dame and the revival of interest in the Gothic period, a movement mushroomed to restore the cathedral to its original glory. The task was completed under Viollet-le-Duc, an architectural genius. The houses of old Paris used to crowd in on Notre-Dame, but during his redesign of the city, Baron Haussmann ordered them torn down to show the cathedral to its best advantage from the parvis. This is the best vantage for seeing the three sculpted 13th-century portals (the Virgin, the Last Judgment, and St. Anne).
On the left, the Portal of the Virgin depicts the signs of the zodiac and the coronation of the Virgin, an association found in dozens of medieval churches. The restored central Portal of the Last Judgment depicts three levels: the first shows Vices and Virtues; the second, Christ and his Apostles; and above that, Christ in triumph after the Resurrection. The portal is a close illustration of the Gospel according to Matthew. Over it is the remarkable west rose window, 9.5m (31 ft.) wide, forming a showcase for a statue of the Virgin and Child. On the far right is the Portal of St. Anne, depicting scenes such as the Virgin enthroned with Child; it's Notre-Dame's best-preserved and most perfect piece of sculpture. Equally interesting (though often missed) is the Portal of the Cloisters (around on the left), with its dour-faced 13th-century Virgin, a survivor among the figures that originally adorned the facade. (Alas, the Child she's holding has been decapitated.) Finally, on the Seine side of Notre-Dame, the Portal of St. Stephen traces that saint's martyrdom.
If possible, see Notre-Dame at sunset. Inside of the three giant medallions warming the austere cathedral, the north rose window in the transept, from the mid-13th century, is best. The main body of the church is typically Gothic, with slender, graceful columns. In the choir, a stone-carved screen from the early-14th century depicts such biblical scenes as the Last Supper. Near the altar stands the 14th-century Virgin and Child, highly venerated among Paris's faithful. In the treasury are displayed vestments and gold objects, including crowns. Exhibited is a cross presented to Haile Selassie, former emperor of Ethiopia, and a reliquary given by Napoleon. Notre-Dame is especially proud of its relic of the True Cross and the Crown of Thorns.
To visit the gargoyles immortalized by Hugo, you have to scale steps leading to the twin towers, rising to a height of 68m (223 ft.). When there, you can inspect devils (some giving you the raspberry), hobgoblins, and birds of prey. Look carefully, and you may see hunchback Quasimodo with Esmeralda.
Approached through a garden behind Notre-Dame is the Mémorial des Martyrs Français de la Déportation de 1945 (Deportation Memorial), out on the tip of Ile de la Cité. Here, birds chirp and the Seine flows gently by, but the memories are far from pleasant. The memorial commemorates the French citizens who were deported to concentration camps during World War II. Carved into stone are these blood-red words (in French): "Forgive, but don't forget." The memorial is open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 9:45pm, and Saturday to Sunday 9am to 9:45pm. Admission is free.
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/paris/A25283.html#ixzz0R05qdJQ4
Frommer's says:
American Express – The office at 11 rue Scribe, 9e (tel. 01-47-77-79-28) is open as a travel agency, a tour operator, and a mail pickup service every Monday to Friday from 9:30am to 6:30pm, Saturday 9am to 5:30pm. Its banking section can fill most needs and, for issues involving American Express credit cards, transfers of funds, and credit-related issues, it's open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 6:30pm.
Lost credit card – Use the following numbers in France to report your lost or stolen credit card: American Express (call collect) tel. 336/393-1111; MasterCard tel. 08-00-90-13-87, www.mastercard.com; Visa tel. 08-00-90-11-79, www.visaeurope.com.
Identity theft and fraud are potential complications of losing your wallet, especially if you lose your driver's license with your cash and credit cards. Notify the major credit-reporting bureaus immediately; placing a fraud alert on your records may protect you against liability for criminal activity. The three major U.S. credit-reporting agencies are Equifax (tel. 800/766-0008; www.equifax.com), Experian (tel. 888/397-3742; www.experian.com), and TransUnion (tel. 800/680-7289; www.transunion.com).
Business Hours–- Opening hours in France are erratic, as befits a nation of individualists. Most museums close 1 day a week (often Tues) and national holidays; hours tend to be from 9:30am to 5pm. Some museums, particularly the smaller ones, close for lunch from noon to 2pm. Most museums are open Saturday, but many close Sunday morning and reopen in the afternoon. Generally, offices are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, but don't count on it -- always call first. Large stores are open from 9 or 9:30am (often 10am) to 6 or 7pm without a break for lunch. Some shops, particularly those operated by non-native French owners, open at 8am and close at 8 or 9pm. In some small stores, the lunch break can last 3 hours, beginning at 1pm.
Emergencies – For the police, call tel. 17; to report a fire, call tel. 18. For an ambulance, call tel. 15 or 01-45-67-50-50.
Language – English is widely understood. It is said that everyone who lives in the 6th arrondissement speaks English. It is more understood by young people than their elders. English is common in all the tourist areas – museums, hotels, restaurants, cafes, and nightclubs.
Restrooms – If you're in dire need, duck into a cafe or brasserie to use the toilet. It's customary to make some small purchase if you do so. In the street, the domed self-cleaning lavatories are a decent option if you have small change; Métro stations and underground garages may have public lavatories, but the degree of cleanliness varies.
To make international calls: – To make international calls from Paris, first dial 00 and then the country code (U.S. or Canada 1, U.K. 44, Ireland 353, Australia 61, New Zealand 64). Next you dial the area code and number. For example, if you wanted to call the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., you would dial tel. 00-1-202-588-7800.
Tidbits
The niches in some churches used to contain religious statues, but the statues were destroyed at the time of the French Revolution, as happened in the rest of France, which is why the niches of most French churches and cathedrals are now sadly empty.
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