TRUTHFULLY, PARIS HAS ENCHANTMENT; but it is hard to put a finger on what it is. When visiting Paris, one perceives Parisians always tastefully dressed, most of them are a pleasure to talk to, and their French language spells something captivating and charming: Romance!
Once in Paris, one perceives French people being so French paying attention to fine details. One may find a bistro offering only croissants, but each variety is exquisite. At most cafés, a cup of coffee comes with a chocolate next to the cup. Boutiques and department stores have creaseless bags to carry fine attires. The list goes on and on.
Alongside a chic boutique or a polished department store or a stylish café sit heavyweights McDonald's and Pizza Hut adding nothing but fast food. Even so, the 'City of Love' excells being chic, panache, and she overrules reverberating with places like Avenue Des Champs Élysées. It is such prestigious, fulgurant street that fills your eyes and catch your whimsies. Guaranteed! Yes, Paris is about entertainment and seeing of sights that amuse one's eyes; but Paris is much deeper than that. She calls forth feelings and emotions, she indulges with finesse, she offers knowledge that makes one's life better.
Undisputedly, the 'City of Love' is an alluring proposition to any discriminating and cultivated visitor who is perceptive of fine distinctions, who appreciates finesse, who has sensitivity for fine arts, who recognizes beauty, who has a palate for fine meals and wines. That refined visitor is attuned with Paris.
To make your life better, you may aquire valuable and fascinating knowledge at these places:
» île de saint louis is a romantic, enchanting, and incomparable island brought in from the XVII century. Connoisseurs conceives it as a premiere Paris' starting point. Read the article 'Visiting Paris - Île De Saint Louis' found in 'Visiting France & Paris Index.'
» musée du louvre where Napoleon's soldiers' trophies taken from defeated armies are displayed next to some of the most celebrated art: winged victory, mona lisa, and venus de milo. Today's building was redesigned and extended many times until it became the present Louvre. In 1682, King Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles as his residence leaving the Louvre as a place to display royal collections.
» centre georges pompidou is very out of the ordinary place. For instance, escalators, ventilation ducts, and most of its steel structure were placed on the outside to facilitate uninterrupted spaces within. This center is acclaimed for its modern art collections, but there is much more to feed your intellect.
» musée d'orsay devoted to a period between Musée du Louvre and Centre Georges Pompidou. Displays French Art from 1848 to 1915 including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It is a museum known for the most extensive collection of impressionist masterpieces in the world such as Cézanne, Monet, Renoir, Seurat, Gauguin, and Van Gogh.
» arc de triomphe is a structure that Napoleon had built. In 1810, a wooden replica was built for him and Joséphine to enter Paris through it the day they were married. At the end of WW II, allied military forces entered Paris through Arc de Triomphe unofficially returning France to French people after Germans had invaded their country. To immense surprise of upper military officers, young women broke up the military formation to passionately kiss soldiers in their lips, other women carried push-carts with hot foods, men carried sacs loaded with bottles of wine. It was an outburst of emotions from French people expressing heartfelt gratitude and thankfulness for their sacrifice throwing themselves to the wolves to fight tyranny.
Museums in Paris are costly, but they offer
free admission the first Sunday of every month.
