Profiling Paris

I thought that research into the best tourist places would be a fun thing to do for Spain and Portugal, but I am a bit disenchanted with Paris. I have been before and I have seen Versailles, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Élysées, L'Arc de Triomphe, etc. etc. I can appreciate the historical significance of each of these monuments, but I really wanted to get to a more meaningful part of Paris this time around. Thus, I thought it appropriate to include an entry that tells the story of Paris so that we can construct our own "must-see" list and to help familiarize my fellow travellers with the so-called "City of Lights".



The first permanent settlements in the Paris region were recorded as early as 4200 B.C. The Parisii tribe, Celtic merchants and boatsmen, settled around the Seine River, which runs through the heart of modern-day Paris and separates the city by more than just geography. Paris comes from the Celtic parisio, which means "working people" or "the crafstmen", after the occupation of the first settlers. The Romans took Paris in 52 B.C., creating two separate settlements: the Left Bank Sainte Geneviève Hill and Île de la Cité. The Gallo-Roman town was called Lutetia, but the Gallic bastardized the name to Lutèce. Finally, in 400 AD, Clovis I established Paris as the official name of the city.

During the ensuing "Middle Ages", Renaissance, and Reformation, Paris changed hands between the Burgundians, France, the French Catholic Church, and, finally, the Russians in 1814. The overseeing monarchy led by Charles X abdicated in 1830 and Louis-Philippe was overthrown in 1848.

France had now entered the Industrial Revolution and the great urban metropolis we think of today was now beginning to take shape. The building of railways allowed for mass immigration into Paris from other European countries and Napoleon III leveled and paved the roads that were once winding country trails. Better routes for transportation combined with improved sanitation attracted immigrants from all over Europe. The Belle Époque, as it was known, laid the foundations for Paris' international fame.

The Eiffel Tower did not appear until after three epidemics of cholera in the 1830s and 40s, the Franco-Prussian War, and the Universal Expositions. In 1889, the Eiffel Tower was erected and in 1900, the first Métro line was laid.

Germany did not invade Paris during WWI, thanks to the joint efforts of the British and French at the Battle of Marne in 1914. Between WWI and WWII, Paris saw the rise of nightlife and hosted the talents of world-renowned writers, artists, and composers, including Stravinsky, Hemingway, Picasso, and Dali. At the same time, Paris expanded its network of transportation in two rings: in the suburban cités and within the central hub, also known as la Péripherique. In 1940, however, the French fell to the German forces and Paris was occupied until 1944. Surprisingly, central Paris remained untouched by the ravages of war, mainly due to a lack of strategic targets for the Allies within the city. After WWII, the cités of Paris became seedier and the Péripherique tightened, modernizing industry with high-technology and greater service-based industries, leading to a widening gap between the French rural-suburban ghettos and the metropolitan elite. The business sector is affectionately known as La Défense. Riots centering around the gap between rich and poor continue to this day.

In 2008, Nicolas Sarkozy announced a plan entitled Grand Paris, which included a widening of the Métro to the suburbs and the creation of a University campus to the south, to increase the development and use of advanced scientific technology by the city at large. Furthermore, the participation of France in the Kyoto Accord has called for a more ecologically-friendly development of the city. La Défense is expected to house a few skyscrapers by the end of the 2010s.

Modern-day Paris can be thought of as two different islands: Île Saint-Louis and Île de la Cité. The latter island is the larger of the two and, as you can tell by the retention of the Gallo-Roman name, the oldest of the islands. Montmartre is a famous hill in the relatively flat city, and stands at an elevation of 130m. The surrounding parks include Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes and the acquisition of these outlying areas has allowed Paris to divide itself into 20 arrondissements, or districts. The summer months of Paris see temperatures of 18-25 degrees Centigrade.



According to Wikipedia, the most notable architectural sites include the world-famous wholesale food market at Rungis, the largest sports stadium in the country La Stade de France, the research laboratories Saclay and Évry, and the schools École Polytechnique, HEC, ESSEC, and INSEAD. All can be found at within La Défense.

Our particular group will undoubtedly visit La Place de Bastille, Place de la Concorde, Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe, The Basilique du Sacrè-Coeur, Notre Dame, The Louvre, the Opera house, Montmartre, and Quartier Latin, for reasons you can trouble me about later (or reasons which you can deduce).

This time around, I would like to visit Les Halles (which includes Rungis) for the food; Montparnasse for the music halls, cafes, art studios, and La Tour Montparnesse; Avenue Montaigne for the Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, and Dior boutiques; Faubourg Saint-Honoré for Hermès and Christian Lacroix; Parc de la Villette, which is a park built within Paris' former slaughterhouses; as well as the famous cemetary on the Left Bank. I highly doubt I will be getting around to it all, but I think it is good to have a few places in mind.

In addition, I would like to visit La Mère de Famille, which is a candy shop that first opened in 1761 and that will cater to Eiffel Tower tourists. You can watch them make chocolate before your eyes! The Hotel Ritz houses some of the finest traditional French cuisine in the country, but chefs with six Michelin Stars do not sell their fare for cheap. I think we will have no trouble finding excellent places to eat and drink in France.

À la prôchaine mes amis!