Rue de Rivoli in Paris

24 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Paris / Île-de-France, Shopping Reading Time:  9 minutes

Hôtel de Ville, City Hall of Paris © Luc Viatour/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hôtel de Ville, City Hall of Paris © Luc Viatour/cc-by-sa-3.0

Rue de Rivoli (English: “Rivoli Street”) is a street in central Paris, France. It is a commercial street whose shops include leading fashionable brands. It bears the name of Napoleon‘s early victory against the Austrian army, at the Battle of Rivoli, fought on 14–15 January 1797. Developed by Napoleon through the heart of the city, it includes on one side the north wing of the Louvre Palace and the Tuileries Gardens. The Rue de Rivoli is an example of a transitional compromise between an environment of prestigious monuments and aristocratic squares, and the results of modern town-planning by municipal authorities.   read more…

Rue Saint-Antoine in Paris

1 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Paris / Île-de-France Reading Time:  9 minutes

Hôtel de Mayenne - Marc Baronnet/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hôtel de Mayenne – Marc Baronnet/cc-by-sa-3.0

Rue Saint-Antoine in Paris is one of the oldest streets in the city. It already existed in Gallo-Roman times and was part of the road from Paris to Melun. The street is very steeped in history due to its proximity to the Place de la Bastille. It is an important artery in the heart of the Marais, crossing streets typical of the district such as rue Saint-Paul, rue de Turenne, rue de Birague (which leads to Place des Vosges) and rue Beautreillis. It was finally named Rue Saint-Antoine because of the Abbey of Saint-Antoine-des-Champs, which was outside the city on the road to Château de Vincennes and was converted into a hospital in 1790.   read more…

Île de la Cité

5 October 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, Paris / Île-de-France Reading Time:  9 minutes

© GuidoR/cc-by-sa-3.0

© GuidoR/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Île de la Cité is one of two remaining natural islands in the Seine within the city of Paris (the other being the Île Saint-Louis). It is the centre of Paris and the location where the medieval city was refounded. The western end has held a palace since Merovingian times, and its eastern end since the same period has been consecrated to religion, especially after the 10th-century construction of a cathedral preceding today’s Notre Dame. The land between the two was, until the 1850s, largely residential and commercial, but has since been filled by the city’s Prefecture de Police, Palais de Justice, Hôtel-Dieu hospital and Tribunal de commerce. Only the westernmost and northeastern extremities of the island remain residential today, and the latter preserves some vestiges of its 16th-century canon‘s houses.   read more…

Centre Georges-Pompidou in Paris

11 March 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Museums, Exhibitions, Paris / Île-de-France Reading Time:  11 minutes

Centre Georges-Pompidou © foto@NikolasBecker.de/cc-by-sa-3.0-de

Centre Georges-Pompidou © foto@NikolasBecker.de/cc-by-sa-3.0-de

Centre Georges Pompidou, commonly shortened to Centre Pompidou, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, along with Gianfranco Franchini. The sculpture, Horizontal by Alexander Calder, a free-standing mobile that is twenty-five feet high (7.6m), was placed in 2012 in front of the Centre Pompidou. The nearby Stravinsky Fountain (also called the Fontaine des automates), on Place Stravinsky, features sixteen whimsical moving and water-spraying sculptures by Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint-Phalle, which represent themes and works by composer Igor Stravinsky. The black-painted mechanical sculptures are by Tinguely, the colored works by de Saint-Phalle. The fountain opened in 1983. The Place Georges Pompidou in front of the museum is noted for the presence of street performers, such as mimes and jugglers. In the spring, miniature carnivals are installed temporarily into the place in front with a wide variety of attractions: bands, caricature and sketch artists, tables set up for evening dining, and even skateboarding competitions.   read more…

The Marais in Paris

5 December 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Paris / Île-de-France Reading Time:  12 minutes

Place des Vosges © AlNo/cc-by-sa-3.0

Place des Vosges © AlNo/cc-by-sa-3.0

Le Marais (“The Marsh”) is a historic district in Paris. Long the aristocratic district of Paris, it hosts many outstanding buildings of historic and architectural importance. It spreads across parts of the 3rd and 4th arrondissements in Paris (on the Rive Droite, or Right Bank, of the Seine). In 1240 the Order of the Temple built its fortified church just outside the walls of Paris, in the northern part of the Marais. The Temple turned this district into an attractive area, which became known as the Temple Quarter, and many religious institutions were built nearby: the des Blancs-Manteaux, de Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie and des Carmes-Billettes convents, as well as the church of Sainte-Catherine-du-Val-des-Écoliers. From that time to the 17th century and especially after the Royal Square (Place Royale, current place des Vosges) was designed under King Henri IV in 1605, the Marais was the French nobility’s favorite place of residence. French nobles built their urban mansions there such as the Hôtel de Sens, the Hôtel de Sully, the Hôtel de Beauvais, the Hôtel Carnavalet, the Hôtel de Guénégaud and the Hôtel de Soubise.   read more…

Rue des Rosiers in the Marais district

14 October 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Paris / Île-de-France Reading Time:  4 minutes

© Abxbay/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Abxbay/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Rue des Rosiers, which means “street of the rosebushes,” is a street in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. It begins at Rue Malher and proceeds northwest across Rue Pavée, Rue Ferdinand Duval, Rue des Écouffes, and Rue des Hospitalières Saint-Gervais before it ends at Rue Vieille du Temple.   read more…

Theme Week Paris – Arrondissement de l’Hôtel de Ville (4th)

19 October 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, Paris / Île-de-France, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  12 minutes

Paris Town Hall © Pol

Paris Town Hall © Pol

Situated on the Right Bank of the River Seine, it is bordered to the west by the 1st arrondissement; to the north by the 3rd, to the east by the 11th and 12th, and to the south by the Seine and the 5th. The 4th arrondissement contains the Renaissance-era Paris City Hall. It also contains the Renaissance square of Place des Vosges, the overtly modern Pompidou Centre and the lively southern part of the medieval district of Le Marais, which today is known for being the gay district of Paris (while the more quiet northern part of Le Marais is contained inside the 3rd arrondissement). The eastern parts of the Île de la Cité (including Notre-Dame de Paris) as well as the Île Saint-Louis are also included within the 4th arrondissement. The 4th arrondissement is known for its little streets, cafés, and shops but is regarded as expensive and congested. It is desirable for those insisting on old buildings and multi-cultural exposure.   read more…

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