France Travel Guide

Travel Information and Travel Packages to France and Another Travel Destination in the World

August 9, 2011
by Rosemary R. Sandoval
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The Parc de la Vilette

The Parc de la Villette, the largest park in the city is much more than that also houses the City of Science and Industry, the Music City, the Geode and many other attractions.

the parc de la vilette

In the nineteenth arrondissement of Paris, occupying an area of ​​55 hectares, is the Parc de la Villette, the largest green space in the city.

Until 1974 worked in the municipal slaughterhouses instead began working in 1867 under Napoleon III. In 1979 the idea of ​​rehabilitation and conditioning of the space left with three main objectives: the construction of an ensemble dedicated solely to music, making a museum of science and technology and the creation of an urban cultural park open to all .
Under these premises, opened a contest and the winner was Bernard Tschumi. In the vast space, which is crossed by the Canal de l’Ourcq, Tschumi brought together old buildings with new construction, the plant with mineral, nature in the city, in a word summarizing the spirit of the park meeting.

To traversed the park, two major areas: from north to south, the gallery de la Villette, with its roof winding leads from the Porte de Pantin Porte de la Villette, from east to west, bordering Ourcq gallery channel. The park is “peppered” regularly for 26 buildings in red, contrasting with the green vegetable, called “foils” that may well be information centers or observation points. Continue Reading →

August 8, 2011
by Rosemary R. Sandoval
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Place de la Bastille – Paris Bastille Opera

The historical events that took place on site became world famous Place de la Bastille.

place de la bastille - paris bastille opera

[Place de la Bastille and Opera Bastille] Between 1370 and 1383 he built a fortress to protect the gate of San Antonio in the east of Paris. Subsequently expanded, the imposing building, crowned by eight towers and surrounded by a deep moat, measuring about 66 meters long and 34 meters wide and 24 meters high.

In times of Francis I, having lost their military utility, was used for royal receptions and as treasury, and later Cardinal Richelieu transformed the fortress prison, where they were going to stop for simple real order and especially those considered as potential opponents and king’s enemies. Continue Reading →

August 8, 2011
by Rosemary R. Sandoval
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The Pantheon of Paris

The Pantheon lie the remains of important personalities from different fields: Voltaire, Braille, Victor Hugo … Only two are women: Marie Curie and Sophie Berthelot.

the pantheon of paris

On the hill of Sainte-Genevieve, in the Quartier Latin, Latin Quarter, surrounded by schools and universities, stands the imposing figure of one of the most important monuments of Paris: The Pantheon.

During most of the nineteenth century, when yet there was neither the Eiffel Tower or the Sacré Coeur and even less the Montparnasse Tower, the Pantheon provided the best overview of the city and the region. Is itself a masterpiece of architecture as a whole, as well as an emblem of the French history of the last 250 years. The Pantheon is now primarily a necropolis where the history of republican France is confused with the world of scientists, writers, clerics and politicians. Continue Reading →

August 8, 2011
by Rosemary R. Sandoval
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The Luxembourg Palace and Gardens

Luxembourg Palace and Gardens of the Palace of Luxembourg is currently the headquarters of the French Senate and gardens open to the public, are considered by many as the most beautiful city.

the luxembourg palace and gardens

The construction of this beautiful palace and the design of their gardens were due to a whim of Marie de Medici, who tired of the intrigues in the royal palace of the Louvre and longing for his native Tuscany, decided to buy this land, then outside Paris urban radio, and build your own palace “Italian.”

After some negotiations, the queen managed to buy in 1612 the residence of a duke in the area, called François de Luxembourg. Despite his attempts to call “Palacio de Medici” and the various changes of ownership following the passage of time, the palace was always known by the name of its former owner. Continue Reading →

August 7, 2011
by Rosemary R. Sandoval
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The Palais Brongniart

the palais brongniart

One building that stands out in the Second district of Paris is undoubtedly the Palais Brongniart, formerly called the Palace of the Paris Bourse.

At the request of Napoleon I, the architect Alexandre Brongniart carried out the project to build a new building to house the Paris bourse, operating since 1724 in the Hotel de Nevers.
Thus, Brongniart prepared the plans and work began in 1808. But death overtook him in 1813 and was the architect who completed the work Labarre, opened on November 4, 1826. Continue Reading →

August 7, 2011
by Rosemary R. Sandoval
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The Opera Garnier

The Opera Garnier in Paris inspired the writer Gaston Leroux, author of the famous novel “The Phantom of the Opera.”

the opera garnier

The Garnier Opera House, also known as Palais Garnier, is especially striking in the ninth district of the city and is near the Opera Bastille, the public institution called “the Paris National Opera.”

Construction of the palace fell within the policy of restructuring in Paris conducted by Baron Haussmann in the mid-nineteenth century. Napoleon III decided to build a “Imperial Academy of Music and Dance” and this is called an international competition, which gave the winner among more than 170 projects submitted, a young architect almost unknown in Paris: Charles Garnier. Continue Reading →

August 7, 2011
by Rosemary R. Sandoval
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The Notre Dame

The work of Victor Hugo’s “Notre Dame de Paris”, which tells the story of Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame, allowed to rediscover this beautiful gothic cathedral.

the notre dame

Notre Dame de Paris is undoubtedly one of the symbols of the city. While not the largest cathedral in France, is one of his most remarkable Gothic art.

Situated on the eastern side of Ile de la Cité, its facade faces west and overlooks the Place Notre Dame, where the zero point from which all distances are counted from France. Their dimensions reach the 130 meters long and 48 meters wide and a total height of 69 meters.

The facade has three portals. The Portal of the Last Judgement, the most important center, shows sculptures representing the resurrection of the dead, an angel with a weighing scale virtues and sins and demons that put their sinful souls, images that have undoubtedly had great weight in the unconscious popular in the Middle Ages. The two side portals were consecrated to the Virgin Mary and St. Anne, her mother. Continue Reading →

August 6, 2011
by Rosemary R. Sandoval
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The Orsay Museum

The Orsay Museum in Paris train station and old luxury hotel, the Orsay Museum is now one of the most visited museums in France.

the orsay museum

Almost opposite the Louvre, across the Seine, a structure 188 meters long and 75 meters wide and 32 meters high is imposed by the dock: the Museo d’Orsay. One of the museums ‘new’ and yet France is the third most visited, with over 2,500,000 visitors per year. Its particular feature is that it was installed in the old train station in the city.

Back in 1600, the area was a large garden belonging to Queen Margaret of Valois, wife of Henry IV repudiated. When she died, the space was sold by lot and the aristocracy built mansions, giving the area an air of elegance and prestige. Thus, reaching the nineteenth century, the site of the existing museum was occupied by the Cavalry Barracks and the Palais d’Orsay. Continue Reading →

August 6, 2011
by Rosemary R. Sandoval
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The Moulin Rouge

The Moulin Rouge cabaret world’s most famous, immortalized in the drawings of Toulouse-Lautrec,
was the birthplace of famous French cancan.

the moulin rouge

In a special moment in French history, a time between two wars, a time when freedom and the will to live filled with the spirit of the Parisian Moulin Rouge was born, the world’s most famous cabaret, 6 October 1889, thanks to two big businessmen: Joseph Oller and Charles Zidler.

The place for the implementation of the cabaret was chosen with care, the Montmartre was “fashionable” neighborhood would gather to drink disreputable characters and where they could meet loose women. The Dance of the Moulin Rouge, frequented in the beginning by the villagers, gradually also attracted aristocrats, who also attended mixing with the lower class. Continue Reading →

August 6, 2011
by Rosemary R. Sandoval
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Church of The Madeleine

Church of the Madeleine in Paris from the Place de la Concorde, taking the Rue Royale, you get to this particular church surrounded by columns that looks more like a Greek temple.

church of the madeleine

This church is located in a unique place in the heart of Paris, overlooking the Faubourg Saint Honoré and the big boulevards. The tourist who arrives at the Church of the Madeleine on the Rue Royale from the Place de la Concorde, is a building that looks like nothing other churches in Paris, because of its unusual neo-classical architectural style. It is often similar to other buildings at the same time as the Pantheon or the National Assembly.

The history of the Church of the Madeleine in Paris is long and complicated given that its construction lasted for almost 80 years in which there were various political and ideological changes. Designed originally to meet a growing number of faithful, Louis XV posed the first stone in 1765 and elected Contant d’Ivry architect. Works had already begun when his death came in 1777 and his student and successor, Guillaume-Martin Couture, completely changed the project, perhaps influenced by Soufflot by then faced the building of the Church of St. Genevieve (Pantheon). So, Couture suggests a Greek cross church instead of Latin, with large portico of Corinthian columns and a huge dome. Continue Reading →