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The Paris WalkSpecial places to walk to in Paris
Jardin des Tuileries The stunning Jardin des Tuileries, famous for its statues, is at the edge of place de la Concorde, 1e (tel. 01-44-50-75-01; Métro: Tuileries or Concorde). Designed by Le Nôtre, the gardener of Louis XIV, it contains impressive statues including eighteen magnificent bronzes by Maillol which can be found inside the Jardin du Carroussel where they were installed between 1964 and 1965. A century earlier, the Palais des Tuileries was built here under the order of Catherine de Médicis. The palace was occupied by Louis XVI and later by Napoleon. After it was attacked twice by Parisians, the palace was finally burned to the ground in 1871. Although the palace would never be rebuilt, the gardens survived. Today, the trees are still arranged in special patterns and the pathways are kept meticulously straight. Les Halles is also known as the "Belly of Paris" because of the many vendors that sell food in the area. It is a popular haunt among local teenagers who frequent its vast underground shopping mall. Louvre/Opera During the 19th century this place was the home of Richelieu and a popular site for gambling and other hedonistic pursuits. Today it is the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture, as well as a nice place to have a quiet walk, with its gardens and impressive arcades. The main courtyard stands out, with its black and white stripped columns courtesy of Daniel Buren (1980). Literary Landmarks Paris has been the home of many great artists and writers, and a stay in Paris would not be complete without a tour of the places where they worked and played. Ride the Métro to place St-Michel and look for the famous rue de la Huchette of the Left Bank . This street and its denizens were immortalised in the classic The Last Time I Saw Paris by Eliot Paul. Walking on you'll soon find yourself in the Paris of the hipster mind: the old haunts of the Beat Generation as described by Jack Kerouac in Satori in Paris . The Café Gentilhomme in his story is no longer there but the Hôtel du Vieux-Paris, 9 rue Gît-le-Coeur, 6e, a favourite of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, is still around, attracting dreamers and seekers inspired by the Beats. A walk down the "Yankee alleyway", rue Monsieur-le-Prince, takes you into the world of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James McNeill Whistler, Richard Wright and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Martin Luther King Jr. went here once in 1959 to visit Richard Wright, the Mississippi-born novelist who wrote Native Son. King came to discuss with Wright his thoughts on the civil rights movement. Whistler stayed at a studio at no. 22 and Longfellow lived on no. 49. Holmes stayed at no. 55. From here you can head over to the Hôtel de Crillon, 10 place de la Concorde, 8e for a drink. The famed hotel was the setting of Hemmingway's The Sun Also Rises. |
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