Further afield – Paris

I have mixed feelings about what is many people’s favourite city. Been there three times. At first was ambivalent, then rather liked, but pretty over it by my most recent visit last summer. Found it filthy, and overwhelmingly busy to the detriment of enjoying the place. It is one of the world’s great cities though, home to some impressive sights, mostly best visited first or last thing, taking advantage of online advance ticket buying where possible.

Musee du quai Branly
The highlight of my last visit, this museum is home to a huge collection of non Western art, housed in a very well designed and evocative building close to the Eiffel Tower. A pet project of Jacque Chirac, it is really an Ethological Museum, and one of the best (of many) I’ve been to around the world.

IMG_8739IMG_8771IMG_8757

Arc de Triumph
From the top of it is a good place to watch the sun set…

DSCF2941DSCF2943DSCF2945DSCF2959DSCF2984

Sacré-Cœur
An impressive church, some rather dodgy locals (watch your belongings), and stunning views over the Paris skyline. Makes you appreciate how relatively low-rise Paris is, though pretty much all the buildings are still five or six stories high (huge by New Zealand standards, tiny by New York standards), making it one of the densest cities in the world (18th according to Wikipedia).

IMG_8814IMG_8808IMG_8804DSCF2895

Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie
Highlight of my second visit, probably helped by the Star Wars exhibition on at the time, this is the largest science museum in Europe. I particularly liked the 1950s submarine dry docked out back.

DSCF2842DSCF2839DSCF2832

The Lourve
The only thing I really remember from my first visit to Paris as a kid. Obviously a must see but isn’t a particularly enjoyable experience, at least if you try to cover it in one day. Similar issue to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in that there is just so much, set over such a vast area, that it’s a pretty exhausting experience. Feels similar in scale to the British Museum, National Gallery and Tate Britain under one roof, and seemingly busier than all of them combined. Still difficult not to be impressed by the Egyptian and Renaissance collections.

IMG_8887IMG_8872IMG_8878IMG_8874

Musée Picasso
Primarily formed of Picasso’s own collection, acquired in lieu of inheritance tax after his death, this is probably the best single place to fully appreciate his genius. Every decent art gallery (including Auckland Art Gallery, they have eight) will have at least a few Picasso’s but this museum does the best job of covering his entire career, from childhood works through to his reinterpretation of past masters toward the end of his life.

DSCF3028

Musee d’Orsay
The world’s best collection of Impressionist paintings house in an impressive former railway station but again a victim of its own popularity.

IMG_8693

Musee de l’Orangerie
Another good building reuse, turning a home for oranges into a home for Monet’s huge water-lily paintings and all the better for being relatively small, allowing better appreciation of each.

IMG_8839 Musee de l'Orangerie

Les Invalides
The national war museum, complete with a huge tomb for Napoleon.

DSCF2997DSCF2998

Pompidou Centre
Another great art gallery, more contemporary than the others, housed in a classic piece of modern architecture.

DSCF2911DSCF2920DSCF2929

Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation
Small but very powerful memorial to the 200,000 people who were deported from Vichy France to the Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

DSCF3021DSCF3022

Eiffel Tower
Obviously an icon but never actually been up it. Still pretty impressive even from the ground.

IMG_8790DSCF2950DSCF2975

Author: jontycrane

1 thought on “Further afield – Paris

Leave a Reply