Paris, je t’aime – I Love Paris

A mesmerizing woman gracefully steps out the House of Guerlin, toting several crisp boutique bags. Her high heels click-clack on the pavement. An Hermès scarf draped round her shoulders, she continues her way along Avenue des Champs-Élysées, la plus belle avenue du monde, the most beautiful avenue in the world. Parisians look sharp. Parisians have style.

Paris, je t’aime – sounds better than – I love Paris. Is this because of French sophistication or the beauty of the city? Wander along les grands boulevards, climb Montmartre hill or sit in a brasserie on the Champs-Élysées. Spend an evening in Opera Garnier or an afternoon in the Louvre Museum. Et voilà, your perfect week end break.

Twisting streets lead up to Butte de Montmartre. Most visitors go straight to the basilica of Sacré Coeur (map) whose sparkling, white dome is an essential part of the Paris skyline.

Leafy and photogenic Place du Tertre (map) is packed with tourists. Artists churn out oil paintings of Paris landmarks. Sit still for ten minutes and go home with your own pencil-drawn caricature

Stop for a moment of reflection in Notre Dame Cathedral (map) before crossing the Seine River to Quartier Latin. Notre Dame is the heart of Paris, and also of la belle France. A bronze star on the pavement near the west door marks point zero des routes de France, the spot from where all French main road distances are calculated.

Crowned by the Arc de Triomphe (map) on one end and Place de la Concorde (map) at the other, two-kilometre long Avenue des Champs-Élysées brims with stylish boutiques, cafés, brasseries and cinemas. Mingle with the locals and visitors that jostle and swarm along the wide pavements. The range of good and oddities of shops will keep you browsing for hours.

The Louis Vuitton flagship store (map) is at the corner of Avenue George V and Champs-Élysées and famous for its brown and tan checkered pattern travel bags and trunks. If the store is not within your budget, go inside anyway. Climb the sweeping staircase and enjoy the exhibition of contemporary art, or wander through the labyrinth of promenades that make up the unusual design of the store.

Dazzling Opéra Garnier (map) crowns Avenue de l’Opéra. The theatre’s façade is a riot of white, green and pink marble, colonnades. The busts of famous composers sparkle in the sun. This was the place where the Parisian aristocracy gathered for gossip and match-making, dwindling the opera performance to a mere side-show. Today Opéra Garnier is home to the Ballet of the Paris National Opera.

Cafés are places where Parisians come to gossip and argue, to people-watch and to be seen. Cafés are also the perfect spot to read a book. Once café crème is ordered, the waiter will leave his customer undisturbed for hours.

When in the late 1980s, François Mitterand commissioned a modern glass and steel pyramid to be built in the Louvre Museum’s (map) main courtyard, the French were appalled. Until then the museum was a dusty place with creaking floor boards and visitors who spoke in whispers. The pyramid heralded new beginnings. The Louvre transformed itself into a modern, inspiring and above all a museum with art for every taste.

photo credits: @flickr
Montmartre, Place du Tertre, Notre Dame, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Louis Vuitton, brasserie, Louvre pyramid