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From
8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
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An
early start at the Jardin du Luxembourg
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A quick run along
its paths for joggers, tennis for tennis-lovers, a game of pétanque
for enthusiasts of this French game, brisk walks or leisurely strolls...there
are many ways to enjoy the most romantic of all Paris parks.
The Jardin du Luxembourg, located next to the Palais du Luxembourg,
was created in 1617 for Marie de Médicis.
Offer yourself a moment's rest after your tour of the Jardin du Luxembourg.
If you walk down the rue Saint Sulpice, you can contemplate the oldest
church in Paris. The Saint Germain des Près church, which
dates back to the 11th century, bears witness to the importance of
the Saint Germain abbey. Of all the abbey's ancient Romanesque
towers, only one remains.
Saint Sulpice church, the construction of which began in 1646, stands
out because of its impressive volume. The murals in its Chapelle
des Anges were painted by Eugène Delacroix.
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From
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
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Refreshing
break and cultural immersion
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Two mythical sites that must be visited: the Café
Flore and the Deux Magots.
"Le Café de Flore" got its name from the statue
of a goddess that used to stand on the other side of the boulevard.
It was a meeting place for politicians and statesmen before the
"soirées d'Apollinaire" made it a literary spawning
ground. Here Apollinaire and the young poets André
Breton and Aragon laid the foundations of the Dadaist movement and
invented the word "surrealist". In the 1930's, Jean-Paul
Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir became café patrons.
A few yards away, the "Deux Magots" café still
carries the name of the store it replaced so long ago--for Deux
Magots is one of the oldest cafés in Paris. It was
already a haunt for artists and writers in 1885, when Verlaine,
Raimbault and Mallarmé met here. After World War I,
André Breton and the surrealists often came to the Deux Magots,
whose famous customers include André Gide, Jean Giroudoux,
Elsa Triolet, Picasso, Prévert, Hemingway, etc.
In 1933, the Prix des Deux Magots definitively consecrated the café's
literary vocation.
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From
12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m.
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All
these cultural discoveries have sharpened your appetite
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The Brasserie Lipp is the best place to go for
lunch. It's still and always the meeting place for Paris'
artistic, literary, political and journalistic smart set.
Created in 1880 by Léonard Lipp, the brasserie's decor--big
mirrors, ceramic and mosaic panels, 1900's frescoes--makes it a
historic monument.
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From
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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It's
certainly a day for relaxation and culture.
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Continue your stroll up the rue Saint Benoît, rue Jacob
and rue des Saints-Pères, and be sure to admire the 17th
and 18th century mansions on Jacob and Saints-Pères streets.
The house at number 18 on the rue Jacob deserves special attention
because Prosper Mérimée once lived there.
Nearby, at number 6 on Fürstenberg square, is the former
home of Eugène Delacroix.
Between the Orsay and Louvre museums, visit the Carré Rive
Gauche in the heart of the 7th district. There you'll find
over 130 antique shops and art galleries on the rue de Lille,
rue du Bac, rue de Verneuil, rue de Beaune, rue de l'Université
and quay Voltaire.
The Louvre Museum
The Louvre Museum, once home to France's royalty, has been one
of the world's most outstanding museums for the past two centuries.
The museum's collection is divided into 7 departments: Oriental
antiquities; Egyptian antiquities; Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities;
Paintings, Sculpture, Objets d'Art and Graphic Arts from the Middle
Ages to 1850.
Orsay Museum
This museum is housed in the Orsay train station built by Victor
Laloux and inaugurated for the World's Fair of 1900. The
station was the first to accommodate electric trains, but later
became outdated and was closed in 1939. The station was
place on the list of Historical Monuments in 1978 and transformed--with
remarkable success--into a museum that opened in December 1986.
The pluri-disciplinary museum is devoted to all types of art produced
between 1848 and 1914. The diversity of this period
can be seen in the museum's paintings, watercolors, sculpture,
furniture and objets d'art, photographs and historical objects.
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From
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
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Stroll
along the quays
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Stretch out your cultural tour by returning to the hotel via
the quays of the Seine, where you can ferret out a unique book
or old postcard at the "Bouquinistes"stands. Whether
you search diligently or just "look here and there",
the treasure you're seeking is right there waiting for you.
The booksellers' boxes stretch out over 4 kilometers along the
quays of the Seine--it's an open-air library unique in all the
world. The first bouquinistes set up here at the beginning
of the 17th century, but were frequently chased away by royal
decrees, and it wasn't until 1891 that they were allowed to leave
their boxes on the parapets.
Notre-Dame Cathedral
This famous cathedral is built on a site that has been sacred
since Roman times. (A temple honoring Jupiter was erected
on the Ile de la Cité, and the foundations of a basilica
dedicated to Saint Etienne were also found there.) Notre
Dame Cathedral is a chef d'oeuvre of gothic architecture.
The first stone was laid by the Bishop of Paris, Maurice de Sully,
in 1163. Work on the cathedral was done by the best builders
of the time, under the direction of Jean de Chelles and Pierre
de Montreuil, and was not completed until 1345.
The Eiffel Tower can be seen on the horizon...
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From
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
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The
evening begins in the Latin Quarter
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This very special place has a certain atmosphere, a
history and its own unique charm...
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From
8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
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An
evening in Saint Germain
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After all these long hours spent discovering
the many facets of cultural Paris, your steps will guide you to
Le Procope, the oldest restaurant in Paris. It first opened
in 1868, in the heart of the Saint Germain des Près district,
at the Odéon crossroads. This authentic restaurant
takes you back through three centuries of French history.
Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Danton, Marat and Robespierre once
came here...
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From
10:00 p.m.
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Until...
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This wonderful day will end at L'Arbuci, one
of the hottest jazz clubs in Paris.
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