Paris Guide

With 32 million visitors per year on average, Paris is the most visited city in the world. Champs Elysees, Beaubourg, Montmartre and Pigalle are names that make you dream travelers tempted to get caught up to the charms of the city of love. Whether you have one day, a weekend or a week to visit Panama, do not leave without reading this guide will allow you to make the most of your stay!

Summary :
History of the city Paris
When to go to Paris?
What to visit in Paris?
How to move to Paris?

History of the City of Paris

If the first signs of settlement in the Paris area date back about 4000 years BC, Paris has not always benefited from the importance or radiation that are hers today.

After the submission of the Gallic people Parisii to the Roman Empire in 52 BC, the Roman city, then called Lutetia, is of secondary importance for Empire principally directed towards the Mediterranean. It's Clovis making for the first time a major city taking Paris as the capital of his newly conquered Gaulle in 508 AD.

Relegated to secondary city status of a kingdom extended eastward under Charlemagne and his successors first Capetians, Paris does not become the capital of the kingdom under Philip Augustus in the late twelfth century. If he develops a strong central government, higher education and undertake important work of fortification and sanitation, this is not enough to offset the high population growth of capital which already attracts most of the strong exodus Country of the time. Especially between the mid fourteenth century and the late fifteenth, Paris faces several English attacks, and many plague epidemics. From 1436, successive monarchs prefer to settle in the Loire where many castles were built, leaving the capital as well

It was only towards the middle of the Renaissance Francis restored in 1528, the royal residence in the capital. Y then begins a period of strong intellectual and artistic influence which contrasts sharply with the hygiene and living conditions of ordinary people execrable. From 1677 and Louis XIV, the monarchs are leaving again for Paris establishing their court and government to Versailles, promoting hostilities between royalty and the Parisians fed by the Enlightenment.

The main events of the French Revolution took place between Paris and Versailles convocation of the States General and Tennis Court Oath in May-June 1789, storming of the Bastille on July 14 declaration of the Republic and Terror.

Napoleon Bonaparte crowned Emperor in 1804, impulse large constructions and the first big cleanup. His nephew Napoleon III in 1848 takes the first urban planning of the city to entrust them to Baron Haussmann, which destroyed thousands of makeshift housing to reorganize the city around major roads. In 1860, Paris Annex more adjacent municipalities to form the city to the 20 districts that we know today.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the Paris of the Belle Epoque is both an industrial and working class city and a stronghold of European culture. It adopts urban features and modern architecture subway construction with its wrought iron mouths, opening stores (the Samaritan), building of the Petit and Grand Palais. The City of Light hosts two major world exhibitions in 1889 and 1900. Montmartre and Montparnasse are highlights of artistic creation and attract the best artists of the time, including Picasso, Braque, Matisse.

Far from the front lines in the two world wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45, Paris is relatively spared by the bombing. Occupied from 1940 to 1944 by the Wehrmacht, it lost its role as capital for the benefit of Vichy and, upon release August 25, 1944, she narrowly escaped the loss of much of its heritage thanks to General Von Choltitz who capitulated without executing Hitler's order to destroy the main monuments.

Since 1945, Paris was the undisputed capital of the French state, centralizing most of its administrative, political, economic and cultural. City modernization efforts are marked since the 2000s by a desire to make a city more enjoyable, promoting green spaces, public transport and cycle traffic.

When to go to Paris ?

While most tourists visit Paris in the spring and early summer, the capital has a special charm in every season :

• Fall is the season of the cultural effervescence in Paris. Museums, galleries and theaters make their return and offer new exhibitions and performances of the season. The cultural heyday takes place on the third weekend of September with the Heritage Days where hundreds of historic buildings, public and private, free open their doors to the public. Nuit Blanche, which takes place the first weekend of October, is an opportunity to witness the creation and performance of eclectic contemporary artists. FIAC (Contemporary Contemporary Art Fair) is also open about 2 weeks later to encourage meetings between professionals of contemporary art and enthusiasts. If you want to enjoy an authentic Parisian experience away from the artistic effervescence, fall is also the season when the colors are the most beautiful, with the leaves of the trees begin to blush and turn yellow and smell roasted chestnuts that is felt on the sidewalks;
• Winter is the perfect season to enjoy Paris by night. Night falling early (around 17h according to the period of winter), you can discover Paris and the illuminated Champs Elysees thousand lights in preparation for the holiday season. The department stores on Boulevard Haussmann engage each year to a magical competition to offer the best decorations in the shops and to attract tourists and Parisians. With a little luck, you may discover the lawns of the Tuileries and Luxembourg under a thin mantle of snow, and in any case can skate on the rink installed each year on the steps of City Hall. If you appreciate the relative calm of the less tourist seasons, winter also allow you to enjoy more attractive rates in hotels in the capital. And if you're a wine lover, do not miss the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau from the end of November or the Vintners fair organized every year on the last weekend in November at the Salon des Expositions Porte de Versailles. The Agriculture Fair is also held at Porte de Versailles every year in late February;
• Spring is the highest tourist season, and it is not without reason ! This is the most pleasant time to visit Paris as temperatures begin to rise while remaining enjoyable. You can see trees, flowers and budding romantic couples in public parks and sidewalk cafes. Several fairs open their doors, a large funfair amounting annually on the lawn of Reuilly, close to the Golden Gate. The sportsmen will appreciate this since season sees organize the Paris Marathon in mid-April and the Roland Garros International Tennis Championships, straddling the end of May and early June;
• Summer is the season when Paris finally emptied most of its inhabitants, who enjoy the holiday to escape the summer heat of the capital. With far fewer people in the streets and in the subway, you can fully enjoy the long summer days for you relax with a picnic on the lawns of public parks. If you're more fond of walkabouts, the music festival in full swing every year on June 21 with hundreds of smaller and larger concerts in the open. She opens the season of the biggest music festivals with Solidays in late June, Rock en Seine in late August or the Festival of Humanity in mid-September. July 14 is also the opportunity to attend the afternoon parade on the Champs Elysées, and evening fireworks on the Champ de Mars. For nostalgic grains of sand, it is always possible to sunbathe in Paris Plage, installed in recent years along the banks of the Seine

What to visit in Paris?

It is difficult to make an exhaustive list of attractions to visit in Paris as they are many and vary from season to season !

• Must : be sure to see and take a ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower, originally built as a temporary monument of the Universal Exhibition of 1889. The Champ de Mars and Trocadero are then not far away, and you can then grow to the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. Climb to the Sacred Heart to make a pilgrimage or to enjoy stunning views across the center of Paris. Also make a stop on the island of the City to visit Notre Dame de Paris, and do not miss to spend a few hours in the galleries of the Louvre to admire some of the most beautiful pieces of world art, the antiquity to the present;
• Museums : for art lovers, Paris HAS one of the MOST diverse offerings of museums in the world. The Carnavalet museum traces the history of the capital, from the origin to the present day, while the Cluny Museum mirrors the Middle Ages. The Musée d'Orsay is dedicated to the art of the Nineteenth Century and the Pompidou Centre Beaubourg modern art of the twentieth century. Picasso and Rodin museums-have Reviews some of the finest pieces of thesis two major artists. The Quai Branly Museum presents the art of the civilizations of Africa, Asia, Oceania and America. Finally contents, each museum Belgium Bosnia Every Season innovative new exhibitions;
• Parks : the Jardin des Tuileries, the Luxembourg gardens, Montsouris, the Buttes Chaumont park, or the Parc de la Villette offer many opportunities for a break in the sun between visits. A little more serious but equally relaxing the Montparnasse cemetery Pere Lachaise and also mythical places of the capital;
• • Neighborhoods out : Bastille bars are a must to spend a nice evening in Paris. Montmartre and Pigalle also offer a more active nightlife, the weekend as during the week. The Latin Quarter offers an impressive number of small restaurants and art house cinemas, while evenings alternatives abound around Parmentier and Belleville. If you like opera, do not miss a performance at the Opera Garnier or Bastille Opera.

How to move to Paris ?

To move to Paris, there are multiple solutions :

• The more local color : the subway. RATP network is used daily by thousands of Parisians and serves all areas of Paris. There are prices to the path, day or week, as well as special rates for young people, families and the elderly ;
• The most economical : on foot. If you have time, it is still the best way to discover Paris !
• The more sporty : the vélib' (1.70 € per day, see all rates), cycling or rental skates ;
• The trendiest : l'autolib' electric car rental service based on the system Vélib (more) ;
• The quietest : the batobus. There are unlimited plans to make stops shuttle all day ;
• The most relaxing : the taxi if you have the chance to quickly find a free car ;
• The more original : 2CV for a ride by the hour or by the day around Paris !