Visiting Paris

Laura Tanna, Contributor

Paris gives you the gift of walking amid great beauty with its marvellous architecture, magnificent outdoor sculptures, grand boulevards, narrow cobble-stoned lanes, parks in which to linger, historic bridges from which to watch the ebb and flow of life on the River Seine, and museums, some without entry charges, in which the world's masterpieces are there for you to contemplate at leisure.

I wish Paris were eternal, but it's changing. Every taxi driver complained that over the last 15 years, the city had become too expensive to live in. Even the Left Bank, surrounding the University of Paris, is becoming gentrified. Long renowned for student life at the Sorbonne and for artists and intellectuals living in nearby Montparnasse, now I'm told they seek shelter across the river beyond the Bastille, to Rue de la Roquette, where all manner of ethnicities live. Scores of multicultural cafés, brasseries, clubs and restaurants thrive in this area spreading northwest towards Canal St Martin.

Friends took us to Blue Elephant, 42-45 Rue de la Roquette, to dine on Thai cuisine. Because it's a chain found in 11 cities worldwide, we wouldn't have thought to go there in Paris, but what an experience! The food was good, the palm trees and exotic decor their stock in trade, but what amazed us was the vast number of people, especially younger adults, who lined up to get in for dinner. On Saturday, the area was booming.

The other end of this road leads to Boulevard
de Menilmontant and Père Lachaise Cemetery, incredibly popular with
visitors who amble among elegant tombstones set along pathways as they
search for graves of the cemetery's famous occupants: playwright
Molière, composer Frederic Chopin, writer Marcel Proust, singer Edith
Piaf, actor Yves Montand and others. Established in 1804, this is the
most visited cemetery in the world, in part because of Jim Morrison,
lead singer of The Doors, and poet Oscar Wilde, both of whom died in
this storied city.

Paris is changing in part because
of globalisation and the sheer ease with which people from all over the
world can now visit. My taxi drivers were Cambodian, Tunisian, Algerian,
and only one native-born Frenchman who maintained that driving a taxi
is hard work and Frenchmen don't like hard work! I used to take the
Metro or buses, both of which are excellent, but find taxi drivers such a
fund of information, they're like mini-guides if you just speak to
them.

CHINESE TOURISTS

Most people
in Paris now do speak English, though I persevered with practising my
French. I learned that Chinese tourists have discovered Paris in a big
way, which helped explain why I couldn't even get into Notre Dame
Cathedral - the line was so long. Bleachers set up in front of the
Cathedral put me off as well. But so moving is the Pietˆ carving at the
altar, with a kneeling King offering his crown to the crucified body of
Christ resting on his mother's knees. It always brings me to tears, so
if you have never entered this magnificent building with its stained
glass windows, celebrating its 850th anniversary this year, it is worth
any wait.

You could splurge by reserving in advance
lunch at famous La Tour d'Argent restaurant, 15 quai de la Tournelle,
with fine French cuisine and stunning picture-window views overlooking
the Seine and Notre Dame Cathedral. L'Avenue, 41 Avenue Montaigne is a
trendy favourite of the fashion and celebrity crowd, and our Hotel
Lancaster concierge found us friendly, family-run Fellini Ristorante, 47
Rue de l'Arbre Sec, an Italian place just a short ride from the Opera
Garnier after a late night at the ballet. (Be sure to take a tour of the
magnificent Opera Garnier even if you don't attend a performance.)

I can also recommend the famed La Closerie des Lilas,
171 Boulevard Montparnasse, founded 1847, a restaurant, brasserie and
piano bar up where Boulevard St Michel meets Boulevard Montparnasse.
Paris just abounds with great restaurants. Or you could saunter across
from Notre Dame Cathedral, as we did, to Boulevard St Michel and off to
the right, when facing the imposing fountain and statue of St Michel,
walk a minute or two over to Place St André des Arts, which maintains
the Latin Quarter ambiance of Paris in the 1960s as opposed to the
touristy streets on the other side of St Michel. Enjoy a simple meal in
Place St André des Arts or rent a bicycle there to really be a
local.

We walked up Boulevard St Michel to Musée de
Cluny, 6 Place Paul-Painlevé, at the intersection with Boulevard St
Germain. Rarely crowded, you'll enter 20 medieval rooms with everything
from 14th-century statues, 16th-century tapestries, to stained glass
windows, enamel works, and a combat room of medieval weaponry.

Entry queues can be enormously long at the Louvre or
Musée d'Orsay; plan ahead by buying tickets online or ask your
concierge.

The brilliant 'Chagall Between War and
Peace' at Musée du Luxembourg closes July 21. Le Petit Palais, Avenue
Winston Churchill off the Champs Elysées, has free entry without crowds
to its permanent collection of famous 19th- and 20th-century paintings
and art works. Temporary exhibitions, with entry fee, are excellent,
especially Felix Ziem's 'J'ai Rêvé le Beau' until August 4. Musée du
quai Branly, 37 quai Branly by the Eiffel Tower, opened in 2006 with
arts of Africa, Asia, Oceanie and the Americas. Ten euros allows you to
stay all day from 11 until 7 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Sundays; or 11 to 9
on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays - temporary exhibitions included. End
your visit to Paris with a boat ride on the Seine at quai Branly when
you're too tired to walk anymore.

To check out
entertainment, shopping, and more, get Where Paris
magazine or log onto wheretraveler.com and click
Paris.

Photos by Laura
Tanna