Berlitz Pocket Guide Paris (Travel Guide eBook)

By Berlitz

Berlitz Pocket Guides: iconic style, a bestselling brand, this is the quintessential pocket-sized travel guide to Paris 

Plan your trip, plan perfect days and discover how to get around - this pocket-sized guide is a convenient, quick-reference companion to discovering what to do and see in Paris, from top attractions like the Louvre, Centre Pompidou and Eiffel Tower, to hidden gems, including the museums of the Marais and the cemetery of Montparnasse. This will save you time, and enhance your exploration of this thrilling city. 

·       Compact, concise, and packed with essential information, this is an iconic on-the-move companion when you're exploring Paris 
·       Covers Top Ten Attractions, including the Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame and the Musée d'Orsay and Perfect Day itinerary suggestions    
·       Includes an insightful overview of landscape, history and culture
·       Handy colour maps on the inside cover flaps will help you find your way around
·       Essential practical information on everything from Eating Out to Getting Around
·       Inspirational colour photography throughout
·       Sharp design and colour-coded sections make for an engaging reading experience

About Berlitz: Berlitz draws on years of travel and language expertise to bring you a wide range of travel and language products, including travel guides, maps, phrase books, language-learning courses, dictionaries and kids' language products.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Release date: Apr 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781785731976

Berlitz

Make the most of your time on Earth with the ultimate travel guides

Book preview

How To Use This E-Book

Getting Around the e-Book

This Pocket Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration and planning advice for your visit to Paris, and is also the perfect on-the-ground companion for your trip.

The guide begins with our selection of Top 10 Attractions, plus a Perfect Itinerary feature to help you plan unmissable experiences. The Introduction and History chapters paint a vivid cultural portrait of Paris, and the Where to Go chapter gives a complete guide to all the sights worth visiting. You will find ideas for activities in the What to Do section, while the Eating Out chapter describes the local cuisine and gives listings of the best restaurants. The Travel Tips offer practical information to help you plan your trip. Finally, there are carefully selected hotel listings.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Paris are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map], tap once to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Paris. Simply double-tap an image to see it in full-screen.

About Berlitz Pocket Guides

The Berlitz story began in 1877 when Maximilian Berlitz devised his revolutionary method of language learning. More than 130 years later, Berlitz is a household name, famed not only for language schools but also as a provider of best-selling language and travel guides.

Our wide-ranging travel products – printed travel guides and phrase books, as well as apps and ebooks – offer all the information you need for a perfect trip, and are regularly updated by our team of expert local authors. Their practical emphasis means they are perfect for use on the ground. Wherever you’re going – whether it’s on a short break, the trip of a lifetime, a cruise or a business trip – we offer the ideal guide for your needs.

Our Berlitz Pocket Guides are the perfect choice if you need reliable, concise information in a handy format. We provide amazing value for money – these guides may be small, but they are packed with information. No wonder they have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide.

© 2019 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Table of Contents

Paris’s Top 10 Attractions

Top Attraction #1

Top Attraction #2

Top Attraction #3

Top Attraction #4

Top Attraction #5

Top Attraction #6

Top Attraction #7

Top Attraction #8

Top Attraction #9

Top Attraction #10

A Perfect Day In Paris

Introduction

Geography

The River

Paris Ambience

Population

A Brief History

The Capetians

English Rule and Religious Conflict

The Revolution

First Empire

The Restoration

Second Empire

Third and Fourth Republics

Fifth Republic

From the 1968 Riots to Mitterrand’s Presidency

Paris Today

Historical Landmarks

Where To Go

Île de la Cité

Notre-Dame

The West Front

Palais de la Cité

Palais de Justice

The Conciergerie

Sainte-Chapelle

Other Attractions on the Île de la Cité

Île St-Louis

The Louvre, Tuileries & Concorde

Palais du Louvre

Musée du Louvre

Lower-Ground and Ground Floors

First and Second Floors

Additional Museums

Palais-Royal

The Tuileries

Jeu de Paume and Musée de l’Orangerie

Place de la Concorde

The Grands Boulevards

Palais Garnier

Madeleine

Place Vendôme

Beaubourg, Les Halles & the Marais

Châtelet and Hôtel de Ville

Centre Pompidou

Les Halles

The Marais

A Cluster of Museums

Place des Vosges

Jewish Quarter

Bastille & Eastern Paris

Bastille

Eastern Paris

Champs-Élysées, Trocadéro & West

Champs-Élysées

Arc de Triomphe

Trocadéro

Western Paris

Bois de Boulogne

Around Monceau

Montmartre & Pigalle

Sacré-Cœur

Place du Tertre

Pigalle

La Villette

Latin Quarter & St-Germain-des-Prés

The Latin Quarter

The Sorbonne

Musée National du Moyen Age – Thermes de Cluny

Panthéon

Rue Mouffetard

Institut du Monde Arabe

Jardin des Plantes

St-Germain-des-Prés

Académie Française

Musée Delacroix and St-Sulpice

Jardin du Luxembourg

Odéon

Around the Eiffel Tower

Musée d’Orsay

Assemblée Nationale

Musée Rodin

Les Invalides

The Eiffel Tower

Musée du Quai Branly

Montparnasse

La Défense

Excursions

Versailles

Fontainebleau

Malmaison

Vaux-le-Vicomte

Giverny

Disneyland Paris

What To Do

Shopping

What to Buy Where

Markets

Sports

Spectator Sports

Participant Sports

Entertainment

Theatre

Opera and Ballet

Jazz, Pop and Rock

Cabarets

Clubs and Bars

Children

Calendar of Events

Eating Out

Classic to Contemporary

Where to Eat

Fine Dining

Global Cuisine

Eating Out with Children

Reading the Menu

To Help you Order

Menu Reader

Restaurants

The Islands

The Right Bank

Louvre and Tuileries

The Grands Boulevards

Beaubourg, Marais, Bastille and East

Champs-Élysées and Trocadéro

Western Paris

Montmartre and the Northeast

The Left Bank

Latin Quarter and St-Germain-des-Prés

Around the Eiffel Tower

Montparnasse

A–Z Travel Tips

A

Accommodation (see also Hotel Listings click here)

Airports

B

Bicycle Hire (Rental)

Budgeting for Your Trip

C

Camping

Car Hire (Rental)

Climate

Clothing

Crime and Safety

D

Driving

E

Electricity

Embassies and Consulates

Emergencies

G

Getting There (see also Airports)

Guides and Tours

H

Health and Medical Care (see also Emergencies)

L

LGBTQ Travellers

Lost Property

M

Maps

Media

Money

O

Opening Hours

P

Police (see also Emergencies)

Post Offices

Public Holidays

T

Telephones

Time Differences

Tipping

Toilets

Tourist Information

Transport

Travellers with Disabilities

V

Visas and Entry Requirements

W

Websites

Y

Youth Hostels

Recommended Hotels

The Islands

The Right Bank

Louvre and Tuileries

The Grands Boulevards

Beaubourg, Marais and Bastille

Western Paris

Montmartre

The Left Bank

Latin Quarter and St-Germain-des-Prés

Around the Eiffel Tower

Montparnasse

Dictionary

English–French

French–English

Paris’s Top 10 Attractions

Top Attraction #1

iStock

Centre Pompidou

The inside-out museum showcases art from 1905 to the present day. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #2

Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications

Arc de Triomphe

Built to celebrate Napoleon’s victories, it dominates the Champs-Élysées. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #3

iStock

Eiffel Tower

Built for the 1889 World Fair, it is still the most potent symbol of Paris. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #4

Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications

The Marais

Atmospheric streets, museums, trendy bars, and some of the city’s finest architecture. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #5

iStock

Jardin du Luxembourg

The perfect Parisian park. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #6

Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications

The Louvre

Once the home of kings, now home to the world’s most outstanding art collection. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #7

Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications

Montmartre

Artistic heritage, lively bars and some of the most romantic streets in the city. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #8

Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications

Place des Vosges

One of Paris’ most lovely squares. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #9

Ilpo Musto/Apa Publications

Notre-Dame

A monument to Catholicism and the skill of the great Gothic architects. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #10

Kevin Cummins/Apa Publications

Musée d’Orsay

A treasure trove of Impressionist works. For more information, click here.

A Perfect Day In Paris

8.00am

Breakfast

If your hotel doesn’t serve breakfast, ask the concierge for directions to the nearest good boulangerie; buy some freshly-baked croissants or pains au chocolat and find a leafy square nearby to eat them in.

9.00am

Seine boat tour

Begin at the city’s origin, the River Seine. Make your way to the western tip of the Île de la Cité, via the steps down from Pont-Neuf. From here, take one of the Vedettes du Pont-Neuf boat tours; it is a lovely way to see the city.

10.30am

Rue de Seine

From Pont-Neuf, walk along quai de Conti, then amble down characterful rue de Seine with its art and fashion boutiques.

11.00am

Coffee break

At the Palais du Luxembourg, turn left and walk along the railings of the famous Jardin du Luxembourg, the most elegant of Paris’s parks. Stop for a strong espresso at smart café Le Rostand (for more information, click here), on the square at the garden’s eastern tip.

12 noon

Park and lunch

After a stroll through the Jardin du Luxembourg among joggers, boules players and smooching couples, make your way to nearby restaurant La Ferrandaise (for more information, click here) and enjoy a nice light lunch of updated French classics.

2.00pm

Paris history

Walk towards the river along teeming boulevard St-Michel, then catch the Métro to St-Paul. Walk up rue Malher to the Musée Carnavalet (for more information, click here) and spend an hour or two exploring Paris’s history through the paintings and artefacts.

4.30pm

Retail therapy

Make your way back to Métro St-Paul and go straight to Charles-de-Gaulle-Étoile station. Take a moment outside the station to admire the Arc de Triomphe (for more information, click here), then walk down the Champs-Élysées, dipping into the swanky, big-brand shops as you go.

6.00pm

Montmartre and dinner

Take the Métro to Abbesses, on the hill of Montmartre. Follow your nose through the atmospheric, winding streets. After a relaxed bistro dinner at Chez Toinette (for more information, click here), walk to Sacré-Cœur and savour the panoramic view over the city from its front steps.

9.30pm

Bar hopping

Walk downhill to boulevard de Rochechouart and take a taxi to the République and Oberkampf area, which is littered with trendy bars. Try rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, which runs parallel to rue Oberkampf, just east of place de la République – the perfect counterpoint to the historic attractions you saw earlier.

Introduction

It’s hard to argue with Victor Hugo’s description of Paris as ‘the city of cities’. For over 2,000 years, it has steadily grown in size and reputation, and each of its many layers is rich in history and intrigue. Unlike many European cities, it was left almost unscathed by the two world wars, and its celebrated streets, monuments and museums still work their centuries-old magic today. And then there’s the artistic heritage of the ‘City of Light’; long a powerhouse of art, literature, music and philosophy. Little wonder that the Parisians are so proud to be part of a city that, according to writer Jean Giraudoux, has been home to, ‘the greatest amount of thinking, talking and writing in the world’.

Geography

Paris centres around the River Seine, whose flowing waters have long been the lifeblood of the city. The River Seine enters Paris close to the Bois de Vincennes in the southeast and meanders gently north and south past three small, heavily developed islands – the Île St-Louis, Île de la Cité and, on its way out, Île des Cygnes. Chains of hillocks add perspective to the city, with Montmartre (the city’s highest point), Ménilmontant, Belleville and Buttes Chaumont rising up to the north of the river, and to the south, Montsouris, the Mont Ste-Geneviève, Buttes aux Cailles and Maison Blanche.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon imposed a special status on the city of Paris, giving it the powers of a département in order to maintain a firm hold on the capital’s politics and populace. Today, each arrondissement also has its own council and mayor to deal with local affairs. In the two houses of the French Parliament, 21 delegates and 12 senators represent the city.

The River

Fluctuat nec mergitur (‘[She] is tossed by the waves but does not sink’), reads the Latin inscription on the capital’s coat-of-arms, symbolising a city born beside the River Seine. Today, the Seine cuts a swathe through the city’s middle and is the capital’s widest avenue, spanned by a total of 37 bridges, which provide some of the loveliest views of Paris.

The river is the city’s calmest thoroughfare, notwithstanding the daily flow of tourist and