| North
of Madeleine are numerous, mostly 3 star hotels, along quiet uncommercial
streets for the most part. Not cheap but certainly a step down from
the immediate vicinity of Opera. |
South
of Opera the Avenue d'Opera is a wide straight boulevard that connects
Opera with the Palais Royale and The Louvre. Near Pyramides Metro
half way down s the main tourist office.
There is a maze of back streets on either side with hotels, restaurants,
bars and some commerce. For the visitor, the outstanding attraction
here is The Louvre.
|
Hotel
Map
Opera District |
|
The
Louvre
The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre) is one of the largest,
oldest, most important and famous art galleries and museum in the
world.
It is famous for holding several of the world's most prestigious
works of art, such as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, The Virgin
and Child with St. Anne, Virgin of the Rocks and Alexandros of Antioch's
Venus de Milo.
|
Passerelle Solferino Footbridge
Crosses the River Seine by The Louvre
|
The
entrances and ticketing are all underground, together with a shopping
centre and tourist office. The famous glass pyramid, pictured top,
is one of the entrances. It is no more than a very big skylight with
escalators down to the underground complex below.
Many visitors will enter the complex via the Palais Royal Metro station.
The Passerelle
Solferino Footbridge
(pictured above) crosses the Seine from the south side of The Louvre
to the Musee d'Orsay. The museum building was originally a railway
station, and is now a major art museum featuring mostly French art.
The Passerelle
Solferino Footbridge is a great place to take a rest. There are seats
and you can watch the comings and goings of the river below as well
as people watching with most of the major landmarks of Paris all around
you.
Full details about visiting the Louvre are at The
Louvre Official Website. |
| From
The Louvre there is perhaps THE classic walk of Paris. Walk through
The Tuileries Gardens to the Place du Concorde, then straight up the
famous Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. This Louvre
to Champs Elysees walk is in more detail on a dedicated page. |
 |
|
|
