Destination: Paris
What To See
Paris
Paris
  + Exploring Paris
  Sights
* Pont Alexandre III
* Arc de Triomphe
* Art Moderne de La Ville de Paris, Musée d'
* Arts Asiatiques-Guimet, Musée national des
* Arts Décoratifs, Musée des
* Arts et Métiers-Techniques, Musée national des
* Assemblée Nationale Palais-Bourbon
* Baccarat, Musée
* Balzac, Maison de
* Bastille
* Bibliothèque Nationale De France
* Carnavalet, Musée
* Cernuschi, Musée
* Chaillot, Palais de
* Cognacq-Jay, Musée
* La Conciergerie
* Concorde, Place de la
* Eugène Delacroix, Musée National
* Faubourg Saint-Germain
* Faubourg St-Honoré
* Fragonard, Musée
* Gobelins, Manufacture nationale des
* Grand Palais
* Grands Boulevards
* Les Halles
* Hôtel De Ville
* Institut De France
* Institut du Monde Arabe
* Jacquemart-André, Musée
* Jeu de Paume, Galerie nationale du
* Madeleine, Eglise de la
* Maillol, Musée
* Le Marais
* Marmottan, Musée
* Mode et du Costume, Musée de la
* Montmartre
* Montparnasse
* Moyen-Age, Musée National du
* Musique, Musée de la
* Nissim de Camondo, Musée
* Opéra Garnier
* Orangerie, Musée National de l'
* Palais-Royal
* Panthéon
* Père-Lachaise, Cimetière du
* Petit Palais, Musée du
* Picasso, Musée
* Plantes, Jardin des
* Rodin, Musée
* Sacré Coeur, Basilique du
* St-Germain-des-Prés
* Saint-Louis, Ile
* St-Sulpice, église
* Sainte-Chapelle
* Tuileries, Jardin des
* Vendôme, Place
* Vosges, place des
Vicinity
  + Vicinity

  Walk/Drive
  Food&Drink
  In The Know
  Did You Know?
Bastille

( Highly Recommended )

The place de la Bastille is forever associated with the French Revolution, since it was here that it all began. The dreaded fortress was stormed by the people of Paris on 14 July 1789 and later razed to the ground; its outline can be seen on the paving stones covering the entire square. In the centre stands a 50m-high column erected in memory of the victims of the 1830 and 1848 Revolutions, who were buried beneath the base and whose names are carved on the shaft. The column is surmounted by the gilt winged figure of the Spirit of Liberty by Dumont.
The new Paris opera house, one of President Mitterrand's 'Grands projets', was inaugurated for the bicentenary of the 1789 Revolution. It was the subject of bitter controversy from the start as running costs proved too high for an establishment intended as a popular opera house. Designed by the Canadian architect Carlos Ott, the Opéra National de Paris-Bastille is a harmonious building with a curved façade in several shades of grey which glitters in the sun and gently glows at night. The acoustics of the main auditorium, which can accommodate 2,700 spectators, are superb and the stage is one of the most sophisticated in the world.
Just south of the opera house, a disused railway viaduct has been converted into a series of workshops and showrooms illustrating a number of traditional crafts known as the Viaduc des Arts; the Ateliers du Cuivre et de l'Argent (copper and silver workshops) are particularly interesting and there is a small museum.


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