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?
Les Halles

( Worth Seeing )

Paris's legendary food market has long gone from the centre of the capital, but the name is here to stay, tinged for many Parisians with a certain nostalgia, for when the 19th-century steel and glass 'pavillons de Baltard' were removed in 1969 and the noisy activity of the market suddenly stopped, the character of this popular district changed beyond recognition. A vast gaping hole was left between one of the most beautiful churches in Paris and a lovely Renaissance fountain. A commercial and cultural complex was built underground with a central patio surrounded by glass-roofed galleries that barely reach ground level. Above ground, a garden was laid over the remaining space, with a children's area and shaded walks and yet more graceful steel and glass structures.
The underground complex, spread over several levels, comprises shops, including a group of fifty young fashion designers (Poste Berger, level -1), restaurants, an auditorium, a gymnasium and a swimming-pool, as well as a tropical greenhouse.
A huge stone head leaning against a hand decorates the semicircular paved area in front of the Eglise St-Eustache. The latter was built over a period of a hundred years, in a blend of late Gothic, Renaissance and neo-classical styles. From the church, a path leads across the gardens to the square des Innocents and the beautiful Renais sance fountain, built and carved in the mid-16th century by Pierre Lescot and Jean Goujon, who also worked on the Louvre.


Forum des Halles

Address: Rue Pierre Lescot, rue Rambuteau, rue Berger, 75001 Paris
Restaurant: In the complex (Inexpensive)
Bus: 29, 38, 47
Metro: Les Halles
Accessible: Lifts to all levels
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