Ahh, Paris. So often top of the list in city break surveys and no wonder. Iconic sights, red café awnings, bouquinistes and plenty of ‘je ne sais quoi’. We tell the stories behind all the main sights – Notre Dame, Versailles, the Musée d’Orsay – and go looking for the places which illustrate the city’s main themes: everything from Napoleon’s Paris to café culture, not forgetting art, literature and ….. shopping!
The 24 episodes in our City Break Paris series bring you all the background history and culture you need to fully understand this gorgeous city. In short, here is all the research you’d do yourself if only you had the time.
Each episode centres around a podcast, available here or on all the usual providers. As a minimum, you’ll also find an introductory summary plus useful links and ideas for further reading. Eventually, there’ll be full blogpost with lot more information and pictures.
PARIS : HISTORY & CULTURE
EPISODE 1: Introduction to Paris
So often top of the polls when people are asked what city they would most like to visit, Paris barely needs an introduction! But here is an overview of the city, geographically, historically and culturally, to whet your appetite for the remaining 21 episodes when we will tour all the main sites, telling you the stories behind them and introducing a wealth of colourful personalities who have influenced the city over the centuries. Bon voyage!
EPISODE 2: Heart of the City
Surely every tour of Paris should start in the heart of the city, on the two islands which were where the very first settlers made their home, the Île St Louis and the Île de la Cité. We visit the city’s oldest buildings, the Conciergerie and the beautiful Sainte Chapelle Church, linger a little on the Pont Neuf (actually the city’s oldest bridge) and, finally, hear the poignant tale of Paris’ best-known lovers, the 12th century philosophy teacher Abelard and the girl who stole his heart, Héloise.
EPISODE 3: 2 Paris Cathedrals – Notre Dame and St Denis
The fire which almost engulfed Notre Dame reminded Parisians and the world in general how precious the city’s cathedral is and this episode will explain why, touching both on significant historical events which have taken place there and what to see when you visit. But before that, an introduction to Paris’ other, slightly older, cathedral, the Basilique St Denis. It’s less visited, being a little outside the very centre of the city, but it is a building of amazing peace and beauty in which almost every one of France’s kings and queens is buried.
EPISODE 4: Versailles
A visit to the splendid palace just outside Paris which made Louis the Fourteenth the envy of monarchs all over Europe, yet whose very grandeur helped sow the seeds for revolution among his own people just a few generations later. A little history, some insights into the personality of a man who thought himself so deserving of pomp and extravagance and some pointers on what to look out for on a visit to the château and its glorious grounds.
EPISODE 5: Revolutionary Paris
1789, the defining moment in the history of Paris, is the focus of today’s episode. Of course, the Bastille prison no longer exists, but we can visit the Conciergerie, where Marie-Antoinette and so many of her subjects were imprisoned, the Place de la Concorde, one of the sites where revolutionaries executed several thousand people in their quest to overthrow the authorities and the Musée Carnavalet, the city’s main history museum. There’ll be time too to learn a little more about the ill-fated Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette.
EPISODE 6: Napoleon’s Paris
This look at Napoleon’s Paris focuses on the Emperor himself and the buildings most closely connected with him: the Arc de Triomphe, begun under his own instructions in 1805 to mark his victory at Austerlitz; the Invalides, where not just his hat and his field equipment, but also his imposing tomb are on display; and the lovely Château de Malmaison, the country retreat he bought for Josephine a few miles out of the city. We examine his legacy too, the changes he made to Paris, and, most illuminatingly, his own remarks in praise of his glories and success!
EPISODE 7: Montmartre
We look first at Montmartre as one of the centres of the Paris Commune. After a visit to the Basilique de Sacré Coeur, built in commemoration of the city’s suffering, we consider the other important aspect of the area, its artistic heritage and a visit to the Musée de Montmartre will illuminate the lives of the artists who lived and worked here, as well as the goings-on in such well-known venues as the Moulin de la Galette and the Chat Noir.
EPISODE 8: Belle Époque
Impressionist painters, the Folies Bergères, the city’s art-deco style metro stations and its grandest cafes all date from the Belle Époque, the 40 year period so well captured in Toulouse Lautrec’s quintessentially Parisian posters. It is the era when the Opéra Garnier, the Eiffel Tower and the Galéries Lafayette were built, a time when Paris seemed to be the centre of the civilised world. The episode looks at a little history and takes you on a tour of the places where you can still glimpse Belle Époque Paris today.
EPISODE 9: Impressionist Paris
Can there be a city and an art movement more intertwined than Paris and impressionism? Home to many of the movement’s best-known artists, Paris itself was often the subject of their paintings, whether lovely views of the city like Pissarro’s Boulevard Montmartre on a Wintry Afternoon or canvases capturing Parisians at leisure, such as Renoir’s Bal du Moulin de la Galette. This tour of impressionist Paris visits three key sites: the Musée Marmottan, the Orangerie and the Musée d’Orsay.
EPISODE 10: Occupied Paris
There are still signs of ‘les années noires’ (the dark years) of German occupation in Paris to be found all over the city, for example the many plaques in memory of fallen Resistance fighters and of deported Jewish Parisians, which can be spotted on buildings everywhere. This episode offers a little history, some testimonies from the time and a pointer to two institutions where you can learn much more: the Musée de la Libération and the holocaust memorial, the Shoah.
EPISODE 11: Montparnasse
A well-known Parisian saying tells us that the right bank may be for spending and shopping (‘La rive droite dépense’), but that the left bank is for more intellectual pursuits (‘La rive gauche pense’). This episode looks at the Quarter Latin, where the city’s best known university, the Sorbonne, has its roots and at Montparnasse, the adopted home of many of the 20th century’s best-known writers, both expats (Hemingway, James Joyce) and Parisian (Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir).
EPISODE 12: The Seine & Champs Elysées
This episode looks at two of the loveliest ways to see Paris, wandering along the Seine and strolling down the Champs Elysées. Informed by a little history, some travel writing and a snatch or two of poetry, we take a closer look at some of the famous places you will pass on these two routes. We also make time for such highly Parisian details as the role of the bouquinistes and the reason why the Pont des Arts has always been so popular with artists.
EPISODE 13: St Germain
The Parisian district of St Germain oozes class and intellectual allure, being home to the Sorbonne, and also to some of the big publishing houses, the Académie Française, proud guardian of the French language, and the lovely Luxembourg Gardens, so fondly described in many a memoir. This pot-pourri of an episode also considers the area’s political importance as the home of the Assemblée Nationale and the Sénat and its artistic inheritance, centering on two museums, formerly the homes of the Romantic painter Delacroix and the sculptor Rodin.
EPISODE 14: The Louvre
The world’s grandest art gallery, the Louvre’s enormity presents both a pleasure and a challenge. It is said that it would take a hundred days to see everything, if you stopped at each exhibit for 30 seconds. So this is a whistle-stop and rather esoteric tour, stopping off at some pointers to French history and at some representative examples of the best of French painting, with also a very quick nod to a number of sculptures and foreign block-busters.
EPISODE 15: Modern Art
A rundown of some of the events and ‘happenings’ in Paris which celebrate modern art, plus a visit to three of the big hitter museums where you can see 20th and 21st century works: the National Museum of Modern Art in the Pompidou Centre, the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art and the Musée Picasso. To finish off, some ideas on other places to enjoy contemporary art in all its many forms, be that painting, sculpture, sound and video installations or photography.
EPISODE 16: Le Shopping
Shopping in Paris is always a delight, whether you are popping to a local food market to choose some of the very best seasonal produce, wandering the ‘passages’, the maze of little covered shopping arcades dating from the nineteenth century or visiting one of the high-end department stores whose art deco interiors and piled-high top brands lure visitors from all over the world. From the macaroons of Ladurée to the latest word in fashion footwear from Christian Louboutin, you will find it all in Paris.
EPISODE 17: Cafe Culture
‘The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay. I heard the laughter of her heart in every street café.’ (Oscar Hammerstein II). Paris welcomes you to its corner cafes, its bistros and its restaurants. Discover the history of the Paris café, with its properly attired waiters, its bread baskets and its cluster of little tables, spilling their contents onto the pavements. Find out about the ‘must-visit’ establishments and the famous Parisians who made them their own.
EPISODE 18: Buried in Paris
Visits to the Panthéon, where Paris pays homage to France’s most respected citizens, and to the city’s cemeteries are always fascinating. The world’s most-visited cemetery, the Père Lachaise, contains the graves of, for example, Oscar Wilde and Edith Piaf, those in Montparnasse and Montmartre are also the last resting place of many famous writers, musicians and artists. We also take in Passy, the burial ground at the elite end of the city and the Picpus Cemetery, with its gruesome reminders of so many victims of the Revolution.
EPISODE 19: Literary Houses
We visit the two best-known literary museums in Paris, the Maison de Balzac in the 16th district and the Maison de Victor Hugo in the Place des Vosges and give an idea of what there is to see in each. In addition, brief biographical notes for each author are coupled with extracts to give a flavour of their work, from Eugène de Balzac’s novels Père Goriot and Eugénie Grandet and from Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Misérables.
EPISODE 20: Memoirs of Paris
This episode sets out to enjoy the work of a number of writers who loved Paris and wrote their memoirs about living or working there. Hear some gossip from 17th century high society via the pen of Mme de Sévigny, enjoy the reminiscences of past writers like Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell and find out about life in more contemporary Paris as experienced by the writer Adam Gopnik or the chef and food-writer David Lebowitz.
EPISODE 21: Moments in History
A look at Paris through history books and historical novels, offering plenty of reading ideas to inspire your next visit! Biographies of Queen Marie Antoinette or of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir can provide plenty of background material. So too can fiction set in the past, such as Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, or Robert Harris’ treatment of the Dreyfus Affair, An Officer and a Spy.
EPISODE 22: Literary Moments
A last look at Paris, this time through the eyes of authors who have set their work there. Four different novelists take us from the observation of murder and its aftermath in dingy 19th century back-street Paris, to an insider’s view of an elegant 21st century apartment block and its inhabitants. We look too at some short story collections, further extending the range of writing styles, eras and corners of Paris which are covered.
EPISODE 23: Fontainebleau and vaux-le-vicomte
This Paris episode covers two of the most beautiful châteaux in the Paris region. Both are easy to reach on public transport and both have fascinating stories to tell. We cover how to get there, what you can expect to see and make sure we cover the most interesting tales – François I’s show-off gallery, Napoleon’s refurbishment to impress the Pope and the party-to-end-all-parties which went ended in disaster and ruination.
EPISODE 24: Vincennes & St-Germain-en-Laye
Both Vincennes and St Germain-en-Laye make excellent days out from Paris, or even half days as both can be reached by public transport in less than half an hour. Each has a magnificent castle to visit, plus a range of other cultural, relaxation and shopping possibilities. So this episode tells you how to get to each place, following up with what there is to see and do there, plus – bien sûr! – a few of the interesting historical snippets which will inform your visit.
MORE READING ABOUT Paris
Useful websites for tourists
https://en.parisinfo.com/
https://www.paristouristinformation.fr/
https://secretsofparis.com/planning-your-visit/tourism-offices/
https://www.visitparisregion.com/en/services/tourist-information-centres
Four comprehensive guidebooks
Lonely Planet Paris
The Rough Guide to Paris
Fodor’s Paris
Eyewitness Paris
Three Literary anthologies and a history book for travellers
City Lit Paris edited by Heather Reyes
Paris: a Literary Companion by Ian Littlewood
A Place in the World called Paris by Miles Hyman and Steven Barclay
A Traveller’s History of Paris by Robert Cole
Five Paris Memoirs
The Flaneur by Edmund White
Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik
The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebowitz
Paris Revealed by Stephen Clarke
The Only Street in Paris by Elaine Sciolino
PODCASTS TO GET YOU STARTED
OTHER CITY BREAK IDEAS
LATEST ARTICLES
GALLERY
