Paris Off The Beaten Path

Had arrived from Africa eleven months ago at CDG , Paris, enough time to get to the correct gate to connect to YUL Just before boarding, passport checked but was prevented from boarding, . . . . . to...

A wonderful old Church next to the more famous sacre cœur at 2 Rue du Mont Cenis, 75018 Paris;this is the Church of Saint Pierre or Peter. While writing about Saint Denis, the Passio Sancti...

On the corner of rue des Trois Freres and rue Androuet is the well known ( in Montmartre) grocers, familiarly called "La Maison Collignon", now the "Marché de la Butte". This is the site of the...

This “Courtyard of the Bear” dates from the early 19th century and is still the site of some furniture shops and cabinetmakers. Since 2007 this courtyard is also the address of a voluntary movement...

If you like to jog, picnic or just enjoy a quiet moment in Paris with great view of the Eiffel Tower, visit L’ile des Cygnes (The Swan Island). This green oasis right in the middle of the river Seine,...

This large cemetery in the 20th arrondissement is popular with tourists because some famous people are buried here. If you go in at the main entrance you can get a map to help you find the graves of...

Adjacent to the big palace, a wing with the name of Grand Trianon was built in 1687 to replace the "Trianon de porcelaine" used by Louis XIV in his unofficial loving affairs. The building has an...

If you are in Paris for more than a few days why not pay a day visit to one of the many wonderul Castles, Chateaux or Cathedrales located on the Paris outskirts? With some only from a short 40 min...

This house in the fourth arrondissment is where I lived for two months in October/November 1962, and again in October/November 1966. They have fixed the windows since then, and installed a...

This is the third biggest park in Paris, after Tuileries and Villette, and it includes such unusual features as man-made cliffs (the only cliffs in Paris, as far as I know), a man-made lake, a...

Here at what is now the corner of Rue d’Auteuil and Avenue Théophile Gautier is where the seventeenth century playwright Molière (1622-1673) once lived – not in this same house, which was built later,...

This huge painting of a detective, by Jean Le Gac (born 1936) is also on the wall of a building at Place Fréhel, Rue de Belleville. "Accustomed to the allusive style of the painter, the young...

It should not be a surprise that Paris has a Musée de l'Erotisme ("Museum of the Erotic"). If this genre of art appeals to you, you will find this museum fascinating. The collection is extensive,...

Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) was one of the principal government ministers during the reign of King Louis XIV. Like Louvois, his colleague and rival, Colbert had the reputation of being an able...

Rue Moufettard- has a night market and lots of restaurants in the Latin quarter. It is the hangout for students from the university of Paris. A great place to spend an evening and get a feel for real...

Mirabeau Bridge (Le Pont Mirabeau) is well known in France because of the poem of the same name by Guillaume Apollinaire (1880 – 1918), a sad and deceptively simple poem about the end of a love...

This inconspicuous kiosk at the south end of Alma Bridge looks as though it might be the secret entrance to some underground world – which in fact it is, since it is the entrance to the Museum of the...

On my quest to satisfy my craving for Thai food, I took the advice of some Chowhound friends and went to both Chinatowns. This is Chinatown in Belleville. Unlike Chinatown in the 13th arrondissement,...

As I mentioned on my Wildbad im Schwarzwald page, one of the mysteries of operatic history is why the composer Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) abruptly stopped composing in 1829 at the age of 37, when...

When I was researching what to see and do in Paris, I came across the Basilica of Saint Denis near Paris. I read it was the burial site of French monarchs, which makes it comparable to Westminster...

The Centre Georges Pompidou, AKA the Beaubourg, is one of the famous modern buildings of Paris. People tend to either love it or hate it but few are ambivalent. It is a bit jarring to see the stark...

The trip to the "island" of La Defense is several kilometers long, and somewhat boring. The monotony is broken in Porte Maillot with an ugly but simultaneously appealing building. A simulated odd...

200-300 kms is a long radius to travel and see gardens, there is a site that has them all ;its the offical committee site and have descriptions of thousands of toenjoy it, many in big towns too...

This is a huge park enclosing several places, day and night activities. Main entrance is at 211 Avenue Jean Jaurès, the easiest way to get here is by metro once in Paris.line 5 at Porte de Pantin...

At 25 kilometers of the city of Paris you will find Disneyland Paris. And ever since the opening of Space Mountain and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Disneyland Paris has a variety of good...