Les Invalides

Is it just laziness or are Parisians incapable of estimating distances?

This I thought for the nth time as my near-mutinous feet stepped on what seemed another mile of cobblestone pavements towards the L’Orangerie. But what one very gracious curator at the Musee d’Orsay succinctly put as “near” turned out to be “near-tiring” by tourist standards. 

Paris is a city of walkers. Despite an efficient public transportation system, people still walk. Even at 11 in the evening, when the only logical option is the Metro, you’d still find a melee of Parisians crossing the streets in their wool coats, trenches, plaid scarves and knee-high boots. Well, you can’t really blame them. As the train’s convoluted maze of correspondances (train connections and interchanges) and sorties (exits) adds up to the same three-street-block-walks, fraternizing with French architectural finds aboveground sounds vastly appealing than saturating the senses with senseless ad campaigns underground.

A whole city of artworks

It’s actually not hard to imagine Paris as one big museum. It is a city born of the Arts and borne by its Art. Everything you see is literally an artwork, from the lampposts that hint of the Gothic period to the Metro train stations with their Art Deco and Art Nouveau decors. 

Even the simplest commercial and residential buildings bear the stamps of Gothic and Renaissance periods with their trademark arches, buttresses and columns. In fact, as embarrassing as it may seem, mistaking an office building or even an apartment complex for a tourist landmark is not unusual for a first-time Paris visitor.

Even Parisians themselves are living mannequins of the art that has made Givenchy and YSL household names. Look to the streets and you will find locals in layers of fleece and velvet. The bright colors and intricate patterns of their clothes serve as stunning foreground to the stucco and granite finish of most Parisian buildings, as to the lush greeneries that line up the streets.

On a map, the city even reads like the blueprint of a museum. Famed landmarks, museums, churches and shopping destinations are placed side by side on its 20 arrondissements (districts) with the River Seine providing a natural contrast to the harsh angles of the city’s numerous structural masterpieces.

Interlaced landmarks

At its center lies The Louvre, a 65,000 square meter of artistic, architectural and landscaping genius. The former French palace is the world’s biggest and most famous museum, housing priceless masterpieces as Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. Right outside is the city’s largest and oldest park, The Tuileries and Carrousel Gardens, which also function as  museums al fresco with sculptures from the 18th and 21st centuries scattered all over the gardens.

Right across The Louvre is a personal favorite, the Musee d’ Orsay, whose residents are the veritable who’s who of the mid-19th and early 20th century French art scene. The former railway station houses Van Gogh’s iconic Self-Portrait; Cezanne’s still life masterpiece Apples and Oranges; Monet’s Woman with a Parasol, Renoir’s Bal au moulin de la Galette; Whistler’s Whistler’s Mother and Seurat’s The Circus.

Just a stone throw’s away from the Musee d’ Orsay are two of France’s icons, whose sizes cannot be more different. With a façade lined with cannons used in past wars, Les Invalides seems to be still ready to strike against the enemies of the Little Corporal Napoleon Bonaparte, whose tomb is housed inside. Originally built to serve as the gateways to the 1889 World’s Fair, the iron lattice framework of Eiffel Tower now serves as France’s face to the world. A fixture in the Parisian skyline, its sweeping view of the city is exceeded only by the incredible vantage point that the Tour Maine de Montparnasse—the tallest skyscraper in Paris— provides and the unenclosed feel, not to mention, free viewing pleasure that the Basilica of the Sacred Heart delivers, as it rises from the summit of the Montmartre, the highest point in the city.

About a few minutes walk from The Louvre are museums that bring to life paintings that you only see on prints. The Musee de l‘Orangerie unfurls Monet’s series of water lily paintings, Nympheas, along with the works of Cezanne, Matisse and Renoir while the Centre Georges Pompidou houses within its Structural Expressionism walls the works of modern artists Warhol, Dali and Pollock. The Musee Rodin, on the other hand, is where the sculptor’s masterpiece The Thinker sits resplendent in the gardens. 

Near the Centre Pompidou is Hotel de Ville, Paris’ seat of government, along with two of France’s finest examples of Gothic architecture. La Sainte Chapelle (The Holy Chapel), which lies on the west, stays true to the Gothic period, from the inside out. With the sun kindling a colorful interplay of bright lights, the stained-glass windows around the altar and stunning rose window glass art remain unparalleled in the world. A block away is the city’s “lady” the Cathedrale Notre Dame, the setting of the Victor Hugo classic whose main character, the hunchback falls in love with a gypsy. Its Gothic birthmark— the flying buttress— still stands up to this day at the church’s apse.

Although quite a long walk from the Cathedrale, the Pantheon in the Latin Quarters is definitely worth the leg cramps. With sculpted ceilings reaching 272 feet high, the structure is a towering piece of Neoclassic art. Pantheon used to be a church but is now home to the remains of popular French icons: philosophers Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau, novelists Victor Hugo and Alexander Dumas, and Nobel Prize winning physicist Marie Curie.

And much like the gilded corners of a museum, each piece of landmark is juxtaposed to an assortment of equally famous sites and destinations: the La Fayette Park or the Champs Elysees, the Champ de Mars or the Luxemborg Gardens. Not an inch of space is forgettable in Paris. Everything is a piece of fine art.

And as I left the barred doors of the l’Orangerie, which the gracious curator forgot to mention, was closed that day, I realized that I did not mind the walk, enjoyed it even, having stopped every once in a while to admire a sculpture or two at the Tuileries and taken shots of the Eiffel Tower with the Seine flowing below. It was then that I realized that Paris was not a city of walkers but for walkers and that Parisians’ apparent shortcomings in estimations are not borne out of having bionic feet or math difficulties but of a never-ending fascination with the city. Beauty does have a way of numbing the senses, doesn't it.

My feet was however another matter entirely, now screaming bloody murder. But had my feet had eyes, they would not have minded too. No, not at all. 

Paris Quick Tips

1. Free Ride

If walking is not for you, buy the Paris Visite Card that offers unlimited rides on the public transportation systems plus huge discounts in museums and landmarks as well as in ferry rides.

2. Free Pass

If you plan to visit a couple of museums, better buy the Paris Museum Pass, which gives you free access to more than 60 museums including the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay and the Georges Pompidou.

3. Time it in

Summer is the best time and probably the safest time to travel to Paris. Days are longer, with the sun setting at about 7:30 pm. That means more time to tour! Also, time your visit on the first weekend of the month. Paris museums offer free entrance on the first Sunday of every month. The famed Porte de Clignancourt bazaars are also only open during weekends.

4. Dress in layers

The weather can be unpredictable. Early morning and dusk can be really cold while the mid-morning until mid-afternoon can be extremely hot. To be sure, dress in layers that you can singularly take off when the weather changes.