Unique Things To Do In Paris
An Overview of Paris
There’s no city more culturally potent and no land more dazzled with centuries of light than France with Paris as it’s central gem. Paris is the pinnacle of French culture and ingenuity. It remains one of the most remarkable urban creations in all of the European continent. The City of Light is also the center of French economy, politics, traffic and culture. With many art museums, culture venues and historical buildings, there are many unique things to do in Paris.
Unique Things To Do In Paris
Day Trip to Visit Verdun – Outside of the city and perched on the fateful German border exists one of WWI’s most horrific and endlessly warped battlefields in the world. Verdun was the site of devastating and sustained artillery and trench warfare tactics. It was one of the major epicenters for horrific casualties during the conflict.
Montmartre Hill – This is a risen neighborhood built in a classical style. It hosts unique street artworks and the famously serene Basilica of Sacre-Coeur, which overlooks the entire city.
Marais Neighborhood – This is the extremely fashionable Marais district also known as SoMa. This neighborhood is filled with hip boutiques, unique galleries, famous gay bars and a strong Jewish cultural influence.
Arab World Institute River and Roof – This is a famous and geometrically stunning structure built as a homage to Arabic culture. The Arab World Institute was funded by 18 Arab countries to research and educate about Arab cultural and spiritual values.
Luxembourg Gardens – Known locally as the Jardin du Senat, this wonderful green space is a series of formal gardens accessible only to the French Royalty until the explosive French Revolution. Now, they are some of the most beautiful, well-maintained, ornate and popular gardens in all of France.
Bois De Boulogne -This is a large public park known for its stunning water features and calming walking trails. Though it was once a royal preserve, it’s now a popular recreation area near the River Seine. The park contains the famous racetracks of Longchamp and Auteuil, the Musée Marmottan Monet, the Shakespeare Garden walking loops, the Louis Vuitton Foundation musuem and the Jardin d’Acclimatation Amuseument Park,
Museum of Vampires and Legendary Creatures (Musee des Vampires) – A French cultural take on some of the most famous and culturally potent creatures of the night. This odd museum was created by the legendary mythology scholar, Jacques Sirgent.
59 Rivoli – This is an amazing multi-tiered building well-known for being an artist squat. Now, the venue operates as a de-facto museum for modern artists who encase the walls, staircase and balconies with their endlessly changing artworks.
I Love You Wall – A love-themed wall of over 40 square meters in Jehan Rictus Garden with messages of white and red being etched upon solemn black stone. It is very popular for romantic tourists.
Salvador Dali Sundial – This small wall-embedded art feature shows a curious face with blue eyes and scallop-shell features which track the heavens across a series of humble, oddly labeled lines.
Dans le Noir – This is a themed and interesting French eatery where people are served incredible meals in pitch darkness.
Centre Pompidou (Inside Out Art Museum) – A modern art museum of glass and scaffolding where the exhibits and scaffolded structure lounge on the exterior of the building.
Danse de la Fontaine Émergente – This is a monumental fountain construct in Paris which doubles as a strange access point to an underground nightclub.
Rue Cremieux – This is a quaint and beautiful series of pastel colored buildings following a quiet road in Paris. It is a popular place for photos, capturing the artful charms of the suburban parts of the city.
Esplanade des Invalides – This is a large and scenic lawn space famous for picnics and unobstructed views of the Seine. It is an excellent place to relax.
Tuileries Garden – This is a stunning and historically vital Royal Garden of France, especially famous for being the point of refuge of Louis XVI before French Revolutionaries returned him to the palace of Versailles.
Square Louise Michel – This is a leafy plaza and series of small gardens with strong steps leading up to the Sacre Coeur Church. The area is often full of street performers and tourist overlooking the lower city.
Pere Lachaise Cemetery This is an ironically bustling cemetery. The shaded gravesite is the most famous and iconic cemetery of France and among the most visited graveyard in the world.
Petite Ceinture – These underground chambers contain a series of dark and abandoned railway tunnels circling the city of Paris. There are various, somewhat hidden access points for tourists and tours.
Catacombs of Paris – The famously complex and morbid underground tombs beneath Parisian streets. The best way to access these underground chambers is through tours.
House of Nicolas Flamel – This is the oldest stone house of Paris. The name of the building was the inspiration for the famous alchemist referenced in the Harry Potter book series.
Bibliothèque Nationale de France – This is the library which once housed the largest book collection in the world. Currently, it’s the extensive repository of all works of literature published in France.
Montmartre Cemetery – This quiet gravesite doubles as a stray cat sanctuary for the many felines of France. It’s common to see cats basking on dark gravestones which soak up the sunlight better.
Room of Endangered and Extinct Species – This is a deeply sobering series of displays showing valuable and well-preserved hunting collections of animals gone from Earth or fated to soon follow.
Eiffel Tower – Among the most famous structures on Earth, the iconic building stands gorgeous and tall as a wrought-iron lattice structure on the Champ de Mars. The Tower is especially iconic at night when small lights cause the structure to sparkle. Visitors arriving on national holidays such as Bastille Day can see fireworks shot out of the structure’s iron platforms.
Jules Lavirotte 29 Avenue Rapp – This is a singular and scandalous Art-Nouveau collaboration façade. Erotic figures, phallic additions and flamboyant designs made this doorway and building a subject of gossip after its unveiling in 1901.
Musee des Arts et Metiers – This is the Paris national museum of scientific industrial instruments. Old technologies, transitionary inventions, prototypes, machines, models, notes and inventor concepts are all on display here.
Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy – This startling museum of imposing skeleton armies houses the bone molds of hundreds of species, including a rather famous mammoth skeleton. The endless rows of fossils and skeletons are impressive to behold.
Notre Dame Cathedral – This is the medieval Catholic structure along the Ile de la Cite. Thought it remains a wonderful example of beautiful Gothic architecture, it suffered major damage during a fire in April of 2019.
La Recyclerie – A nice and environmentally sound urban Parisian café with an eco-center offering repair and recycling workshops. The outer cafe is created in an industrial-style.
Statue of Death of the University of Medicine – Statue of death itself in an anatomically correct skull and classically styled robe tucked away in the University of Medicine courtyard. The statue is an elegant, if morbid, reminder of mortality.
Musee Curie – One of the most vital women in modern science has a museum dedicated to her and the history of radiation studies.
Lion of the Botanical Garden – The famous Parisian Gardens are home to equally famous and noble statues depicting lions. These huge, dark monuments lie at the entrance of the Rose Garden, originally donated by the city of Leon.
Parc Monceau – This is an impressive curved column in a relaxing park space. The columns are now monuments to the ruins of a Duke’s dream and a site where imported camels once roamed.
The Heart of Voltaire – This seated statue has a morbid feature resting within the chiseled marble: the French Enlightenment writer Voltaire’s actual heart is interred within the stone.
La Promenade Plantee – This is a magical green walk through Paris which follows an elevated viaduct over the city.
Duluc Detective Agency – This site contains a “noirish” green neon sign for one of the oldest private detective agencies in Paris.
Napoleon’s Angels – Here stand 12 grim-faced soldiers guarding the emperor’s tombs at Les Invalides, a final defense for the man who threw the old world of Europe into perfect chaos.
Musee National de la Marine – This is a famous and well-crafted Museum of French naval history with a boat used by Napoleon and historic diving suit.
Temple de la Sybille (Temple of Sybille) – This famed temple is a Roman-styled monument with a craggy view overlooking Paris from the famous Parc des Buttes-Chaumont.
Paris Padlocks of Love – In a fit of amusing irony, this eyesore bridge of love has thousands of padlocks clipped to its sides, causing structural damages created by starry-eyed sweethearts.
Rungis International Market – Considered one of the best shopping markets in Paris, this is a iconic location for various types of street foods and fresh ingredients.
Paris Catacombs Golem – Beneath the streets of Paris exists a harrowing, heavily graffitied Mud Statue. The figure can only be seen while wandering around the dark burial tunnels underneath the city
Jeune Éléphant pris au Piège (Young Elephant caught in a Trap) – This remains a heart-wrenching emotional World Fair display from 1878 eagerly confronting common animal cruelties still entrenched in the modern world.
Sacre-Coeur – This building of fantastic white is a stately church seated atop a rounded hill overlooking Pari. It sits as a centerpiece for an entire neighborhood known for being both artful and lovely.
Wine on the Seine River – Every night, thousands lounge along the banks of the river, drinking and sampling food. This popular evening pasttime can be seen on the banks of every river and canal in the city.
Provins – This is a deservedly iconic UNESCO World Heritage Medieval village outside of Paris, complete with high ramparts, fortified gates, classic statues and fountains. Additionally, Provins is the site of many major festivals. It is a one hour day trip from the center of Paris with relatively few tourists.
Versailles – Versailles is the extrodinary and famed royal chateau located on the outskirts of Paris where the French Revolution drove the monarchy into a pseudo-exile before forcing forced Louis XVI to return to Paris. The fateful king would see the collapse of the French monarchy before being executed by guillotine.
Musee d’Orsay -This immense museum hosts the largest collection of Impressionist Artwork in the world, It specializes in French art styles dating from 1848 to 1941, using paintings, sculptures and furniture in its many exhibits.
Rue des Martyrs – This is a historic old route of Paris following historic old market streets around town. The route is a popular walking tour since it includes authentic slices of Paris and over 200 small cultural shops.
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