What to do in Paris, France (part 3)

Here we go for the third (and most likely, the last) part of my Paris trip reporting! As I have told you about the most popular monuments and places of Paris, I will now tell you about some less known, yet still very nice to visit. Keep reading for more ideas of things to do during your next trip to Paris!

La Défense

La Défense is the business area of Paris. It is actually located a little outside of Paris, in “Nanterre”, but it is accessible from Paris with the metro (direct line). La Défense was constructed in the 60s. The towers were not as high as they are now since the beginning, it took decades for them to become that big. It is the biggest business center of Europe by its size, and you notice that there are a lot when you get there! There are so many high towers all around you, some of them have the names of some brands working inside on them. When you are standing there and looking up at them, you kind of feel dizzy because of their height. I guess these towers can be called “skyscrapers”.

But there is also another particular building there, that is kind of the symbol of La Défense. This building stands right in the middle of all those towers and has the form of an arch. That’s probably why it is called “L’Arche de la Défense”. It might seem strange to think that there are offices in this building, but there actually are some, and in every side, even at the top! I have never been inside as I am not sure we are allowed to visit it if we’re not here for business reasons, but you must get an amazing view from there, and it must feel good to think that you are visiting or working in such a big and iconic building! As crazy as it may sound, there is also a school under this arch! It’s a campus of my school actually, so I have already been inside there. The school is completely under the ground there!

La Défense also has a huge shopping mall, called “Les Quatre Temps”. It was inaugurated in 1981. These last years, it has been the most visited shopping mall in France and also the one with the highest turnover, that’s not nothing! It is massive, with 4 floors filled with shops (and just as many for parking lots)! This represents more than 200 shops, including some of the most famous brands in the world. There are also more than 40 restaurants, so you can find something that you would want to eat for sure.

La Défense might not be on the list of priority must-see area when visiting Paris, but if you spend a few days there, you should definitely try to make time to go and see it! It is still an important part of the city.

Les Colonnes de Buren

These sculptures are located in one of the courtyards of the “Palais-Royal”. They were imagined and put in place in 1986 by Daniel Buren (hence the name). The goal of the architecture was to put a modern and contemporary artwork into a historical building. He also wanted people to be able to access it for free, when the access to the Palais-Royal is not, which I think is great. Today still, people anybody can enter and see these original and intriguing black and white columns.

I think it’s their different size and placement that attract people to it. You might have already seen it on pictures as many people love to take pictures of themselves on them, or next to them when they go there (here again, I am not sure they know about the history of the place, but they probably rather just want to take "cool pictures" with this original scenery). Unfortunately for me, when I visited this place I was on my own, so I couldn't get any picture of myself with these columns. But now that I know the place, I will go back next time I go to Paris! Anyway, this place doesn’t take much time to visit, and it’s not so far from the Louvre Museum, only a few minutes even by walking!

Definitely a place to go and check out if you visit Paris!

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Le Moulin Rouge

Another iconic place! I guess you have all heard about it before, probably even seen the movie. It is located in the Pigalle area, not so far from Montmartre. It was built in 1888 (can you believe it has been here for more than a century!) and at the beginning, the main activity there were eccentric shows, including circus, shows and concerts. Nowadays, the Moulin Rouge is more known for the cabaret part, this very typical French show. If you want to go and see a show at the Moulin Rouge, you should know that you will also have dinner at the same time! This is the concept of the biggest Cabarets in Paris (along with the Lido, the Crazy Horse, Les Folies Bergères…), you have dinner and enjoy the show at the same time! Also know that the prices are quite high since it is some high-quality show and place, so it is not accessible to everybody and anybody! You also need to book the place a few weeks or months before you intend to go to make sure you can have a reservation. But I have never heard somebody saying that they were not satisfied with their experience at the Moulin Rouge or any other cabarets, I'm not sure it's even possible to not like it and to regret going.

I have never had the chance of assisting to one of these shows yet, but I have seen the Moulin Rouge from the outside. Just being there, standing in front of this iconic place was amazing. It’s hard to believe that this place right in front of you is known in the whole world. There really is a red mill on the top of the building so you really realize that you are facing an iconic and symbolic place that has a lot of history.

Going to a cabaret in Paris is definitely on my bucket list of things to do in this city! If you can afford it, you should also definitely plan to go to one of them. Just remember to book it beforehand.

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Viewing points of Paris

One of the many things that I love to do in Paris (and in any other city that I visit) is to get to the top of some buildings to admire the view from a different, unusual angle. I will make a small list here where buildings that offer this possibility, and believe me, it is really worth climbing to the top once you get the amazing view!

As I have mentioned before, the Arc de Triomphe offers such a view when you get on its terrace. From there, you have the Champs-Elysées right at your feet, and if you look a little further on your right you will also see the Eiffel Tower, not so far from you. You can also see many other famous buildings and areas, and you also get to see the streets and their wonderful Parisian-styled buildings from another angle, and that includes seeing the roof of many of them. Definitely one of my favorite viewing point in Paris!

(As you can see on the picture just below, it was a cloudy day when I went up on the terrace of the Arc de Triomphe. This is the view of the Champs-Elysées as you can see them from up there).

Another nice place that offers a very pretty view of Paris is a shop, called Galerie Lafayette. The one with the best view is located on Boulevard Haussman (and that’s why it’s called Galerie Lafayette Haussman). Other than being an amazing place to do some shopping, with many shops and an amazing architecture, it also has a terrace from where you can get view of Paris from above. There again, the landscape includes the Eiffel Tower. You might feel like this tower is everywhere but honestly, you never get tired of it.

Another shop that offers the same kind of terrace and view is the Printemps, another famous department store. There is one that is also located on Boulevard Haussman, and another one near the Louvre Museum.

This post is coming to an end, and with it my reporting of my trip to Paris! I really love this city and I hope these posts made you feel like wanting to visit this wonderful city, or go back if you have already been there. You now have plenty of ideas of what to do when you are there, and this is only the things that I have personally done in Paris, there are so many more that I haven’t done yet!

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