Louvre to Opera Walks - girlsguidetoparis.com

Louvre to Opera Walk
Jardin
DESdes
Tuileries
Copyright 2012 Girls' Guide To Paris and Doni Belau. All Rights Reserved.
1
Louvre to Opera Walk
1.
2.
3.
Louvre, rue de Rivoli
Café Marly, 93 rue de Rivoli
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107 rue de
Rivoli
4.
5.
Jardin des Tuileries, rue de Rivoli
Musée de L’Orangerie, Jardin des
Tuileries
6. Jeu de Paume, 1 place de la Concorde
7. Place de la Concorde
8. Hôtel de Crillon, 10 place de la
Concorde
9. WH Smith, 248 rue de Rivoli
10. Pierre Hermé, 4 rue Cambon
11.
12.
13.
14.
Le Meurice, 228 rue de Rivoli
Angelina, 226 rue de Rivoli
Place Vendôme
Ritz, 15 Place Vendôme
Copyright 2012 Girls' Guide To Paris and Doni Belau. All Rights Reserved.
Jardin des
Tuileries
Louvre to Opera Walk
15. Harry’s New York Bar, 5 rue Daunou
16. Palais Garnier, 1 place de l’Opera
17. Café de la Paix, 12 Boulevard des
Capucines
18.
19.
20.
21.
Place de la Madeleine
Fauchon, 24 – 2 place de la Madeleine
Hédiard, 21 place de la Madeleine
Eglise de la Madeleine
Copyright 2012 Girls' Guide To Paris and Doni Belau. All Rights Reserved.
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Louvre to Opéra Walk
On this walk, you’ll get a good dose of
culture with a great selection of museums
to visit, including the world-famous Louvre.
It won’t be possible to visit in one day all the
museums listed, but this approximate 3
hour walk will give you a good overview, so
you can decide where you’d like to return.
And no tour is complete without some
gourmet stops to enjoy the many wonderful
Parisian delicacies.
Start your day as soon as the 1. Louvre (rue
de Rivoli ) opens, at 9 a.m., to avoid some of
the crowds, but keep in mind that it’s closed
on Tuesdays. You’ll never be able to see all
35,000 works of art in a day, so pick a few
highlights, themes or time periods to explore.
The Louvre is one of the largest museums in
the world and dates back to the 12th century,
when a fortress was needed to protect the
city from an Anglo-Norman attack. It
transitioned to a royal fortress and eventually
into a museum in 1793.
If you need a pick-me-up after your visit, sit
on the terrace of 2. Café Marly (93, rue de
Rivoli) and enjoy views of I. M. Pei’s glass
pyramid, but expect to pay the price for the
exceptional location and view.
Next to the Louvre in the Hall Rohan’s
3. Musée des Arts Décoratifs (107, rue de
Rivoli) are three independently operated
museums, worth a visit for a look at the role
of fashion, design and decorative arts in
industry and culture. The Musée des Arts
Décoratifs features decorative arts from the
Middle Ages to today. The Musée de la Mode
et du Textile highlights fashion from the 16th
century to the present, and the Musée de la
Publicité features advertising from around
the world. Look for interesting, frequently
rotating exhibitions at each.
Walk out of the museum and through the
beautifully landscaped 4. Jardin des
Tuileries (rue de Rivoli). Initially a palace
garden under Catherine de Médicis, the park
was later opened to the public and designed
by André Le Nôtre, the architect of the
gardens at Versailles, in the 17th century.
Grab one of the iconic green chairs and
position it for a prime view of the expansive
gardens and some great people watching.
If you haven’t hit museum overload yet, there
are two more situated next to the Place de la
Concorde. The 5. Musée de l’Orangerie
(Jardin des Tuileries) features Claude Monet’s
water lily paintings, among other
impressionist work from the 19th and 20th
centuries, including pieces by Cézanne,
Renoir, Picasso and Matisse.
Opposite the Orangerie is the 6. Jeu de
Paume (1, Place de la Concorde). Once a
tennis court, it now focuses on photography
exhibitions from the 19th to 21st centuries.
At the end of the Tuileries, pop out onto the
7. Place de la Concorde to see Paris’s largest
square and to catch a glimpse of the Arc de
Triomphe at the top of the Champs Elysées. In
the middle of the Place de la Concorde, a
statue of Louis XV once stood; it was replaced
with a guillotine, which was later used for
many notable names, including Louis XVI and
Marie Antoinette. The 75-foot-tall goldentopped obelisk that you now see in the middle
of the square used to sit outside the Luxor
Temple and dates back to 1550 BCE. It was
given as a gift to France from the viceroy of
Egypt in 1829. The base of the obelisk shows
the complex manner in which the 230-ton
object was shipped to France. The featured
Copyright 2012 Girls' Guide To Paris and Doni Belau. All Rights Reserved.
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Louvre to Opéra Walk
hieroglyphics celebrate the reigns of
pharaohs, Ramses II and Ramses III, and the
golden top was added by the government in
1998.
On the western edge of the Place de la
Concorde sits the famed 8. Hôtel de Crillon
(10, Place de la Concorde), once an opulent
home to the Count of Crillon. The first
traveler was welcomed to the hotel in 1909,
and service has been continuous and near
perfection ever since.
Turn onto rue de Rivoli, and soon on your left
you’ll see 9. W. H. Smith (248, rue de Rivoli).
Stop in if you need any books, travel guides or
magazines written in English.
Turn left on rue Cambon for one of the best
macarons in Paris at 10. Pierre Hermé
(4, rue Cambon). With the shop’s beautiful
packaging and sculpted chocolates, it will be
hard to leave without a shopping bag.
Continue down rue de Rivoli and you’ll find
the five-star hotel 11. Le Meurice (228, rue
de Rivoli), with the three-star Michelin
restaurant of the same name. If your budget
does not allow for a stay or a meal here, have
a drink inside and take a peek at the Philippe
Starck–designed dining area, resembling an
opulent room at Versailles.
For something more casual but still beautiful,
go next door to 12. Angelina (226, rue de
Rivoli) for a rich, over-the-top hot chocolate,
and try picking just one decadent sweet to
accompany it. There’s a reason Angelina has
been around for over a century.
Turn back on rue de Rivoli and make a right
up rue de Castiglione to the 13. Place
Vendôme, one of Paris’s most prestigious
squares, though it actually has eight sides,
which makes it an octagon. The Place
Vendôme was initially constructed in the 18th
century, and it has seen several statues come
and go over the years, including a homage to
Napoleon’s military prowess made from
Russian and Austrian canons captured during
the battle of Austerlitz. This, too, was
destroyed and re-created and stands in the
square today. The Place Vendôme is now
home to many top-name jewelers and upscale
boutiques, in addition to the iconic 14. Ritz
Hotel* (15, Place Vendôme), which is worth a
stop for a drink or more to enjoy the beautiful
decor and people, perhaps including a few
celebrities.
*Closed for renovations until 2014.
Continue up rue de la Paix, and if you’re still
thirsty, duck into 15. Harry’s New York Bar
(5, rue Daunou), to the right on rue Daunou.
As the name suggests, Harry’s started in New
York, where an avid patron loved the place so
much that he asked if the whole bar could be
moved to Paris, and voilà. Harry’s has been in
Paris since 1911. Choose from among the 300
whiskies, or have one of the white-coated
bartenders whip you up a New York specialty.
When you arrive at the major intersection
and roundabout, you’ll immediately see your
next stop, the 16. Palais Garnier (1, Place de
l’Opéra). Napoleon III ordered construction of
this magnificent building, which was the most
expensive built during the Second Empire,
and it was instantly deemed a masterpiece.
The chandelier in the center of the theatre
was designed by Charles Garnier himself and
weighs in at seven tons with all its bronze and
crystal accoutrements. The brilliant
multicolored mural on the ceiling was painted
in 1964 by Marc Chagall, and each scene
depicts a different story from a different
opera. If you can’t get tickets to a
performance but would like to see the inside
Copyright 2012 Girls' Guide To Paris and Doni Belau. All Rights Reserved.
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Louvre to Opéra Walk
of the building, the Palais Garnier offers wellexecuted tours of the breathtaking venue.
Leaving the Opéra with a right onto boulevard
des Capucines, you’ll pass the classic 17. Café
de la Paix (12, boulevard des Capucines), a
great stop for a pre- or post-Opéra drink or
bite. With the café’s gorgeous dining room
and terrace, you’ll be drinking where notables
like Oscar Wilde and Marlene Dietrich once
did.
Enjoy some window-shopping on your way to
the 18. Place de la Madeleine, where you’ll
find a food mecca. Head to your right and
you’ll come to the first of two separate
buildings for 19. Fauchon (24-26, Place de la
Madeleine). The first shop has an extensive
seafood section, as well as a large offering of
cheese and charcuterie, macarons, and a
bakery, where you can either eat your
delicacies or get them to go. The shop kittycorner has a full floor of sweets and savory
items to pack in your suitcase as gifts for
friends or yourself. There’s also a café
upstairs for dining, and a full floor dedicated
to wine below.
Points of Interest Addresses
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Louvre, rue de Rivoli
Café Marly, 93, rue de Rivoli, 01 49 26 06 60
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107, rue de Rivoli
Jardin des Tuileries, rue de Rivoli
Musée de l’Orangerie, Jardin des Tuileries
Jeu de Paume, 1, Place de la Concorde
Place de la Concorde
Hôtel de Crillon, 10, Place de la Concorde
W. H. Smith, 248, rue de Rivoli
Pierre Hermé, 4, rue Cambon
Le Meurice, 228, rue de Rivoli, 01 44 58 10 10
Angelina, 226, rue de Rivoli, 01 42 60 88 50
Place Vendôme
Ritz, 15, Place Vendôme
Harry’s New York Bar, 5, rue Daunou
Palais Garnier, 1, Place de l’Opéra
Café de la Paix, 12, boulevard des Capucines,
01 40 07 36 36
Place de la Madeleine
Fauchon, 24-26, Place de la Madeleine
Hédiard, 21, Place de la Madeleine
Eglise de la Madeleine
Continuing your loop, you’ll find 20. Hédiard
(21, Place de la Madeleine) opposite Fauchon.
Enjoy the selection of jams, teas, salts, fresh
produce, desserts and wine. Buy something
for a future picnic, or if you can’t wait, eat in
the restaurant upstairs, which features the
best of Hédiard’s products.
End your tour in the center of the plaza at the
21. Eglise de la Madeleine. In 1806
Napoleon gave instructions to build a
“Temple of Glory” for his army. After his fall,
there were delays that prevented the church
from opening until 1842. Check the schedules
to try and catch a concert in the traditional
basilica.
Copyright 2012 Girls' Guide To Paris and Doni Belau. All Rights Reserved.
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