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Day Four: City of Paris - Right Bank

Galeries Lafayette, the
Haussmann Boulevard
department store
Paris

Avenue de L'Opera

Museums are good if, as everything else, are taken in moderation. Indeed, we felt that after two days of immersion into French history and culture, it was the time to look at the city itself, its people and everyday life. How do you do this? You just walk, mix with crowds and watch.

So, our next day we decided to explore the right bank (La Rive Droite in French) of the city. Why it's called right bank? Evidently, because it's the right bank of the Seine - if you look at the Paris map, the right bank appears as the northern part of the city. It is the richest and most sophisticated part of the city, and there are historic reasons that explain it.

Paris actually started as a Roman settlement in 52BC on Paris' Left Bank Sainte Geneviève Hill (you can identify it as the area close to the Université de Paris or simply La Sorbonne) and Île de la Cité island, and over several centuries the original settlement expanded significantly into adjacent locations. Not a surprise since the part to the north of the Seine was mostly marshlands. However, by the end of 9th century Vikings invaded Paris and destroyed almost completely what is called now left bank (which was mostly unprotected). Consequently, instead of rebuilding there, the city began spreading to the north.

Over several centuries, the right bank gradually transformed into the centre of commerce and trade. The left bank, especially after founding in 13th century of the University of Paris, established itself as an academic centre known and visited by scholars from all over the Europe. This division exists (and quite visible) even today - rich and business-like right bank and unconventional and intellectual left bank.

Opéra de Paris Garnier

One thing to understand better a city is to explore its shops - we had never really intended to do any shopping in Paris, but nevertheless were very curious about this part of the Parisian life. Galeries Lafayette, one of the two biggest department stores in Paris, seemed to be a good place to satisfy such curiosity. That's why we entering its premises at 9:30 am right at the time when the store opens its doors to public.

If you want more details about this place, visit Galeries Lafayette Web site (this Web site does not sell anything; it's more a promotional tool for the company). I can say that as many other things in Paris it strikes imagination: not because you can find everything imaginable on its shelves, but because of its magnificent glass dome. The store is certainly an important part of the fashion industry in Paris and France; it offers a huge selection of clothing, accessories, shoes, etc.

Palais Royal

As for prices - we did not try to make any more or less scientific survey and comparison with the US stores, but it seemed to us that the store is a bit more expensive than the US chains like Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue offering at the same time similar quality of merchandise. If indeed our observation is accurate, that may explain why the Galeries Lafayette's attempt to open its store in New York failed.

If you are not satisfied with visiting Galeries Lafayette and want more shopping experience, you can go to another huge department store in Paris, Printemps, which is within a short walk from Galeries Lafayette. Being quite happy with what we had seen, we decided to continue our city tour.

If you have time, visit the magnificent Opéra de Paris Garnier designed by Charles Garnier for Emperor Napoleon III. This is a wonderful example of the 19th century baroque style and when opened was the biggest theater in the world. You do not need tickets for a performance to visit the Opéra - for €8 (2007 price) you can go inside the theater to see the great staircase, foyers, the auditorium, the museum and exhibition hall every day from 10:00am to 6:00pm.

Since we had very ambitious plans for the day (and we still hope to see one day a classis opera at this theater), after taking pictures of the Opéra de Paris, we continued our tour towards the Palais Royal where we enjoyed its courtyard and garden. Palais Royal is a bit of a misnomer - there is nothing (almost nothing) "royal" associated with the place (other than the fact that Louis XIV spent some time in it in his childhood). But mostly it was used as a theater, and it began as a small and private theater in the residence of Cardinal Richelieu.

Montmartre, Place du Tertre

Chat Noir,
the black
cat is the
symbol of
Montmartre

It was time for lunch, and in a search for a cozy place we turned back to see Les Galeries. Les Galeries are a very interesting example not only of the early 19th century Parisian architecture but also a time-machine to imagine some of the scenes of the bygone era. These galleries were built as a network of about 140 covered passageways that served as shopping malls. Only about 30 galleries survived the time and some of them, in particular Galerie Colbert and Galerie Vivienne, were restored - but unfortunately, I cannot say were restored to their old glory.

Although some of the shops are used today, the whole network evidently is out of favor among Parisians as a shopping location. There are multiple evidences of that including vacant spaces. It is true that restored galleries still exhibit glass roofs, mosaic floors and some wonderful ironwork. Nevertheless, all we experienced was a nostalgic feeling for those once stylish malls of the old days. Indeed very strange for those who saw this place for the first time in their lives.

As for lunch, we went to Le Grand Colbert often presented in tourist guides as a quintessential and chic Parisian brasserie. I am actually going to find time to write more about food and restaurants in Paris - how can I do without it writing an account about several days in a legendary culinary capital of the world? But for the moment, I just tell you that Grand Colbert was a disappointment. Yes, very nice inside, and very busy feeding tourists. Service was good and fast, but the alleged charm was missing. And certainly it does not offer a creative cuisine.

I guess it all depends on expectations. This place became quite known among American tourists after the movie "Something's Gotta Give" ("Tout Peut Arrivee") with Jack Nicholson. My verdict: if you are in vicinity, do not ignore it - try to enjoy the experience and see if you like it. However, I would not recommend making it one of your destinations in Paris especially if you have only several days. There are other much better places to eat.

An artist on Place du Tertre,
Montmartre

A "live" sculpture near
Sacré Coeur, Montmartre

Anyway, good or bad, our lunch and a bottle of red wine gave us enough energy to continue our exploration. We were up to walking to Montmartre - an area known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Coeur, Place du Tertre and Quartier Pigalle, a Parisian red-light district. Strictly speaking, Montmartre is a hill about 400 feet high which long ago was outside the city limits with mills and grapes growing on its slopes. By the end of 19th century the area transformed into a center of bohemian entertainment and a home for many artists who lived and/or worked in Montmartre - among them Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Salvador Dali, etc.

The area still has many signs of its previous decadent life style - one of them is Moulin Rouge, a world-famous cabaret. As for artistic life, there is still Place du Tertre with many artists offering their paintings, and tourists often posing for a quick portrait. Anyway, to get into the mood of the area just watch this YouTube.com video clip with La Bohème, one of the best-known song by popular singer Charles Aznavour (in this song an artist talks about years of his youth in a Montmartre that ceased to exist).

During the day time, the Pigalle area did not seem like anything close to that red-light quarter I wrote above. And we did not use the funiculaire to go up a steep slope - instead we walked narrow streets from Place des Abbesses up to the Place du Tertre. The former is the heart of Montmartre - it's a hundred yards off the usual tourist itineraries, but it's a charming place with one of the only two remaining Metro glass porches designed by the famous Art-deco sculptor Hector Guimard. There is also the St Jean de Montmartre church.

Place du Tertre turned out to be what we expected - fun and entertaining with crowds of tourists and artists. Alas, too many of them offering only quick sketches (and too many of them with dubious quality), whereas we wanted to see more "real" painters. But the mood was certainly there. By the way, a short distance from the Place du Tertre is L'Espace Salvador Dali, a museum dedicated to the works of this great surrealist artist.

Basilique du Sacre-Coeur

The view from Montmartre

Few steps from Place du Tertre, and you reach the Basilique Sacré-Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) - a Roman Catholic church and famous Paris landmark. It was completed in 1914 and built in somewhat unusual for Paris Byzantine architectural style. You can find more information about this French national and historic monument at its site. I can only say that it's a magnificent place worth visiting. Its architecture and iconography are outstanding. Interestingly, it's built with a local travertine stone that bleaches naturally with age to chalk white splendor visible from any open place in Paris. Same way, staying in front of the Basilica, you can see the whole city of Paris. In fact, a visit to the Basilica's dome (which is open to the public and is the second highest point in Paris after the Eiffel Tower) will open for you a breath taking panorama.

That was it for the day trip. In the evening we went to Le Lido, a famous French cabaret located in the Champs Elysee. It's a nice place to go and see a live musical show a-la Las Vegas style. By the way, while researching and planning our visit to Paris, we found quite polarizing views on the Internet regarding Lido and for that matter any cabaret in Paris. It seems people either hate it or love it.

Well, after having a direct personal experience we found ourselves in the camp of folks who enjoy the show. It's done with good taste, and it's entertaining. If you want, you can also have dinner, and that's what we did. I cannot say that the food was exceptional, but it was better than in many other places we visited. But regardless whether you like it or not, cabarets in Paris have been a traditional entertainment since 19th century. And if you come to see the city, why not to savor this part of its cultural heritage?

Le Lido, theater and restaurant.
Copyright Lido

Le Lido, theater and restaurant.
Copyright Lido

The only thing I want to add is that Lido was recommended (as a cabaret to visit, over any other cabaret including Moulin Rouge) by the concierge at our hotel. Since we learned quickly to trust these guys at our hotel, we did not hesitate to choose it (this link may help you get quickly better idea about other places of the kind in Paris). Incidentally, we found that reservations made for us by Le Bristol sometimes produced magic. At Lido, the first member of its stuff we told that we had a reservation from our hotel, immediately took us out of the long line and led directly to the hall offering the best seats in the center of the theater. He only asked our names. When we were seated, a waitress showed up immediately and we were taken care of with excellent service during the whole evening.

Part I - Coming to Paris
Part 2 - Our Hotel: First Steps
Part 3 - Day Two: Musée du Louvre, Notre Dame de Paris and La Conciergerie
Part 4 - Day Three: Versailles and Musée d'Orsay
Part 5 - Day Four: City of Paris - Right Bank
Part 6 - Day Five: City of Paris - Left Bank