The Islands

Paris: Getting Oriented: Paris by Neighborhood: East Right Bank: The Islands

Begin exploring Paris where the city itself was born: the Ile de la Cité. Although virtually wiped clear of its winding medieval streets during Haussmann’s reconstruction, the island is still an intriguing showcase of Paris history. At its westernmost tip you’ll find the tiny green Square du Vert Galant, a popular spot for fishing on the Seine. From here you’ll get a good look at the stone arches of the city’s oldest bridge, ironically called Pont Neuf (New Bridge). Opened by Henri IV in 1603, it was the first bridge in Paris without houses built on it. The statue of Henri IV on the platform is actually a replacement commissioned by Louis XVIII after the original dating back to 1614 was torn down by the 1789 Revolutionaries. Cut through the tree-lined Place Dauphine (where you get a good view of the Palais de Justice) to the Quai de l’Horloge, which brings you to the foot of the medieval Conciergerie. Built in the early 14th century, this was part of the first French royal fortress (they later moved to the Louvre) until it became a prison in 1391. During the 1789 Revolution, 2,780 men and women were detained in the Conciergerie while awaiting their trip to the guillotine, including Marie Antoinette, whose personal belongings and prison cell are now open to public viewing. If macabre wax figures in bad wigs don’t give you the creeps, the 14th-century vaulted cellars are quite impressive, though a bit empty. Open daily, 10am to 5pm; entry €5.50 (€3.50 for children). Museum Pass accepted. ☎ 01 53 73 78 50.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The oldest clock in Paris is on the façade of the Palais de Justice, at the corner of the Quai de l’Horloge horloge (is French for clock) and Pont au Change.

Today the Conciergerie is part of the Palais de Justice complex (HQ of the French judicial system). Policemen and an impressive iron gate guard the entrance along the busy Boulevard du Palais. Almost completely hidden behind the towering walls is the 13th-century Sainte-Chapelle. If you are only going to set foot in one religious monument in Paris, this should be the one. There are actually two levels to the chapel: the one upstairs is what you want to see. Built by Louis IX during the zenith of stained glass arts, there are almost 6,500 square feet of stained-glass windows representing 1,134 scenes, including a giant rose window depicting the Apocalypse. Visit on a sunny day to get the brilliant, kaleidoscope effect. Open daily, 10am to 5pm; entry €5.50 (€3.50 for students, free for children). Museum Pass accepted. ☎ 01 53 73 78 51.

SAINTE-CHAPELLE AT NIGHT Classical music concerts are held most nights throughout the year in Sainte-Chapelle. See the Entertainment section for more information.

Continue down the Rue de Lutèce, where the imposing Préfecture de Police is softened by the lush colors of the Marché aux Fleurs, the city’s largest flower and plant market. The greenhouses and boutiques are open to the public Monday through Saturday. On Sundays the sidewalks are taken over by a bustling bird and poultry market. Follow the crowds across the street to one of the city’s most recognizable monuments, the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Don’t let the excitement of seeing the famous Gothic portals keep you from looking down: Place du Parvis, the square in front of the church, has cobblestones outlining the original streets and shops that stood in front of the church from the Middle Ages before Baron Haussmann later decided the cathedral needed more breathing room. The round, bronze plaque on the ground is known as Pointe Zéro, where all measurements in France begin (and which makes for an instantly forgettable photo). Underneath the cobblestones is the Crypte du Parvis Notre-Dame, where vestiges of Gallo-Roman streets and housing from the third century were discovered when the city tried to build an underground parking lot there in the 1970s. You still have to pay to go in, but you can’t take your car. Open daily, 10am to 5pm, ☎ 01 43 29 83 51. Museum Pass accepted.

If you just saw three busloads of school children enter the cathedral in front of you, take a time-out and duck into the Hôtel Dieu next door, a busy Parisian hospital built in 1878 to replace the original crumbling hospital that had stood here since the Middle Ages. It was in this hospital that Pasteur did much of his pioneering research. The quiet courtyard gardens are open to the public. Hôtel Dieu Hospitel (B2 gallery, sixth floor): 1, Place du Parvis-Notre Dame, 4th, ☎ 01 44 32 01 00, fax 01 44 32 01 16.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: You don’t have to be ill to get a bed overlooking Notre Dame. In 1992 the top floor of the Hôtel Dieu was converted into hotel rooms. Modest doubles are just under €100.

Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the most consistent backdrops in the history of Paris. Built on the site of an ancient Roman temple, the first stones were laid by Pope Alexander III in 1163. Even before construction was complete, people came from all over Europe to see this amazing architectural feat. Seven centuries later, we still can’t get enough of the flying buttresses, the stained glass windows, and the intricately carved statues on the façade. Pillaged during the 1789 Revolution (the sans – culottes smashed the statues of the saints, thinking they were kings) and subsequently turned into a wine depot, it was restored to the church by Napoleon when he was crowned Emperor there in 1804. It survived the Paris Commune of 1871 (supposedly because the communards didn’t want to burn anything too close to the hospital next door where they took their wounded), although it suffered badly from neglect. When Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris (a.k.a. The Hunchback of Notre Dame) was published in 1831, Parisians were inspired to shell out for massive renovations. It was only in 1854 that the architect Viollet-le-Duc added the gargoyles and spire to the towers. The cathedral is open daily, 8am to 6:45pm; services are at 9:30am, organ recitals Sundays at 5:30pm. ☎ 01 42 34 56 10.

THE TOWERS If you decide to climb the 400 steps to visit the towers of Notre Dame, try to do it as early as possible to avoid “traffic jams” in the claustrophobic corkscrew stairwells. Free guided tours in English are available Wednesday and Thursday at noon, Saturday at 2:30pm, and daily at 2:30pm in August. Don’t forget to ask your guide to tap on the 14-ton church bell “Emmanuelle.” The tower entrance is on Rue du Cloître-Notre-Dame. Open Monday through Thursday, 9am to 6:45pm; Friday to Sunday, 9am to 9:15pm (10am to 5pm in winter); entry €5.50, €3.50 for students, free at all times for kids and the first Sunday of the month from October through March for everyone else. Museum Pass accepted.

Usually less crowded than the front of Notre Dame, the gardens of Square Jean XXIII offer great views of the cathedral and a shady place to rest your feet. Before crossing the Pont St-Louis, take a moment to visit the Square de l’Ile-de-France on the easternmost tip of the island. Once the location of a morgue, it has been home to the emotional Jewish Deportation Memorial since 1962 (open daily, 10am to noon and 2pm to 5pm).

Cross over to the Ile St-Louis on its eponymous bridge. Once a muddy field full of grazing cows, it was developed into residences and shops in the 17th century, and has hardly changed ever since. The privileged few residents of Ile St-Louis are so happily isolated on their island from modern city life that they even say they’re “Going to Paris” whenever they cross the Seine. Despite the many visitors who march through its streets on a daily basis, the atmosphere remains village-like. Let yourself wander the streets, and maybe get a peek into one of the private courtyards.

There’s a memorial plaque on the Hôtel de Jassaud (Quai d’Anjou), where Camille Claudel lived after leaving her lover and contemporary, the sculptor Rodin. Just next door is the magnificent Hôtel de Lauzun. Built in 1656 by Louis Le Vau for a wealthy arms dealer, it was eventually sold to the Duke de Lauzun, one of Louis XIV’s favored marshals. Baudelaire supposedly wrote most of his novel Les Fleurs du Mal in a room on the third floor. With most of its original décor still intact, it remains the most authentic example of a 17th-century aristocratic residence open to the public. Owned by the City of Paris since 1928, visits are organized by the Caisse des Monuments Historiques, ☎ 01 44 61 20 00.

When walking down the main axis of the island, Rue St-Louis-en-Ile, don’t miss the Eglise Saint-Louis-en-l’Ile. There’s a strange clock built in 1741 that hangs down from the church’s entrance like a shop sign. The Baroque church was built between 1644 and 1726. It suffered the same fate as most churches during the Revolution, being shut down and stripped of its artworks. The paintings that decorate the church today were commissioned by the Abbot Bousset from 1864-1888. Concerts take place here almost nightly throughout the summer.

WHO WAS SAINT LOUIS? It seems everything on the island is named for Saint Louis. He was Louis IX, one of France’s most religious kings. He built Sainte-Chapelle as a shrine for the relics he bought from the Emperor of Constantinople: Christ’s crown of thorns and a piece of the cross. The sainted king died of the plague at Carthage in 1270 during the eighth Crusade.

<< Sightseeing Passes || St-Paul >>