Paris

LOUVRE is probably a shortened form of 'La Louverie', the wolf's lair.

It is not known whether this name was the king's boast of his subjects' complaint. Probably, knowing Parisians, the latter.

The first castle here was built in 1200. Its foundations can still be visited since the new entrance tunnels to the Louvre Museum include the basement levels of all the former buildings. François I (1515-1547) knocked it down and built a nice, new, L-shaped palace.

In 1563 Queen Catherine de Médicis pulled down an old tile-factory (Tuilerie) six streets away to the East and built a new palace called the Palais des Tuileries. About 1600, she noticed she was getting wet walking through the streets from her own palace to the King's, so she began the Galerie du Bord de l'Eau to join them together. This meant a new building larger than the other two put together, since it had to be a quarter of a mile long and two stories high to bridge over the streets in between.

Under Louis XIII and XIV - which means from 1610 to 1715 - The Cour Carrée, completing the square started by Francois I.s L-shape, multiplied the size of the original Louvre by four. At this point, Louis XIV decided the Louvre was far too small, and moved out to Versailles. The building became derelict and squatters moved in. At this stage, remember, the buildings of the Louvre were still in among the city streets. During the Revolution (1791) Louis XVI was forced to move back into the Tuileries, and then Napoleon I lived there. He added enormously to the original Art collection of François I. (It's easy to collect Art if you're a conquering Emperor, you just nick all the best stuff as you go along.) He had the Louvre restored to hold all this loot, and began a new gallery along his new main street, Rue de Rivoli.

The job was finished by Napoleon III, who still lived in the Tuileries and let the public into the Louvre to see the Art collection. He also added two extra bits, designed to conceal the fact that the two long galleries aren't parallel. The whole job was finished, and all the streets in the middle demolished, by 1865; just in time for the fall of the Empire in 1870. During the suppression of the Commune in 1871, some twit burned down the Tuileries Palace. Obviously a serendipitous twit, however, because in so doing he opened up one of the most spectacular urban views in the world, La Grande Perspective; three straight miles from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe.

In the middle of the open space between the arms of the Louvre is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, commemorating Napoleon's Austrian campaigns, with an inscription explaining why he had to go off and take Vienna instead of invading England. Originally it had on its top the four bronze horses from St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, but when Napoleon was finally defeated, the Venetians took them back.

The Louvre continues to develop; the moat at the Eastern end dates from the 1960s, when it was dug to show off the proportions of the colonnade; and at the very heart of the building is the new glass pyramid designed by I.M.Pei to form the entrance to Le Grand Louvre. Until now, the Louvre has not been all one Museum; a third of it, for example, was the Ministry of Finance. The pyramid leads to a series of underground entrances to the whole building. When the thing's finished, there will be ten miles of galleries; not a Museum you can nip round in half an hour. There are actually six sections; Greek & Roman Antiquities, Egyptian Antiquities, Oriental Antiquities; Sculpture; Paintings; and other works of Art and furniture. It also has the mona Lisa in it.

see also http://www.grenfell-banks.com/Pariguid.htm and my PowerPoint presentation on the History of Paris at http://www.grenfell-banks.com/books.htm

On the second floor is a restaurant called the Jules Verne Restaurant. It is named after the famous writer, Jules Verne, because he loved his home country, Paris. :)~Ctmusicgirl7

No. you don't know. If you are US or Canadian green car holder ( permanent resident), then you don't need to get advanced tourist visa to enter Mexico. See link below.

http://portal.sre.gob.mx/was_eng/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=55&op=page&SubMenu=

No, Paris is in both the northern and eastern hemispheres. Locations in the Southern Hemisphere are south of the equator.

In 1790, Paris, France had an estimated population of 630,000. This was at the height of the prosperous 18th century. Today, the city's population is roughly 2.34 million.

3 Euros is 3 Euros, or 300 cents. What do you wish to compare it against?

hi . i have been received a mail from one of the American's branch,in Paris called Lelo !!!

i haven't certained to trust that !

I am willing to know,where is it?if some one know,please tell me soon

(silverbik@yahoo.com)

The Champ (singular) de Mars is the open space between the Eiffel Tower and the Ecole Militaire in Paris. It has been used for military parades, National festivals and World Fairs, including the one in 1889 to which the Tower was the gateway. At the time of the Revolution, the space was greater; a row of houses was built down each side at the end of the 19th Century.

No, Mexican citizens do not need a visa to travel to any of the OECD group of countries (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), if the stay is under 90 days. If it over 90 days then one must apply for a long stay visa.

The first permanent French settlement in North America was at Cap-Rouge (presently known as Quebec City) was permanently eastablished on July 3, 1608 by Samuel de Champlain.

The French first discovered Quebec City in 1535 when Jacques Cartier built a fort there. He left for France for the winter, then returned in 1541 to establish a permanent city. It failed in 1542. It wasn't until Champlain's return that he founded the French city and served as Quebec's administrator for the rest of his life.

From the mouth at Le Havre to the low bridges of Rouen, for ships. From Rouen to Paris, for barges. Higher in the hills, for drinking water and for hydro-electric power. Along the whole length, for water sports of all kinds.

== == Christmas day in contemporary Paris is much like it is in much of the Western world. It?s a national holiday and virtually all major attractions are closed. This means that, unless you are planning to visit Disneyland Paris, you should probably plan a day of relaxation for December 25th. On Christmas Eve, most Parisians pile into churches for midnight mass. The Christmas season in Paris begins on December 6th with St. Nicholas Day and continues through the first Sunday after January 1st with the Epiphany. New Year?s Day is also a national holiday in France, which means that many attractions are closed. Chances are, you are going to be ready for an easy and restful day after a somewhat eventful New Year?s Eve, but if you plan to sightsee on January 1st, it?s highly recommended that you first verify the place you intend to visit will be open.

Notre Dame de Paris was built from 1163 to 1340.

Paris is north-west of California. Approximately 5500 miles.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a country specific list of recommended vaccines. Check there (link below) for the countries you wish to visit. If you are travelling to Germany, for example, CDC only recommends the usual complement of vaccines plus Hepatitis B.

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They do lots of different sports, as in every other country/town. Football: biggest named team is Paris St-Germain. Running Fencing ball games like rugby, handball, tennis combat sports like judo And Rally/motorsport events.

Versailles is 21 km away from the center of Paris.

The island that comes to mind first is named 'Ile de la cité'. This is the centre of Paris and Notre-Dame stands on it. But there are two others; the Ile Saint-Louis close by, and the Ile des Cygnes to the west, near the Eiffel Tower.

No, because it's not a natural physical feature, instead it is a landmark.

Versailles, France is located in the ile de France region (it is about 20km outside central Paris)

no they only work at Disneyland you have to buy ones for Disney world 2 go there