Paris: the City of Light

Sacré Couer

- Second largest interpretation of Jesus in the world. - Is a large, white, Roman Catholic church. - Has openings that are known as eyes "watching over the city". - Area is known for artists. - Behind it is the Red Light District.

Le Louvre

It is known as the largest art museum in the world, and you can go in through the Pyramid. In 1989, the President of Paris had this built to "spruce up the city". The Parisians hated it, but they eventually got used to it. The Louvre contains the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo. Those are the three most famous pieces inside.

Notre Dame

It took 200 years to build, gothic in style, known for its rose windows, has one on the front and one on the side holds gargoyles (water drains through gargoyles mouth and to protect the church from evil spirits.

Arrondissements

- Each township has a mayor. - The Louvre is in the 1st. - The Eiffel Tower is in the 7th on the Seine River. - The Arc de Triomphe in 10th. - Districts 18,19, and 20 contain nearly all immigrants. - 13 contains Chinatown, as well as the more risqué part of Paris. - 11 contains artists, musicians, and the young.

Brief Government Notes

- François Hollande is the President of France, but there is an election going on right now. - There is no vice-president, however, there is Prime Minister. - The Prime Minister is Manuel Valls.

Les Invalides

- Has twenty-four karat gold on the door. - Used to be a military hospital for soldiers from Louis XIV on. - Today, it is a weapons museum. - Napoleon Bonaparte is buried there in solid mahogany wood, which is a thick and expensive kind of wood. - He is buried Russian-style (box inside of a box inside of a box) inside of six marble boxes, as well as other wooden ones. - Napoleon was one of the most highly-regarded military geniuses of his time. - There is the tomb, and there is also a chapel. - Hitler liked Napoleon, and this was because he believed that he was another Antichrist. - Hitler didn't think that he (Napoleon) had a heart.

Saint Chapelle

- It is gothic in style, and has many rose windows. - Oldest chapel in Paris, as it was built in the 1200s. - The bottom floor was where peasants worshipped, and the top floor was for the king and the king alone. - Has a cathedral ceiling (criss-cross). - 1,166 is the number of stained glass windows in the chapel that tell the story of the Bible from the beginning to the very end. - The large window is the Apocalypse window. - This church supposedly houses Jesus' Crown of Thorns. - When they brought things home during the Crusades, they built buildings around them.

Miscellaneous

- Notre Dame is zero-measuring kilometers. - Everything in Paris is measured out from there. - The Métro is the most popular form of transportation in Paris. Here in America, we call it the subway. - 1795 was the year that the French Revolution started. - The president before before Hollande said that Paris was "too small".

Opéra Garnier

- One of the two opera houses in Paris. - This is the opera house that the Phantom of the Opera was written off of. - When it was built, it was the largest opera house in the world. - The movie was actually filmed there. - Known for its paintings on the ceilings done by Marc Chagall. - Everyone who had money came here. - It is now used for ballet and tours.

Basics

- The capital of France is Paris. - Paris has twelve million people, including suburbs. - Nickname is "City of Light". - Divided in half by the Seine River. - There are twenty arrondissements (divisions or districts of Paris). For example, 1er 2me 3me 4me 5me. - The city is shaped in the form of a snail's shell.

Place de la Concorde

- This was where the guillotine was set up during the French Revolution. - French people were starving, the wheat crops had frozen. Marie Antoinette famously said "Let them eat cake!" - Marie Antoinette and Louis the 14th ruled alongside each other. - Dr. Guillotine was a biologist with specialization in anatomy tasked with getting a more civilized way to kill people. - The head went into a basket. - At night, they would put the heads on a stick and say "look who we got". - The rumor was that they dulled the blade more for Marie Antoinette so that the blade had to go through her neck even more. - Their hope was for a better democracy, as this was shortly after our Revolutionary War. - If you stand at Place de la Concorde, you can see the Arc de Triomphe. - The last guillotine blade was used on Robespierre. - The last time that it was used was 1970.

Arc de Triomphe

- You cannot drive through it, false to common belief. - Many cities have tried to replicate it, but none have succeeded well. - You can go to the top of it. - Twelve streets meet here and make a star. - Place de Etoilé - In France, it cannot be called an avenue without trees. - Avenue de Champs Élysées is what the Arc de Triomphe lines. - In English, it is the "Arc of Triumph". - Napoleon had this built to show his many victories. - One of the pieces is Napoleon dressed as Caesar. - In World War I, France lost more people than any other nation. - There is an eternal flame that burns for all of the unknown soldiers at this location.

La Tour Eiffel

La Tour Eiffel: Was built in 1889 for the World's Fair, made out of iron, 1889 is one-hundred years after the French Revolution, there are three levels, it's one thousand feet tall, the epitome of getting there is "getting to the top level", and you pay more for your ticket to go up to the top. There's also a restaurant up at the top with a four month waiting list. It is brown. You can climb by steps or elevator. At one time, they had four working elevators, but now they only have three. The man who designed it had the last name of Eiffel.