PARIS CITY HALL (HÔTEL DE VILLE), BY NIGHT AND BY DAY, HAS TO BE ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS IN PARIS

The seat of Parisian municipality, created by the water merchants. The first city council dates back to 1246 (Saint-Louis).
The current Hôtel de Ville is built over the former Hôtel de Ville that was burned down by the 1871 Commune.

OUT FOR A WALK, WE REALIZED THAT WE ARE STAYING IN THE "LE MARAIS" SECTION OF TOWN,
DOWN THE STREET FROM THE LOUVRE.

The Musée du Louvre, the former home of the kings of France, is for two centuries one now of the largest museums in the world.
Its collections are distributed into 7 departments: Oriental antiques, Egyptian antiques,
Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiques (sexy!);
Paintings, Sculptures and Objets d'Art from the Middle Ages to 1850.

VENUS DE MILO NOW LIVES HERE - 
AND LIKES IT MORE THAN LOUIS XIVth DID!

THERE IS AN EGYPTIAN OBELISK BEHIND THE FERRIS WHEEL AT PLACE DE LA CONCORDE - WHAT A COMBINATION!

AVENUE DES CHAMPS ELYSÉES
FACING TOWARDS THE GRAND
ARC DE TRIOMPHE ETOILE

Commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon, shortly after his victory at Austerlitz, it was not finished until 1836.  On 14 July - the French National Day
(refered to as Bastille Day everywhere except in France) - a military parade down the Champs Elysées begins here.

WHAT TO DO ON THE CHAMPS ELYSEES BEFORE CHRISTMAS?

SHOPPING DARLING, SHOPPING!

HEADING TO THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES, WHICH WAS BUILT OUT IN THE SUBURBS WHEN LOUIS XIVth GOT TIRED OF LIVING DOWNTOWN AT THE LOUVRE

IT STARTS WITH A LITTLE ENTRANCE ...

... AND A PRIVATE LITTLE CHURCH - "TO ALL THE GLORIES OF FRANCE"

THIS HORSESHOE OF BUILDINGS HOUSED THE KING,
5,000 NOBLEMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES

THE GARDENS AND REFLECTING POOL OUT BACK WERE SO BEAUTIFUL (IN SUMMER)
THEY WERE COPIED BY WASHINGTON D.C.

MARK BLENDS WITH THE SCENERY!

ORANGE TREES WERE MOVED OUT INTO THE COURTYARD OF THE ORANGERIE EVERY SUMMER - PROOF OF MAN CONQUERING NATURE

MIRRORS WERE RARE AND EXPENSIVE, SO THE KING HAD A "HALL OF MIRRORS" BUILT - A WHOLE WALL OF MIRRORS, WINDOWS FACING SOUTH, AND GLASS CHANDELIERS BLINDING IN DAYLIGHT!

VERSAILLES THE SUBURB GETS READY FOR CHRISTMAS

ALLAN TREATS US TO A HOME-MADE DINNER
- ALMOST AS GOOD AS OUR NIGHT AT HÔTEL COSTES

RUE DE RIVOLI HAS GREEN EVEN IN WINTER

BHV GETS IN THE CHRISTMAS MOOD

NOTRE DAME HAS AN ASTOUNDING CARVED ENTRANCE ... AND HUNCHBACKS!

A gothic masterpiece. Notre Dame, conceived by Maurice de Sully, was built between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries (1163-1345). Road distances in France are calculated on the basis of the "0 km" marked on the square in front of the cathedral.

MIKE'S FAVOURITE BUILDING (ON EACH WING OF THE LOUVRE)

CLOCK OF THE OLD PARIS -TO- ORLEANS TRAIN STATION - NOW CALLED THE MUSÉE d'ORSAY A superb example of a successful reconversion, the musée d'Orsay was redeveloped in the old Gare d'Orsay, built by Victor Laloux and inaugurated in 1900 for the Universal Exhibition. After having received the first electric trains, the station was closed in 1939, the victim of progress.

TRAIN STATION DINING ROOM!

A BIT MORE INTERESTING THAN THE SCORES OF PAINTINGS AND STATUES OF NAKED WOMEN

Somebody has a good view!

AT LEAST THE BROKEN ONE HAD ABS   THIS GUY'S BUTT WAS OBVIOUSLY MUCH APPRECIATED OVER THE CENTURIES

HOT WRESTLING FANTASIES STARTED LONG AGO

BUDDIES OVER PARIS

M&M HAVE BEEN WATCHING TOO MUCH AB-FAB! (Common, show your tatters over Paris, darling!)

AWAITING THE EURO, IN THE SUN, WITH A COFFEE AND A BEER

MARK AT A METROPOLITAIN (SUBWAY ENTRANCE) NEAR THE OPERA

A GEM OF PARIS - THE OPÉRA GARNIER

Built between 1862-1875, its architect was Charles Garnier. He had been picked from among 171 contestants, and was relatively unknown although he had won the Rome prize in 1848. He was only 35 when awarded with the design of the new opera house. The origins of the idea for a new opera house can be traced back as far as forty years previous to 1820. When construction was finally started, it was just as quickly suspended after the discovery of an underground lake and spring. Although this problem was overcome, the lake persists and lies beneath the cellars of the building.

CONTRASTS IN OLD AND NEW       (BETWEEN THESE TWO BUILDINGS LIES A LARGE SHOPPING MALL, BELOW GRADE, OPEN TO THE SKY)

Ever since the city can remember, Parisians have come to this central market to get their supplies. In the Middle Ages, the proximity of the vast Charnier des Innocents, which contained over a million dead bodies in its charnel house, did not even cause the city to remove the Champeaux (the Halles of the time). Facing the Halles, rue du Jour, stands Saint Eustache, which is considered as one of the most remarkable religious edifices in Paris, in fact the first after Notre Dame. Partly Gothic, partly Renaissance architecture of the 14th and 15th centuries, this church is famous for its exceptionally beautiful religous music.

AT LA DEFENCE, LOOKING TOWARDS ARC DE TRIOMPHE IN THE DISTANCE

To the delight of property developers, most of the world's cities permit the demolition and periodic rebuilding of their downtown cores. At one time, in the early '70's, Paris was inflicting itself with this too. Practically the entire western part of the 14th arrondissement, Montparnasse, was torn down in order to put up some really ugly, really high, buildings; for reasons that nobody can remember. But, odd as it may seem to residents with short memories, Presidents do come and Presidents do go; and every President's departure is followed by the arrival of a new policy. Except for the President, the whole rest of the old gang is still in place; but boss is boss and the boss in France is really The Boss. The demolition of downtown Paris stopped.

"LA GRANDE ARCHE" REALLY IS PRETTY GRAND - 30 STORIES OF OFFICES INSIDE THE OPENING

OUR ONLY PICTURE  OF THE EIFFEL  TOWER

On the vast Esplanade there is nothing. Except wind, and in winter, rain. Oh there is a little carousel, and there is a little airstrip for skateboarders,
but there is nothing like a Paris cafe even though the postal address is 'Paris-La Defense.' So, for the French, it is a little bit like downtown Albania. In other words: not in France.

WE PASS SOME HOURS AT "LE QUEEN"

Le Queen, 102 av. des Champs-Elysées, may be artfully blasé and disorganized, but it's certainly the queen of the night in gay Paris. Follow the flashing purple sign on the "main street of Paris", near the corner of avenue George-V, to the epicenter of gay nightlife. The place is often mobbed, mainly with gay men and, to a lesser degree, chic women.

(SUNDAY PASSES IN A HAZE)

IT'S TIME TO SAY GOOD-BYE PARIS ...