Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
mission €15; tours 2pm, 3.15pm & 4pm Wed-Sun; Concorde)
During
la belle époque,
Maxim's bistro was the most glamorous place to be in the capital.
The restaurant has lost much of its cachet (though the food is actually excellent), but for art
nouveau buffs, the real treasure is the upstairs museum. Opened by Maxim's owner, fashion
designer Pierre Cardin, it's filled with some 550 pieces of art nouveau artworks,
objets d'art
and furniture detailed during 40-minute guided tours (available in English).
GALLERY
LOUIS VUITTON ESPACE CULTUREL
8e; noon-7pm Mon-Sat, 11am-7pm Sun; George V)
At the top of Louis Vuitton's flagship store is this contemporary art gallery with changing
exhibits throughout the year. The entrance is via the mammoth store, which, of course, is
something of a sight in itself.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
HIDDEN OASIS
PARK
JARDIN DE LA NOUVELLE FRANCE
Descending rustic, uneven staircases (by the white-marble Alfred de Musset sculpture
on av Franklin D Roosevelt, or the upper garden off Cours la Reine) brings you to the
tiny, 0.7 hectare Jardin de la Nouvelle France, an unexpected wonderland of lilacs,
lemon, orange, maple and weeping beech trees, with a wildlife-filled pond, waterfall,
wooden footbridge and benches to soak up the serenity.
Grands Boulevards
CHURCH
ÉGLISE DE LA MADELEINE
Madeleine, 8e; 9.30am-7pm; Madeleine)
Place de la Madeleine is named after the 19th-century neoclassical church at its centre, the
Église de la Madeleine. Constructed in the style of a massive Greek temple, 'La Madeleine'
was consecrated in 1842 after almost a century of design changes and construction delays.
