Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
exhibitions take place in the beautiful, Rayonnant Gothic
Salle des Gens d'Armes
,
Europe's largest surviving medieval hall.
Of the almost 2800 prisoners held in the dungeons during the Reign of Terror (in various
'classes' of cells, no less) before being sent in tumbrels to the guillotine, star prisoner was
Queen Marie-Antoinette - see a reproduction of her cell. As the Revolution began to turn on
its own, radicals Danton and Robespierre made an appearance at the Conciergerie and, fi-
nally, the judges of the tribunal themselves.
BRIDGE
PONT NEUF
Paris' oldest bridge has linked the western end of Île de la Cité with both river banks since
1607, when the king inaugurated it by crossing the bridge on a white stallion. The occasion
is commemorated by an equestrian
statue of Henry IV
, known to his subjects as the Vert
Galant ('jolly rogue' or 'dirty old man', perspective depending).
View the bridge's seven arches, decorated with humorous and grotesque figures of
barbers, dentists, pickpockets, loiterers etc, from a spot along the river or afloat.
Pont Neuf and nearby place Dauphine were used for public exhibitions in the 18th cen-
tury. In the last century the bridge became an objet d'art: in 1963 School of Paris artist
Nonda built, exhibited and lived in a huge Trojan horse of steel and wood on the bridge; in
1984 Japanese designer Kenzo covered it with flowers; and in 1985 Bulgarian-born 'envir-
onmental sculptor' Christo famously wrapped the bridge in beige fabric.
MONUMENT
MÉMORIAL DES MARTYRS DE LA DÉPORTATION
10am-noon & 2-7pm Apr-Sep, to 5pm Oct-Mar;
St-Michel-Notre Dame)
The Memorial to the Victims of the Deportation, erected in 1962, remembers the 160,000
residents of France (including 76,000 Jews, of whom 11,000 were children) deported to and
murdered in Nazi concentration camps during WWII. A single barred 'window' separates
the bleak, rough-concrete courtyard from the waters of the Seine. Inside lies the
Tomb of
the Unknown Deportee
.
EATING
Île St-Louis is a pleasant if pricey and overly touristy place to eat. Otherwise
barren of decent eating places, Île de la Cité squirrels away a couple of lovely
addresses on its western tip.
