Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
grand maître
's engravings, paintings, ceramic works, drawings and sculptures. It
will reopen after extensive renovations in 2012.
PLACE DES VOSGES
City Square
( St-Paul or Bastille)
Inaugurated in 1612 as place Royale, Place des Vosges is
an ensemble of three dozen symmetrical houses with ground-floor arcades, steep
slate roofs and large dormer windows arranged around a large square.
The author Victor Hugo lived at the square's Hôtel de Rohan-Guéménée from
1832 to 1848, moving here a year after the publication of
Notre Dame de Paris
(The
Hunchback of Notre Dame). His former house, the
Maison de Victor Hugo
(
www.musee-hugo.paris.fr
, in French; admission adult/child €7/free; 10am-6pm
Tue-Sun)
, is now a municipal museum devoted to the life and times of the celeb-
rated novelist and poet, with an impressive collection of his own drawings and por-
traits.
Detour:
Canal St-Martin
République, Jaurès or Jacques Bonsergent)
are a wonderful place for a romantic stroll or a
bike ride past nine locks, metal bridges and ordinary Parisian neighbourhoods. The water-
banks here have undergone a real urban renaissance in recent years, and the southern
stretch in particular is an ideal spot for café lounging, quay-side summer picnics and late-
night drinks. Take a tour on a
canal boat
(
Click here
) to savour the real flavour.
PLACE DE LA BASTILLE
City Square
( Bastille)
The Bastille, built during the 14th century as a fortified royal residen-
ce, is probably the most famous monument in Paris that no longer exists; the notori-
ous prison - the quintessential symbol of royal despotism - was demolished by a
Revolutionary mob on 14 July 1789 and all seven prisoners were freed. Place de la
Search WWH ::
Custom Search