Paris and Ile of France , famous for chateaux and monuments: Louvre, Eiffel Tower and Moulin Rouge, Versailles, Fontainbleau and Chantilly

The Paris of historic monuments. They are the primary draw for tourists arriving from the four corners of the world. They have been photographed from every angle. Nothing is left to chance. Each has its own history, each was built according to a patiently developed plan, with a particular perspective in mind. To get even closer to the incomparable Parisian architectural heritage, tour guides offer themed visits that correspond to individual tastes: Gothic Paris, Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle; Paris' royal squares, Concorde, Victoires, Dauphine, or Vosges. Paris of the Enlightenment, of the Second Empire, of the Opera and the urban planning of Haussmann, of private mansions, of fountains and gardens, etc. Each site has a history, often rich with anecdotes and enigmas...

The Paris of Museums. Like the monuments, many are enormous, world famous, and house objects, paintings, and sculptures that are among the most important in the artistic history of humanity. Art lovers do not hesitate to circle the planet to visit them: the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, the Grand Palais, the Modern Art Museum, the Orangerie, the Marmottan, the recently opened Quai Branly Museum, the Pompidou Center, etc. In addition to these "cultural locomotives," Paris is also home to over a hundred smaller museums devoted to an astounding diversity of themes, as well as the preservation of heritage, traditions, and cultures: publicity, cinema, photography, mankind, natural history, technical achievements, famous people, civilizations, costumes, religious history, science and industry, etc.

The Paris of the Seine. It has often been said that the story of the city and its river is a love story. In general, for the better, but during certain periods (floods), for the worse. For centuries travelers used boats, and most merchandise, meats and other foodstuffs, coal, and wood was transported on the Seine, which was for the most part navigable. The river played a crucial role in the development of the city. The Left and Right Banks were constructed around the river, which remains an essential element of the landscape, with its quays, its bridges, its traffic, and its monuments. The largest squares, Concorde, Invalides, Champs de Mars, and most of the major monuments are built near the banks of the river: the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, the Conciergerie, the Louvre, the Tuileries, the National Library of France, the Arab World Institute, Trocadero, and of course, the Eiffel Tower. Today, the bateau-mouche is an excellent way to first discover the heart of Paris and its quays. Each designated a historic monument, lovers still consider these riverbanks the ideal setting for a romantic stroll.

Paris for ramblers. For tourists who like to wander aimlessly, who value the element of the unexpected, Paris is a magical city. Balzac wrote: "Paris is a veritable ocean. Cross it. Describe it...there is always a pristine spot, an unknown lair..." One need only look up to discover the façade of a superbly decorated hôtel particulier, or mansion, an entryway that opens into a small courtyard, or a statue in a niche...or stop in front of store windows, the most prestigious to the most humble, that are part of the urban decor. Push open the door of a bistro or a literary cafe. Seek out the exotic in this utterly cosmopolitan city. Find yourself nose to nose with the dreams and fantasies of architects: a Chinese house, a Tibetan temple, a Tunisian palace or an Assyrian temple. One need only walk up a few stairs in Montmartre to see the famous rooftops of Paris, the inextricable tangle of colors, or to sit on a bench in a tiny neighborhood square or public garden where children play, or to enter a church found on a detour, or walk into an artist's studio in Montparnasse, or into one of the cemeteries where famous writers, intellectuals, and artists rest. Discovery is always just around the corner.

The Paris of writers. Their pens have described the essential episodes of French history, both small and large scale: revolutions and wars, protests, literary salons, the capital's most difficult moments, as well as crazy nights in the cabarets. During the age of Enlightenment, Voltaire, Diderot, and the Encyclopedists, Beaumarchais and Marivaux recount Parisian life. In the 19th century, the capital inspires the major works of Victor Hugo and Balzac, and becomes a character in Les Miserables and The Human Comedy. Zola's novels realistically describe life in the poor neighborhoods. Up until the present day, typically Parisian characters populate novels, plays, and films, from the surly, working-class "Titi" to the chatterbox concierge, as well as the fruit seller, the bookseller on the quays, the rioter, the bourgeois snob, or the drunk. Paris has always been a muse to poets and novelists.

The Paris of painters. Paris has always been a creative center, and during certain periods it was the artistic capital of the world. An obligatory stop for creative artists, especially during the first decades of the 20th century when modern art was born. Artists from all over the world could be found in Montmartre and Montparnasse—painters, sculptors, writers, and musicians. Among them, Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Modigliani, Man Ray, Max Jacob, Apollinaire, Jarry, Aragon, Breton, etc. The Impressionists, the Cubists, the Fauvists, the Surrealists—everyone! Who can forget the extraordinary destiny of the Bateau-Lavoir, a decrepit old building in Montmartre that sheltered several budding geniuses. A profusion of ideas and creativity germinated under its ragged roof. Picasso painted "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" there, a painting/manifesto of Cubism. This was the age of Matisse, Dufy, Bonnard, Vlaminck, Derain, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat, Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, not to mention Toulouse Lautrec, painter of cabarets and other torrid nightspots in the capital.

The Paris of song. No other city has been the subject of so many poems and songs. Endless refrains celebrating the quays and bridges of the Seine, squares, streets, rooftops, bistros, and train stations, and typical Parisian characters. The city is often personified as a beautiful woman: "Paris, queen of the world, Paris like a blonde with a turned up nose, a tease...." Edith Piaf sang about street urchins, Yves Montand "...likes to stroll on the Grand Boulevards." The Seine "flows, flows, flows when it comes into Paris." During the Liberation, a joyful Paris sang "it's a Parisian flower, old Paris is smiling." Every hour of the day and night, Paris is alive. Jacques Dutronc sings "It's five o'clock, Paris is waking up...." The night owl hums: "a little Metro station, surrounded by bistros, Pigalle..." Thousands of popular tunes.

The Shopper's Paris. Paris is a fashion capital, the city of haute couture, of designers, of the most famous labels. Paris is the incontestable capital of good taste. A "chic Parisian" is a reference point. Haute couture, born in Paris during the Belle Epoque, continues to be an element of the capital's and the country's international image. The collections of French designers still make the media swoon and feed the public's dreams. The capital of not only clothing fashions, but also jewelry and perfumes, which can be found in luxury boutiques and department stores. Certain of the latter are such an integral part of the Parisian landscape that they are almost as popular as the Eiffel Tower with visiting foreigners.

Paris by night. Its legendary concert halls, operas, and theaters are known by one and all. What other city can offer 300 theatrical events each night, in every style, from classics to comedy to avant-garde? What other city can offer such a vast choice of small theaters, cabarets, comedy clubs, jazz clubs, discotheques, wine bars, and hip restaurants? Not to mention the dancing girls of the Moulin Rouge, the Lido, and the Paradis Latin?

Gourmet Paris. If Paris is known for one thing, it is its culinary savoir-faire. It is legendary. The most basic example is the Parisian baguette, which has become the symbol of French bread, but there is also the jambon de Paris, or Paris ham, the "King's cake" served at Epiphany, and the champignon de Paris, the local mushroom that used to grow in the city's limestone tunnels. If you ask for meat cooked "a la Parisienne", it will be cooked to perfection. Imagination rules in the most intricate recipes as well as everyday cooking. An inventiveness that is fed by the fact that the best products from the country's best farmland converge here. As do the best chefs. The best of the best come to Paris to hone their talents at the capital's finest restaurants. If there were one city in the world that could be called the gastronomic capital of the world, many would name Paris.

The first abbeys appeared in the fifth century, and there was a veritable explosion of construction during the 10th through the 17th centuries. The most prevalent order was that of the Cistercians—created by the preacher Saint Bernard of the Cîteaux Abby in Burgundy. Some abbeys in the Ile-de-France are in ruins, but others have been restored and many of these historic buildings are now romantic settings for culture (concert halls, conference rooms, museums, etc.) or relaxation (unique hotels, seminar retreats, etc.) To mention just a few: Royaumont, founded in honor of the King St-Louis; Chaalis, in the Chantilly Forest; Port Royal-des-Champs, where Racine lived; Les Vaux-de-Cernay, in the Chevreuse Valley, etc.

It was in the Ile-de-France that Gothic art was born, starting in the 12th century. This major architectural movement, famous for its tall structures and its attention to light, spilled over the region’s borders—most of the largest constructions of this period, outside of Notre-Dame-de-Paris, were in Amiens, Chartres, and Beauvais, which are on the outer edges of the region. The Basilica of St-Denis, an exceptional edifice, shelters the tombs of five centuries worth of French kings. The secular architectural heritage is as prestigious as the religious, as the kings of France continually attracted princes and courtesans. Here French architecture, including garden design, reached its summit, thanks to the gifts of artists like Mansart, Le Vau, and Le Nôtre. Their talents shined in the royal residences mentioned above, as well as Vaux-le-Vicomte—which foreshadowed Versailles—Champs-sur-Marne, Sceaux, Chevreuse, Dampierre, Breteuil, Ecouen, Grosbois, and others….

Even more amazing than the extraordinary urban development, the birth of new towns, the creation of commercial and industrial zones, and the convergence of highway and railway networks, is the presence of dozens of relatively well-preserved forests and valleys in Ile-de-France. Once the hunting preserves of the kings of France, a multitude of forests form a greenbelt around the urban area: Chantilly and Ermenonville to the north, Ferrières to the east, Fontainbleau and Sénart to the south, Marly-le-Roi and St-Germain to the west. Planted with a wide variety of trees that act as biodiversity reservoirs, these forests have become settings for all forms of leisure activity, from hiking and climbing, to studying nature, to hunting game or mushrooms. Victor Hugo expressed his admiration for these lush groves when he wrote: “A tree is an building, a forest is a city, and, above all, that of Fontainebleau is a monument.” One can also find many beautiful valleys with rolling landscapes in Ile-de-France, such as that the valleys of the Chevreuse, the Grand and Petit Morin, and the Ourcq. As well as a collection of tiny towns that have preserved their historic medieval or Renaissance center, with half-timbered houses and mullioned windows.

The Impressionist painters immortalized many sites in Ile-de-France, whose landscapes became one of their favorite subjects. Corot painted Fontainebleau Forest and country scenes, Théodore Rousseau and Millet set up shop in Barbizon, Edouard Manet captured the banks of the Seine near Gennevilliers, and Claude Monet, who lived in Véteuil and then at Giverny, painted downstream of Mantes. The area around the Isle d’Adam and the banks of the Oise River were painted by Corot’s disciples; those of the Loing by Sisley; the village of Auvers, its streets, and the surrounding countryside by Van Gogh. Bougival, Chatou, Louveciennes, so many places lining the Seine’s edges that evoke famous works by Impressionists like Berthe Morisot, Caillebotte, and Renoir. Thanks to painters we have a visual testament of the landscapes and inhabitants of the Ile-de-France in the days before photography.

So many places that are as charged with history as the royal palaces and castles. Such as Meaux with its Episcopal palace where Bossuet was made bishop. Blandy-les-Tours, the archetypal medieval fortress, in the heart of Brie. The park of Vallée aux Loups, in Châtenay-Malabry, where Chateaubriand once lived. The confluence of the Seine and the Oise, Conflans Ste-Honorine, capital of the river shipping fleet. Crépy-en-Valois, named after the dynasty that was born there, and that later ruled France. Dampierre Castle, with its perfect proportions, designed by the architect Hardouin-Mansart. Dourdan or Etamps, royal towns under the Capetian kings. Jouarre Abbey, one of the oldest in France, with ruins that date from the Merovingian epoch. The medieval town of Provins, once site of the huge country fairs of Champagne. Rueil-Malmaison, where Bonaparte lived the perfect love with Josephine. Montfort l’Amaury where Ravel composed many of his works.

One can also find traces of the lives of ordinary people in Ile-de-France, like ancient marketplaces covered by huge roofs in the Gâtinais, fountains and dovecotes in Brie, and closer to the city, the “guinguettes,” open-air riverside dance halls, on the edges of the Marne, so joyous and popular during the period between the two World Wars….Many other sites bring back memories of life during other epochs. Today, we add several large theme parks to the list. There are many in Ile-de-France, such as Disneyland Resort Paris, which welcomes over 10 million visitors each year; Parc Astérix, near the Chantilly Forest; Thoiry, with its gardens and African animal park, etc.

Among the many events in the region, you can find—sometimes surprisingly—festivals celebrating plants, lilies, perennials, the harvest, beans, green peas, carrots, hunting, ham, honey, grape harvest, etc. These themes testify to the importance of agricultural activities in the region only a few decades ago….Among the regional products with a proud history count Brie cheese and its many varieties: Meux, Melun, Coulommiers, and Nangis, each one possessing a unique character. The Hurepoix area, which was for a long time the capital’s primary source of produce, is still associated with beans; its center is Arpajon. If the asparagus of Argenteuil and the peaches of Montreuil disappeared from market stalls a long time ago, one can still find certain traditional products in the local markets in the small towns of the region. Poultry is still raised in the Gâtinais, notably the famous Houdan hen, and certain traditional dishes have names that recall their local origins: Argenteuil scrambled eggs, St-Germain soup, Clamart soup, Senlis watercress puree…

In Ile-de-France, like everywhere, the best recipes are those that are linked to memories, a reminder of the region’s rich past…

Paris Seine-et-Marne Yvelines Essonne Seine-saint-Denis Val de Marne Val d'Oise