The Louvre Museum is one of the most important museums of the world by a large number of works of art that has, and the largest in Paris and the third in the world. It is impossible to visit all in one day. Located in district 1 in Cour Napoleon near the Musée d’Orsay.

His collection is impressive, you can not find the large number of pieces, sculptures and paintings have, since many of the rooms have closed because of staff shortages. Also try to restore I could see many sculptures.

All these collections are divided into several rooms, we are including Oriental antiques, Egyptian antiques, antiquities Greek, Etruscan and Roman, Islamic art, sculptures (in this room is a large collection of medieval sculptures, Renaissance and modern), the other rooms are divided between art objects, paintings and graphics (the latter can be seen on request).

The Louvre houses several masterpieces of universal art, which have achieved iconic status and are instantly recognizable anywhere in the world. Among them is the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, one of the most famous portraits in the world, within the sculpture is the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory of Samothrace.

If you arrive by public transport to the Louvre is the best option, as you indicated below. But if you come in your own car I remind you that the Louvre has an underground parking. The entrance is on Avenue du General Lemonnier. This park is open from 7:00 h to 23:00 h.

The Eiffel Tower was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1889 to be held in commemoration of the centenary of the French Revolution. Gustave Eiffel and his company were the entrepreneurs of such a project starting in 1887 was completed in March 1889, just over two years later. The work generated no little controversy, especially among artists of the time, who thought of the tower as an “iron monster” in the middle of the city of romance.

When talking about technical features, the tower is a huge metal structure weighing about 10,000 tons and its height was originally 300 feet, is now 324 meters, including radio and television antenna was added much later. Employ some 200 workers who joined more than 18,000 pieces of iron with 2 million bolts. The foundation measure 30 meters in depth, due to the proximity to the river and the nature of the subsoil.

It consists of three levels, can be accessed through the first two steps, should be encouragement to join the 1665 steps up! Otherwise you can take the elevator, which normally have long queues …

In the first level, 57 meters, operate a post office, where you can send postcards with the special stamp “Paris Tour Eiffel,” the restaurant “Altitude 95″, a souvenir shop, the reception hall and conferences “Gustave Eiffel”, the Cineiffel, exhibitions with photos of the tower, and of course the gallery from which you can take panoramic pictures of Paris.

The second level is 115 meters above the ground and from there partly lift to the third level. There are a few souvenir shops, restaurant Jules Verne and above all, the views of the city are spectacular.

At 276 meters, after rising 160 meters into the lift, you reach the third level, where the views are absolutely extraordinary. At this level there is a recreation of workplace Gustave Eiffel, with wax figures of Eiffel and his daughter Claire to receive the inventor Thomas Edison, and of Gustave Eiffel and his two engineers Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier.

When it authorized the construction of the tower, Gustave Eiffel was to undertake the project with its own funds and the city government would allow the operation of the tower during the term of 20 years, after which the tower would become part of heritage Paris. The play was a successful first year, but these were no better or even equal to the first.

The fate of the tower after 20 years seemed to be none other than destruction. That’s why Eiffel emphasized the great scientific benefits of such a structure could provide (to the construction of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930 the tower was the tallest building in the world) and made to install a weather station top and, later, a telegraph antenna, whose benefits were highly tested at military level. Thus saved Eiffel tower. From 1921 he began to broadcast radio and television time came.

Only since the ’60s becomes a tourist attraction with the influx of the international public. Of all the sights of Paris, one can say that the Eiffel Tower is one of the few that remain far from immutable over time evolves and innovates, either with changes in paint color, either with lighting effects.

When opened to the public in May 1889 visited until the end of the year about 2 million people currently are 6 million tourists who visit annually. Since its inauguration and the end of 2005 are being counted more than 220 million visitors!

Source: www.mundocity.com/europa/paris/torre-eiffel.html
image source: www.world-city-photos.org/Paris/Eiffel_Tower/Pictures_of_Eiffel_Tower_black_and_white.jpg; http://funguerilla.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/eiffel-tower-paris.jpg; http://viterbivoices.usc.edu/evans/files/2010/05/Beneath-the-Eiffel-Tower_-Paris_-France.jpg

From the twelfth century this vast space had been occupied by factories “tuiles” (a kind of tiles, from which it derives its name) and orchards. In 1564, Catherine de Medicis had built there a palace, the Tuileries Palace, surrounded by a large garden Florentine style, where fountains adorned with sculptures stood out, a maze, lots of ornamental and fruit trees, lawns, potted flowers, garden and even a vineyard …

Large lavish receptions and parties were held in these gardens, which by then were the queen’s personal gardens and were surrounded by high walls. In 1594 they planted cypress trees and lots of mulberry trees for silkworm rearing. Stables and cages with birds also had their place in this small paradise.

In 1664, Louis XIV commissioned André Le Nôtre to redesign the garden, opening it to people of high society, was the first public garden in Paris. Its tree-lined avenues, where alternating maple, horse chestnut trees, cypresses and elms, they were populated by statues. Tulips and carnations filled with color spring and summer. Later came the pond, big pond first round, then two smaller ones and finally the west octagonal pool in 1669.

When the court was established at the Palace of Versailles made only at the Tuileries maintenance. On the way back in 1715, it trayeron many statues scattered in the garden.

At the time of the Revolution, the palace and gardens were the center of Republican power. A restructuring plan transformed the Italian garden in English: Increase lawns and pots were replaced by trees and shrubs with fragrant flowers … some, thinking it was too luxurious, suggested use as a garden. The idea did not prosper, but on the contrary, they thought of embellishing with porticoes, lectures, Propylaea … After the fall of Robespierre, this project was abandoned.

In the late eighteenth century garden poured into the neoclassical, full of classical statues restored and taken from the nobility. Orange trees were planted citrus plants and flowers are sold at auctions, while public access was restricted. Napoleon continued the real plan to raise the Louvre to the Palais des Tuileries and built the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, while large parties in back gardens.

In 1862 he built the Jeu de Paume, a sort of space dedicated to a game that could be called the predecessor of tennis.

The events of the Commune in 1870 ended up setting fire to the Tuileries Palace, which was never recovered and finally decided to raze. By the end of the century, the gardens regained their public character and developed important social events such as the “Motor” and celebrations of important dates. The World Wars seriously affected the state of the garden, which was gradually restored to its role festive.

The bicentenary of the revolution in 1889 marked the end of the festivities, to consecrate the Tuileries Gardens as pure space walk. The restoration project tried to respect the history of the garden, retaining ponds, vegetation and sculptures, making a veritable museum of outdoor art.

Source: www.mundocity.com/europa/paris/tullerias.html
image source: www.planetware.com/i/photo/jardin-des-tuileries-paris-f1206.jpg; www.ecole-st-martin.fr/wp-content/themes/mimbo2-1.2/images/2009/10/paris-jardin-des-tuileries-011.jpg

The Louvre Museum is the largest museum in Paris and the third in the world in area, with 160,000 square meters, of which just over 58,000 were devoted to exhibitions. Located on the 1st. District in the heart of Paris, is also one of the oldest museums in the world.

The origins of the Louvre Palace dating back to the Middle Ages.

King Philip Augustus, who reigned for 43 years, from 1180-1223, had endowed the city, then the most important and powerful on the continent, a large protective wall. 1190 saw the need to strengthen this wall with the building of a strong castle, the typical Medieval castle surrounded by trenches with a tower, the Grosse Tour du Louvre, to guard the gates of Paris danger threatened by Anglo-Norman.

The city continued to grow outside the walls and Charles V drove to 1356 the construction of a new, so the old fortress of Philip Augustus became obsolete. By 1364, the castle becomes the sumptuous royal residence of Charles V. After the death of Charles VI, the castle remained dormant until Francisco I decided to take up residence there. In 1528 the Grosse Tour was destroyed, leading medieval castle to a new Renaissance palace.

Since 1546, the hand of Pierre Lescot, began the transformation of the old fort into a luxurious royal residence, demolishing old buildings and building new wings, work continued under the reigns of Henry II and Henry IV. By 1564, Catherine de Medici, widow of Henry II, decided to build the Tuileries Palace, to the west. In 1566 starts the construction of a gallery to bring the Louvre to the Tuileries Palace, a project known as “Grand Dessein”. On the death of Henry IV remained unfinished works, his young successor, Louis XIII, will address the Louvre belatedly, in 1678, when Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles as a royal residence, stopped all work.

However, in 1692 Louis XIV ordered the installation of antique sculptures in the hall of the Caryatids. The palace was occupied by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and in 1699 organized the first of a series of exhibitions that attracted crowds. In 1756, Louis XV takes up the unfinished work of Louis XIV and the palace acquired the appearance we see today. In 1791 he decreed that the Louvre would be devoted to “the meeting of all the monuments of science and useful arts.” In 1793 he inaugurated the Musée du Louvre, which initially received public only on Sundays.
At the time of the Empire became known as Napoleon Museum. The accumulated works, taken from conquered places, made the largest museum in the world. In the fall of Napoleon in 1815, invaded nations regained their works and the museum was dismantled. Between 1806 and 1808 had been built opposite the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, decorated with reliefs and statues in honor of the victorious army of Napoleon. At the top ranked ancient bronze horses taken from the Piazza San Marco in Venice, also were returned in 1815.

The Arc du Carrousel

From then until mid-century, pro-recover and reorganize the museum, was creating and arranging new facilities: In 1826 he opened the Egyptian antiquities section, by the discoverer of the principles of hieroglyphic writing, Jean -François Champollion, was established in 1827 the Navy Museum and Gallery Luis Felipe Spanish between 1838 and 1848, Assyrian and museums, Mexican, Algerian and ethnological.

Napoleon III between 1857 and 1861 complete works to meet the Louvre to the Tuileries. In 1871, the last days of the Commune, the Tuileries Palace, symbol of the monarchy, was burned and also part of the Louvre Palace. Reconstructions had to be made, but the Tuileries never recovered and finally decided razed in 1882.

With the burning of the Tuileries was born a new era for the Louvre to be permanently leaves the residence of the political power to be committed to cultural activity.

Between 1939 and 1945, during World War was necessary to evacuate and close the museum and many works were transferred to different places, especially like Chambort castles. However, the museum reopened its doors in 1940 in the midst of Nazi occupation.

Since 1926, Henri Verne then director of National Museums, had launched a major restructuring plan for the Louvre, which lasted until after World War II. Under this project, the collections did nothing but increase and was necessary to transfer complete collections elsewhere, such as the Musée de la Marine Palais de Chaillot and the Asian collections at the Guimet Museum. The old playroom Tuileries Palace, the Jeu de Paume, became in 1947 an annex to the Louvre keeping collections of impressionist art. For lack of space, all that material was transferred in 1986 to the newly created Museum of Orsay.

In 1981, President François Mitterrand announced the project of “Grand Louvre”, which included a restructuring, absolutely necessary, the giant museum. This is called the famed architect IM Pei Ming, the mentor of the controversial glass pyramid that is now the main entrance of the Louvre, in the middle of the Cour Napoleon. The Great Pyramid, which opened on March 30, 1989, leading to the basement of the palace, a vast hall that leads to temporary exhibitions, an auditorium, the graves of the Louvre of Charles V and visitor services (cafe, changing rooms, library , restaurants, access to metro station).

Collections

The collections in the Louvre are vast and were grouped into eight departments:
- Oriental Antiquities: Collections of sculptures and the Near and Middle East, since the appearance of people 10,000 years ago until the arrival of Islam (Mesopotamia, Iran, Arabia, Anatolia, etc).
- Egyptian Antiquities: Brings together a collection that spans from Prehistoric times (4000 BC) to the Christian period (fourth century).
- Antiquities Greek, Etruscan and Roman: It brings together works from the Neolithic to the sixth century AD.
- Art of Islam: This department of the Louvre has a collection of thousands of objects of Islamic art, spanning 1300 years of history.
- Sculptures: collections of medieval sculptures, Renaissance and modern French, Italian and Northern European countries.
- Works of art: Samples of various objects such as tapestries, jewelry, ceramics, ivory, furniture and clocks. It ranges from the Middle Ages to the first half of the nineteenth century.
- Paints: includes representative works of all schools of European painting from the thirteenth century to 1848. The Italian section is the oldest in the Louvre, whose most famous work is perhaps the famous “Mona Lisa” by Da Vinci.
- Graphic Arts: Works on paper using different techniques. Because of its fragility in the light, only temporary exhibitions or on demand.

Source: www.mundocity.com/europa/paris/louvre.html
image source: www.bugbog.com/images/main/france_pictures/paris_pictures_louvre.jpg; www.hotel-week-end.com/photos/louvre-museum.gif; www.scenicreflections.com/ithumbs/Louvre%20Museum,%20Paris,%20France.jpg; http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Dining_room_in_the_Louvre_museum.jpg

The place for the implementation of the cabaret was chosen with care, the Montmartre area was “fashionable” neighborhood where they gathered to drink disreputable characters and where they could meet loose women. The Dance of the Moulin Rouge, frequented in the beginning by the local people gradually also attracted aristocrats who attended also by mixing with the lower class.

Outside, a red giant windmill blades greeted mobile, in a giant dance floor, a small stage, mirrors and drapes everywhere.

In the background was a garden for the summer where there was an enormous elephant made of plaster, of the Universal Exhibition of 1889, within which you could see a bellydancing show.

Among the most outstanding artists who went through the Moulin Rouge is particularly emphasized Celeste Mogador, the creator of the famous Quadrille, devilish dance did lose his head to Paris and that gave rise to the famous French cancan. Other artists who passed also remembered for his stage were Goulue, Miss Jenny, Nini-en-l’air Pattes the Môme Fromage, Jeanne Folle. Many artists found inspiration in the Moulin Rouge, including Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, who with his colored drawings immortalize scenes of the show and its dancers, especially the Goulou.

By 1902, disagreements among its founders, the departure of the Goulou, competition with other establishments and their can-can out of fashion led to the balls at the Moulin Rouge. Only in 1907 would regain its former luster with the appearance of Mistinguett, who eventually became a star of music hall and regained the lost splendor of the famous cabaret. When she retired, nothing was the same as before, and the Moulin Rouge was not just another nightclub among many.

During World War II under German occupation the city lost its joy. Days before the liberation of Paris, Edith Piaf made his presentation at the Moulin Rouge, along with Yves Montand.

In 1951, France acquired Georges cabaret and renewed, ready to restore its former glory: They came back and dancing evenings, great attractions and lavish parties.

In 1955, the hand of Joseph and Louis Clerico began dinner-show at the Moulin Rouge with an absolute success. In 1962 he installed a huge aquarium where they swam nude dancers before the fascinated eyes of hundreds of spectators, and at first by superstition, then by tradition, the magazine shows have names beginning with “F”: Frou Frou, Frisson, Fascination, Fantastic, Frenzy … in 1988, to celebrate the centenary of cabaret, was chosen “Formidable.”

Today, the journal Féerie “features a group of 100 artists, 60 of which are the famous” Doriss Girls “dancers recruited from all over the world, musicians and singers, a thousand costumes of feathers, rhinestones and sequins, and sumptuous decorations the large aquarium.

To enjoy an evening at the Moulin Rouge must have at least 87-97 € to see only the show (includes half bottle of champagne), and between 140 and 170 € for dinner and show. It must wear label and non-smoking.

Source: www.mundocity.com/europa/paris/moulin-rouge.html
image source: www.reds-world.com/MoulinRouge.jpg; http://travellingeurope.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/moulin-rouge.jpg

Place de la Concorde is the most beautiful square in Paris and larger. Its location offers spectacular views of one of the most attractive areas of the city: To the east, a perspective of the Jardin des Tuileries, the Arc du Carrousel and the Louvre, to the west, the Champs Elysees and the Arc Triumph. La Rue Royale opens north to reach the Church of the Madeleine, and across the Seine, across the Puente de la Concorde, stands the Palais Bourbon, seat of the National Assembly.

The center of the square is dominated by an imposing pink granite obelisk of Luxor over 3300 years old and almost 23 meters high, a gift from Egypt to France. In each of the corners of the square, octagonal, is a statue representing a French city: Brest, Rouen, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Lille and Strasbourg. To the north and south of the obelisk, two monumental fountains depicting marine themes complete the square.

The history of the Place de la Concorde goes back to the time of Louis XV, who decided to hold a square with the statue in the center and surrounded by hotels to present the prestigious Hotel Crillon and the Ministry of the Navy, on both sides of the Rue Royale.

In the foreground, and font Obelisk de la Concorde in the background, the Palais Bourbon and the golden dome of Les Invalides.

At the time of the Revolution, the statue of the king was replaced with one that symbolized liberty, and the place was notorious with the installation of the guillotine, of the nearly 2,500 people guillotined during this period, 1119 were executed in this square, then known as the Plaza of the Revolution. With the end of the Terror was decided that his name would be “Place de la Concorde.”

For the governments that followed the Plaza presented a political problem, always marked by memories of the Reign of Terror. During the Restoration, the return of the monarchy to power, the idea of placing a statue in memory of Louis XVI, a way of honoring those who died in this noble place, which never materialized.

Finally, in 1831 the Viceroy of Egypt Mohammed Ali gives France an obelisk that marked the entrance to the temple of Luxor Aman. Luis Felipe I decided that would be installed in the Place de la Concorde, where not remember any political event. In 1833 he began his move to Paris after many vicissitudes since its size and weight of 227 tonnes, reaching the city in 1836. The obelisk is covered with hieroglyphs and in the plinth is recorded that describe the techniques used for transport.

Obelisk at Place de la Concorde

Source: www.mundocity.com/europa/paris/concorde.html

We went today to one of the most picturesque cities in France: Avignon. It is located on the left bank of the Rhone River, about 653 km southeast of Paris and 80 km northwest of Marseille.

In the Middle Ages, this magnificent city in southern France was the seat of the papacy from 1309 until 1377. From then until 1417, the Great Schism provoked papal venues were two. Avignon and Rome, resolved the conflict in favor of the Pope of Rome.

In that past, Avignon, has great artistic treasure that has achieved membership in the list of World Heritage of UNESCO since 1995. Especially the Papal Palace, the largest Gothic buildings of the Middle Ages with over 11,000 square meters. Its walls reach 5 meters in thickness!

It is located on the Place du Palais des Papes, on a hill overlooking the city from the north with the River Rhone at his feet.

The Palace of the Popes

On your way through the city you should also visit the Petit Palais on the western side of the square and the Romanesque Cathedral of Notre-Dame-des-Doms north of the Palace of the Popes and the walls of the city or remparts. They are in good condition, were built by the popes in the fourteenth century and still around Avignon. They are one of the best surviving examples of medieval fortifications.

Avignon I also love the authenticity of its cobbled streets, the remains of its famous bridge, its Romanesque churches and an excellent range of luxury hotels in Avignon and the area. In addition, eating is especially tempting, yet another reason to find a quaint hotel in Avignon and a weekend escape to this corner of France.

Vezelay is tiny, is located in central France and climbs over the crest of a hill; because that’s how cities were built give the Middle Ages to defend major. Con few hundred inhabitants, has two luxuries that travelers sensitized should not skip.

On one side is the great basilica of Vezelay Square facing spot with his strong Roman and after 700 years attests to the power of faith in a time where nothing was secular. Furthermore, Vezelay has the surrounding landscape, a horizon of valleys and gentle slopes of almost incomparable beauty, whose distance can be seen from anywhere in the city.

The route through Vezelay is not too busy and much less visited by tourists who prefer the highways or airlines. But for the visitor lover of beauty and the scent of the centuries, should be known that in central France (where the grasslands of Burgundy) there are other, more discrete through which can result in Dijon.

Bourges is a serious matter not only for the famous Gothic cathedral but by the old palace Jacques Coeur, a tycoon who financed the king himself and was the Rockefeller of the time, whose salon in Bourges has a wooden ceiling carved by marine engineers, which equals a huge boat upside down. It’s worth staying a little in Bourges and discovers their relics. Vezelay travel can be an experience close to that of go into the time tunnel.

Clearly, the beaches, with all the paraphernalia that lead (read loungers, sunbathing, sports activities and idle of all persuasions, etc.) are one of the attributes that increase the attractiveness of a city choosing the fate of our holiday. Most striking is that these beaches are not in coastal cities, like the Paris Plage, located in the heart of the French capital, which, moreover, abounds in all kinds of tourist attractions.

A great option to spend Easter with family or a group of friends is to travel from east to west the southern French countryside aboard a charter boat on a cruise along the Canal du Midi.

The Canal du Midi and Canal du Midi is the waterway that links France Garonne River in Toulouse, the Mediterranean Sea. This is the waterway in Europe’s longest running and is now used for tourism, leisure and even as housing channel recorded a fifth of the French river tourism, even above the Seine.

Hotel de Paris. The designer has achieved a timeless mix between the past the place and its fantastic true story, using the finest materials and sofiticacióin baroque.