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Showing posts from May, 2013

Napoleon Bonaparte I and the Tomb of Napoleon at Les Invalides in Paris

Les Invalides is a fascinating tourist attraction in Paris with many museums, fantastic architecture, amazing history and others to keep you entertained but one of the things you can also visit is the famous Tomb of Napoleon. A bit of history on the well known emperor can help give an insight to the past history and what happened before we move onto the crypt or the tomb of Napoleon. Napoleon Bonaparte I was from the island, Corsica, born in 1769 he was educated in military school and soon made his way through the ranks until he was commander of the French army in Italy, where he forced Austria and their allies to make peace. Some years later a new threat loomed when Russia and Austria allied with Britain and Bonaparte returned to Paris as the government were in a crisis. The year 1800 Napoleon Bonaparte I defeated the Austrians and negotiated a peace treaty, making France have the controlling power over Europe.. Thanks to that victory he was made a Consul for life and saw the maki

Les Invalides with the Tomb of Napoleon and its impressive museums in Paris

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The Hotel National des Invalides is perhaps more well known as simply Les Invalides, and is just one of the many great monuments in Paris which you can find around. Originally thought of in 1670 by King Louis XIV for a place to hold war veterans which were no longer able to fight for the country. This place is a fantastic place to go to if you are interested in history, and especially military history in particular, with a very rich history of Les Invalides but also having the Tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte I as well. To expand on the Tomb of Napoleon , as most people know who Napoleon is, and was, a major part of history and still is, being taught throughout schools of his influence throughout French military history. And some twenty years after the man's death his remains were brought upstream along the River Seine to Paris. Once his remains were there he had a state funeral which ventured through Paris and paused briefly at the Arc de Triomphe which was built to the commands of

The Palais Garnier Opera House in Paris with its museum, tours and performances

The Palais Garnier, also known as the Opera Garnier is the 13th theatre to house the Paris Opera since it was founded in the late 1660's by King Louis XIV, and this particular opera house was built by the orders of Napoleon III to be part of the great Parisian reconstruction project, the building being named after the architect Charles Garnier. The Palais Garnier was inaugurated in 1875 on 5th January after taking a full 15 years to complete. Today now it is known by various different names from the Opera National de Paris, the Palais Garnier and finally, Opera Garnier. Nowadays the main focus is ballet performances as other operas are performed in the newer Paris Opera House of the Opera Bastille . The Opera Garnier was renovated in 2000, making the main facade impressive to look at just as if it was from the 19th century again with its many rich colours and golden statue work. Yet one of the most well known features of this tourist attraction has to be the Grand Staircase, th

The Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris with its windmill and famous cancan girls

The Moulin Rouge is another famous and well known icon within Paris where many will know of it from being the origin of the French Cancan in this cabaret venue, where over 100 years it is still visited from tourists from all around the world wishing to visit and have an experience. The history of this spectacular tourist attractions in Paris in itself is interesting in how it has played host to many famous celebrities including that of Elton John, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and more, but also helped with the introducing of the French Cancan as well as helping upcoming artists reach popularity. Additionally the Moulin Rouge has also featured as a title of a book by Pierre La Mure, which was later made into a film in 1952 named Moulin Rouge, staring Zsa-Zsa Gabor and Jose Ferrer, yet in 2001 there was another movie made, this time with the name of Moulin Rouge! which included the actors Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. There have also been many drawings, paintings and posters ma

Some unusual facts and what tourist attractions to discover on the River Seine in Paris

From the first glance the River Seine in Paris may just look like a plain river which runs through Paris, but it happens to be much more than just that, having turned into a major tourist attraction and a landmark with many fantastic bridges, two islands within it and much more. The River Seine has always been a major and prominent river even before the City came to life. Dating right back to when the first Parisii tribes settled their fishing villages close to the river as well as when the roman Empire took over the river for the reason it had become a highly valued commercial waterway. Yet surprisingly the river is only around 24 meters above sea level and in places only 8 meters deep, making it a slow flowing river which is also easily navigated, and even to this day provides Paris with water. The river divides the city into two; known as the typical left and the right. The settlers first stayed around the Right Bank but it wasn't until the Roman Empire times that Paris had

Ideas and tourist attractions to visit for a memorable holiday in Paris

Taking a holiday in Paris is both popular and amazing but not surprisingly, with over 30 million tourists yearly and with a full array of culture, entertainment, history and all of the spectacular monuments in Paris, the city also being known as The City of Lights, there is something to suit everyone's interest from all around the world. For this reason Paris is a great place to experience a special occasion form anything such as a birthday right through to an engagement or a romantic getaway. And even better, if you do not have the time to plan there are companies which offer specially made packages for you, even ranging to having a wedding in Paris. But even with those, the city can also be great for all ages, meaning it can be perfect for a family holiday in Paris , with varying hotels in Paris, and even campsites which can have many numerous activities on them also within the Ile de France region meaning it can be suitable for children of any age. Also there are very many t

OpenTour Bus Tours in Paris for seeing the many monuments and tourist attractions

OpenTour is a firm which operates tour buses in Paris with different routes around the capital city but also run bus tours in other locations such as Marseille and Nice, within the Provence-Alpes Cote d’Azur region. If you only have a small amount of time if you go for a holiday in Paris then one of the easiest and most convenient tours you can take is the OpenTour, allowing you to visit many places, which you may not see or discover otherwise. The tour buses are large double decker buses with open tops to allow you to take advantage of the great views. The buses are also very easy to spot due to their bright yellow and green colour scheme which operate daily throughout the whole year around Paris. The idea behind these bus tours in Paris is that you can buy a pass, jump into a bus and jump off as you wish, to see monuments, tourist attractions, museums and more that it stops at, and then when you wish jump back on another bus allowing you to visit many different places at your own

Palais de la Decouverte science museum at the Grand Palais in Paris

The Palais de la Decouverte is a science museum found within the Grand Palais in the heart of Paris which has a very different, yet unique, way of showing and allowing people to discover science to help everyone understand it. The history of the Palais de la Decouverte is a somewhat unlikely beginning, with the French physicist, Jean Perrin, who won a Nobel prize for his work on the atom, thought up the idea of a unique museum. And although his envisions of the museum was only meant to be a temporary exhibition for the World Fair in 1937, the amazing success of his experiments being performed in front of the public as well as letting visitors take part, it was decided to be changed into a permanent science museum, so many more could enjoy the science and learn. Nowadays the museum in Paris stays with the same ideas and approach that Perrin wanted to achieve with his idea, to allow many people to access and gain an understanding of any type of science, even those without much prior k

The Espace Dali is the only museum in France dedicated to the artist Salvador Dali

The Espace Dali museum is a museum dedicated to showing and featuring art works and sculptures of the well known surrealist artist Salvador Dali, and the only art exhibition dedicated to the artist in France. The artist himself, Salvador Dali had a very controversial personality, although he was someone who was also extraordinary. He was born in Catalonia Spain, yet spent time in both Paris and the United States before returning to his home town of Figueres. The museum is on a reasonably small scale, but not to be over looked with a variety of unusual lighting, black walls and other things, which create an unusual atmosphere and give a great view into the works and life of the surrealist artist. With all various types of art there is bound to be something to capture the attention of anyone who goes there, from the bizarre to the fantastic works which include and cover topics from religion, science and more, the museum can show most, allowing you to see some of the works from the fam