Normandy, Brittany & the Best of the North_ With Paris (Fodor's) - Fodor's [110]
Grand Palais.
With its curved-glass roof and gorgeous restored Belle Époque ornamentation, you can’t miss the Grand Palais whether you’re approaching from the Seine or the Champs-Élysées. It forms a voluptuous duo with the Petit Palais across Avenue Winston-Churchill: both stone buildings, adorned with mosaics and sculpted friezes, were built for the 1900 World’s Fair, and, like the Tour Eiffel, were not supposed to be permanent. The art shows staged here are often the hottest ticket in town. Previous popular shows include “Marie Antoinette” and “Picasso and the Masters.” To skip the long lines, it pays to book an advance ticket online, which will cost you an extra euro. | Av. Winston-Churchill, Champs-Élysées | 75008 | 01–44–13–17–17 | www.grandpalais.fr, www.rmn.fr for reservations | €12 | Grand Palais: Wed. and Fri.–Mon. 10–10, Thurs. 10–8. Petit Palais: Tues.–Sun. 10–6 | Station: Champs-Élysées–Clemenceau.
Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Gardens).
The Tuileries was once the place to see and be seen in Paris. This most French of French gardens, with verdant lawns, manicured rows of trees, and gravel paths, was designed by André Le Nôtre for Louis XIV. After the king moved his court to Versailles, in 1682, the gardens became a popular place for stylish Parisians to stroll. The name is derived from the factories once dotting this area that produced tuiles, or roof tiles, fired in kilns called tuileries. Monet and Renoir captured the Tuileries with paint and brush, and it’s no wonder the Impressionists loved it—the gray, austere light of Paris’s famously overcast days make the green trees appear even greener. Today, the Tuileries is one of the best places to take kids itching to run around. There’s a carousel (€2) and in summer, an amusement park. | Bordered by Quai des Tuileries, Pl. de la Concorde, Rue de Rivoli, and the Louvre, Louvre/Tuileries | 75001 | Station: Tuileries.
Fodor’s Choice | Musée du Louvre.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Veronese’s Marriage at Cana, Giorgione’s Concert Champêtre, Vermeer’s Lacemaker, Delacroix’s Liberty Guiding the People, Whistler’s Mother…you get the picture. This is not only the greatest museum of art in the world, it’s also France’s largest palace. After two decades of renovations, happily, the Louvre is a coherent, unified structure and search parties no longer need to be sent in to bring you out. Don’t try to see it all at once; try, instead, to make repeat visits. Begun by Philippe-Auguste in the 13th century as a fortress, it was not until the reign of pleasure-loving François I, 300 years later, that the Louvre of today gradually began to take shape. Through the years Henri IV (1589–1610), Louis XIII (1610–43), Louis XIV (1643–1715), Napoléon I (1804–14), and Napoléon III (1852–70) all contributed to its construction.
The number one attraction is the “Most Famous Painting in the World”: Leonardo da Vinci’s enigmatic Mona Lisa (La Joconde, to the French), painted in 1503–06 and now the cynosure of all eyes in the museum’s Salle des États. The portrait of the wife of one Francesco del Giocondo, a 15th-century Florentine millionaire, Leonardo’s masterpiece is now believed to have been painted for her husband as a memorial after the lady’s death (while some historians maintain that her black garb is in honor of her baby who died in 1502). If so, however, this may be at odds with the famous smile, which critics point to as a prime example of Leonardo’s famous wit: the family name Giocondo is derived from the Latin word for “jocundity,” or humor. More great High Renaissance masterpieces line nearby walls, including Leonardo’s Virgin and St. Anne and Raphael’s La Belle Jardinière. The Salle des États also contains one of the largest pictures in the Louvre: the Feast at Cana, by Pablo Veronese (1528–88), a sumptuous painting reminiscent of the Venetian painter’s Christ in the House of Levi (which is in Venice). These paintings, filled with partygoers, prompted a formal summons from the pope, asking Veronese to explain in person why he had scandalously