Normandy, Brittany & the Best of the North_ With Paris (Fodor's) - Fodor's [119]
Fodor’s Choice | Palais-Royal (Royal Palace).
This most romantic and quiet of Paris gardens, enclosed within the former home of Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642), is an ideal spot to while away an afternoon. Do like the locals and cuddle with your sweetheart on a bench under the trees, soak up the sunshine beside the fountain, or browse the 400-year-old arcades, now home to chic boutiques and quirky shops. One of the city’s oldest restaurants is here, the haute-cuisine jewel box Le Grand Véfour, where brass plaques recall regulars like Napoléon and Victor Hugo. Built in 1629, the palais became royal when Richelieu bequeathed it to Louis XIII. Other famous residents include Jean Cocteau and Colette, who wrote of her pleasurable “country” view of the province à Paris. Today, the garden often plays host to giant-size temporary art installations sponsored by another tenant, the Ministry of Culture. The courtyard off Place Colette is outfitted with a strange collection of black-and-white columns created in 1986 by the artist Daniel Buren. | Pl. du Palais-Royal, Louvre/Tuileries | 75001 | Station: Palais-Royal.
Place Vendôme.
Property laws have kept this refined square spare and pure. The architect Jules-Hardouin Mansart designed the perfectly proportioned plaza in 1702 as an octagon. To maintain a uniform appearance, Mansart built only the façades of the hôtels particuliers (mansions), and the lots behind were then sold to buyers who customized their palaces. In the square’s center, a 144-foot column erected by Napoléon was toppled in 1871 by painter Gustave Courbet and his band of Revolutionaries. The Third Republic stuck the pieces back together again and sent him the bill, though he died without paying. Chopin lived and died at No. 12, which is also where Napoléon III enjoyed trysts with his mistress; since 1902 it has been home to Chaumet, one of several high-end jewelers in the area. At No. 15, the Hotel Ritz remains a top destination where celebs can often be found quaffing some of the city’s best—and priciest—cocktails in the tiny Hemingway Bar. | Station: Opéra.
WORTH NOTING IN THE FAUBOURG ST-HONORÉ AND LES HALLES
Comédie Française.
Mannered productions of Molière, Racine, and Corneille appear regularly on the bill here, but only in French. Founded in 1680 by Louis XIV, the theater finally opened its doors to the public in 1799. It nearly burned to the ground a hundred years later; what you’re looking at dates from 1900. The comedienne Sarah Bernhardt began her career here. | 1 pl. Colette, Louvre/Tuileries | 75001 | 08–25–10–16–80 | www.comedie-francaise.fr | Station: Palais-Royal.
Église de La Madeleine (Church of La Madeleine).
With its rows of uncompromising columns, this enormous neoclassical edifice in the center of the Place de la Madeleine was consecrated as a church in 1842, nearly 78 years after construction began. Initially planned as a Baroque building, it was later razed and begun anew by an architect who had the Roman Pantheon in mind. Interrupted by the Revolution, the site was razed yet again when Napoléon decided to make it into a Greek temple dedicated to the glory of his army. Those plans changed when the army was defeated and the emperor deposed. Other ideas for the building included making it into a train station, a market, and a library. Finally, Louis XVIII decided to make it a church, which it still is today. There are also concerts here. | Pl. de la Madeleine, Faubourg | 75008 | www.eglise-lamadeleine.com | Daily 9–7 | Station: Madeleine.
THE GRANDS BOULEVARDS
In Belle Époque Paris, the Grand Boulevards were the place to see and be seen: in the cafés, at the opera, or in the ornate passages, the glass-covered arcades that were the world’s first shopping malls. If you close your eyes, you can almost imagine the Grands Boulevards