Normandy, Brittany & the Best of the North_ With Paris (Fodor's) - Fodor's [126]
Fodor’s Choice | Ile St-Louis.
One of the more fabled addresses in Paris, this tiny island has long harbored the rich and famous, including Chopin, Daumier, Helena Rubinstein, Chagall, and the Rothschild family. In fact, the entire island displays striking architectural unity, stemming from the efforts of a group of early-17th-century property speculators led by Christophe Marie. The group commissioned leading Baroque architect Louis Le Vau (1612–70) to design a series of imposing town houses. An especially somber reminder adorns 19 quai de Bourbon: “Here lived Camille Claudel, sculptor, from 1899 to 1913. Then ended her brave career as an artist and began her long night of internment.” Rodin’s muse, she was committed by her family to an insane asylum, where she was forbidden to practice her art. Other than some elegant facades and the island’s highly picturesque quays along the Seine, there are no cultural hot spots here, just a few streets that may make you think you’ve stumbled into a village, albeit an unusually tony one. Small hotels, restaurants, art galleries, and shops selling everything from cheese to pâté to silk scarves along the main drag, Rue St-Louis-en-l’Ile. | Station: Pont-Marie.
Musée National du Moyen-Age (National Museum of the Middle Ages, nicknamed the Musée Cluny).
Built on the ruins of Lutecia’s Roman Baths, the Hôtel de Cluny has been a museum since medievalist Alexandre Du Sommerard established his collection here in 1844. The over-the-top mansion was a choice location for such a collection; the 15th-century building was created for the abbot of Cluny, leader of the most powerful monastery in France. Symbols of the abbot’s power literally surround the building, from the crenellated walls that proclaimed his independence from the king, to the carved Burgundian grapes, symbolizing his valuable vineyards, twining up the entrance. The scallop shells Coquilles-Saint-Jacques covering the facade are a symbol of religious pilgrimage; the well-traveled pilgrimage route to Spain, Rue St-Jacques, once ran just around the corner. The highlight of the collection is the world-famous Dame à la Licorne (Lady and the Unicorn) tapestry series, woven in the 15th or 16th century, probably in Belgium. The tapestries are an allegorical representation of the five senses. You can also visit the remnants of the city’s Roman baths—hot (caldarium) and cold (frigidarium), the latter containing the Boatmen’s Pillar, Paris’s oldest sculpture. A charming garden is laid out in the medieval style, using the flora depicted in the unicorn tapestries. | 6 pl. Paul-Painlevé, Quartier Latin | 75005 | 01–53–73–78–00 | www.musee-moyenage.fr | €8 (includes English audio guide), free 1st Sun. of month | Wed.–Mon. 9:15–5:45 | Station: Cluny–La Sorbonne.
Fodor’s Choice | Rue Mouffetard.
This winding cobblestone street is one of Paris’s oldest—it was once a Roman road leading south from Lutecia (the Roman name for Paris) to Italy. The upper half of the street is dotted with restaurants that can get rather touristy; the lower half is home to a lively market, open Tuesday through Sunday, when couples are inspired to dance in the street to old Paris accordion tunes. The highlight of le Mouffe is the stretch in