The relatively small region surrounding Paris - known as the Île de France (Island of France) - was where the kingdom of France began its 12th-century expansion.
April 11, 2006 (Press Release) --
Outer Île de France
The relatively small region surrounding Paris - known as the Île de France (Island of France) - was where the kingdom of France began its 12th-century expansion. Today, it''s a popular day-trip destination for Parisians and Paris-based visitors. Among the region''s many attractions are woodlands ideal for hiking, skyscrapered districts endowed with sleekly functional architecture, the much-maligned EuroDisney, elegant historical towns and Versailles, the country''s former political capital and seat of the royal court. The latter is the site of the Château de Versailles, the grandest and most famous palace in France. Built in the mid-1600s during the reign of Louis XIV, the chateau is a keen reminder of just how much one massive ego and a nation''s wealth could buy in days of old (eat your heart out, Bill Gates). Apart from grand halls, bedchambers, gardens, ponds and fountains too elaborate to discuss, there''s also a 75m (250ft) Hall of Mirrors, where nobles dressed like ninnies could watch each other dancing.
Canal Saint Martin
The little-touristed Saint Martin canal, running through the north-eastern districts of the Right Bank, is one of Paris' hidden delights. The 5km (3mi) waterway, parts of which are higher than the surrounding land, was built in 1806 to link the Seine with the much longer Canal de l'Ourcq. Its shaded towpaths - specked with sunlight filtering through the plane trees - are a wonderful place for a romantic stroll or bike ride past locks, metal bridges and unassuming but well turned-out Parisian neighbourhoods.
Égouts de Paris
A city cannot grow, prosper and become truly great unless some way is found to deal with its odiferous output of bodily wastes. Along the Seine, east of the Eiffel Tower, Paris has a unique working museum devoted to such an answer: sewerage. The entrance to the museum is a rectangular maintenance hole that leads into 480m (1575ft) of raw sewerage tunnels, replete with all sorts of vaguely familiar objects flowing beneath your feet.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
The relatively small region surrounding Paris - known as the Île de France (Island of France) - was where the kingdom of France began its 12th-century expansion. Today, it''s a popular day-trip destination for Parisians and Paris-based visitors. Among the region''s many attractions are woodlands ideal for hiking, skyscrapered districts endowed with sleekly functional architecture, the much-maligned EuroDisney, elegant historical towns and Versailles, the country''s former political capital and seat of the royal court. The latter is the site of the Château de Versailles, the grandest and most famous palace in France. Built in the mid-1600s during the reign of Louis XIV, the chateau is a keen reminder of just how much one massive ego and a nation''s wealth could buy in days of old (eat your heart out, Bill Gates). Apart from grand halls, bedchambers, gardens, ponds and fountains too elaborate to discuss, there''s also a 75m (250ft) Hall of Mirrors, where nobles dressed like ninnies could watch each other dancing.
Canal Saint Martin
The little-touristed Saint Martin canal, running through the north-eastern districts of the Right Bank, is one of Paris' hidden delights. The 5km (3mi) waterway, parts of which are higher than the surrounding land, was built in 1806 to link the Seine with the much longer Canal de l'Ourcq. Its shaded towpaths - specked with sunlight filtering through the plane trees - are a wonderful place for a romantic stroll or bike ride past locks, metal bridges and unassuming but well turned-out Parisian neighbourhoods.
Égouts de Paris
A city cannot grow, prosper and become truly great unless some way is found to deal with its odiferous output of bodily wastes. Along the Seine, east of the Eiffel Tower, Paris has a unique working museum devoted to such an answer: sewerage. The entrance to the museum is a rectangular maintenance hole that leads into 480m (1575ft) of raw sewerage tunnels, replete with all sorts of vaguely familiar objects flowing beneath your feet.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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