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PARIS
THE PARIS TIMELINE
PARIS BASICS
451
Crowd-rallying Sainte
Geneviève dissuades
Attila’s Huns from
entering Paris,
although Clovis’s
Frankish army takes
the city in 508.
987
Hugh Capet
proclaimed as king.
Under Capet rule,
Notre Dame (1163), the
Louvre fortress (1202)
and Sainte Chapelle
(1239) are constructed.
1789-1793
From the 14 July
storming of the Bastille
prison to the execution
of Louis XVI, the
Revolution sets France
on the road to secular
and republican rule.
1804
Napoleon Bonaparte
becomes Emperor and
wars ensue with most
of Europe, but under
his support the Arc de
Triomphe and Vendôme
Column are built.
52 AD
Julius Caesar’s army
invades the Celtic
Parisii tribe’s riverside
settlement, established
in the third century BC,
and greatly expands it
over the next centuries.
THE CITY BY NUMBERS
PARKS AND RECREATION
2.2 MILLION
CITY POPULATION
28.9 million
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF
TOURISTS VISITING THE
CITY IN 2011
1,600
VÉLIB’ RENT-A-BIKE
STATIONS IN PARIS
143
MUSEUMS
13,000
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF
BARS AND RESTAURANTS
970
ART GALLERIES
€41
CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
AT THE PLAZA ATHÉNÉE
€10
ADMISSION TO THE LOUVRE
With 463 parks and gardens scattered through town, it’s easy to be green in
Paris. Try these when you want to talk French to the trees.
for kids: playgrounds, pony
rides, puppet shows and
toy sailboats on the grand
basin.
parisinfo.com
PARC MONCEAU
Giant shade trees
and romantic details
– Renaissance
arcades, an
ornamental pond
and an 18th-century
toll house –make
this glamorous 8th
arrondissement
oasis, built for the
Duke of Chartres
in 1778, a top spot
for wedding photos.
parisinfo.com
MARTIN LUTHER KING
Paris’s newest recreational
area won’t be finished until
2017, but skateboarders,
sunbathers and urban
farmers have already claimed
space in this eco-park on
the north-west edge of town.
parisinfo.com
PARC FLORAL AT THE BOIS
DE VINCENNES
Located just outside the city
limits (but accessible via
the Metro), the 28-hectare
flower gardens have space
for Calder sculptures, and
an outdoor stage for jazz
and classical concerts.
paris.fr
BUTTES CHAUMONT
The “bald hill”on
the north-east edge
of town was used
as a garbage dump
until 1867, when
Baron Haussmann
created a mini-
paradise. The park’s
Pavillon Puebla
restaurant (
vincentcozzoli.
com
) serves Italian fare.
butteschaumont.free.fr
JARDIN DU LUXEMBOURG
Adults can relax with a book
by the 17th-century Medici
Fountain, but this Latin
Quarter haven is essentially