Paris has changed a lot over the past 10 millennia: the earliest evidence of human habitation dates back to around 9,800 years ago, when Mesolithic hunter-gatherers made their home in what is now the 15th arrondissement. Excavations at Bercy turned up fragments of three wooden […]
0 Read MoreFoodies rejoice! Summer means the many thriving outdoor markets Paris has to offer are brimming with farm-fresh foods. Covered markets operate all year, whereas open air markets are seasonal and only on certain days, so you have to do a little research in order to catch […]
0 Read MoreA summer trip to Paris is a dream come true for many people, but a vacation there can certainly add up to a big expense. Have no fear—some of the best things in Paris, as in life, are free, so take advantage of these fantastic free […]
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Spring may have sprung but the chilly days and nights are far from banished, so what better way of keeping the cool weather at bay, than a deliciously velvety mug of thick hot chocolate? In the early seventeenth century, we French, being the sophisticated types that […]
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Not every visitor to the City of Light can afford to stay in a swanky hotel, so it’s really good to know that there is no shortage of affordable accommodation for the budget-conscious traveler. Hostels have come a long way since the bad old days of […]
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Immigrants account for just over 8% of France’s population, with Paris being home to around 40% of its 4.9 foreign-born citizens. The City of Light is also home to 60% of all sub-Saharan Africans living in the country. By nationality, the number of foreigners living in […]
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Most people know that la Marseillaise is the national anthem of France but did you know that it was actually written in Strasbourg, not Marseille? In 1792, after France declared war on Austria, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle wrote one of the most instantly-recognizable of European anthems. […]
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In France there are 39 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List: 3 Roman sites (Arles, Orange, Le Gard) 4 cathedrals (Amiens, Bourges, Chartres, Reims) 4 abbeys (Fontenay, Reims, Saint-Savin sur Gartempe, Vezelay) 8 historic city/town centres (Paris, Lyon, Avignon, Strasbourg, le Havre, Mont-Saint-Michel, Provins, Carcassonne) Plus […]
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We’ve all heard of electric cinema but how about aqua cinema? In the heart of the City of Light’s Latin Quarter, not far from Boulevard Saint-Germain, is the spectacular Piscine Pontoise, which the eagle-eyed among us will recognize from Kieslowski’s movie, ‘Trois Couleurs: Bleu’ (Three Colors: […]
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The abbey church (or basilica) of Saint Denis, just north of Paris, is considered to be the world’s first example of gothic architecture. According to legend, around 250AD, Denis, the bishop of the Parisii, was decapitated at the top of the hill at Montmartre*. Not being […]
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