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Each one a single question, answered in full
The articles
- 1
The Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-ÉlyséesWho is the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe?
The story of the unidentified soldier buried beneath the Arc de Triomphe, his eternal flame, and the ceremonies still held there.
- 2
The Eiffel TowerShould you climb the Eiffel Tower's stairs or take the elevator?
A practical look at climbing the Eiffel Tower's stairs versus riding its elevators to each level.
- 3
The Eiffel TowerHow was the Eiffel Tower built in two years?
How Gustave Eiffel's engineers raised the tallest structure in the world in just over two years.
- 4
Les InvalidesHow did Napoleon's body come back to Paris?
The story of how Napoleon's remains traveled from Saint Helena to the tomb beneath the Dôme des Invalides.
- 5
The Musée RodinWhat is the story of The Thinker?
How a seated bronze made for a doorway in hell became the most recognized sculpture in Paris.
- 6
The Musée d'OrsayWhich paintings should you not miss at the Musée d'Orsay?
A room-by-room guide to the paintings worth planning around at the Musée d'Orsay, from Monet to Van Gogh.
- 7
The Musée d'OrsayHow did a railway station become the Musée d'Orsay?
How a Belle Époque railway terminus on the Seine became the world's great home of Impressionist painting.
- 8
Saint-Germain-des-PrésWhy were the cafés of Saint-Germain the center of existentialism?
How Les Deux Magots, the Café de Flore, and the Brasserie Lipp became the working offices of Sartre, Beauvoir, and postwar Paris.
- 9
The Luxembourg GardensHow do you sail a toy boat in the Luxembourg Gardens?
How visitors can watch or try the model-boat tradition on the Grand Bassin of the Luxembourg Gardens.
- 10
The PanthéonWhat did Foucault's pendulum prove in the Panthéon?
How a swinging sphere hung in the Panthéon's dome once demonstrated that the Earth itself turns.
- 11
The PanthéonWho is buried in the crypt of the Panthéon?
Voltaire, the Curies, Victor Hugo, and more: who France has chosen to bury in the Panthéon's crypt, and why.
- 12
The Place des Vosges and the MaraisWhere did Victor Hugo live on the Place des Vosges?
Where Victor Hugo's apartment stood on the Place des Vosges, and what the house at number six holds today.
- 13
The Tuileries, the Orangerie and the Place de la ConcordeWhere did the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde come from?
How the ancient Egyptian obelisk at the center of the Place de la Concorde came to stand in Paris.
- 14
The Tuileries, the Orangerie and the Place de la ConcordeWhat happened to the Tuileries Palace?
How Catherine de' Medici's palace became the Tuileries Garden, and what still stands where it burned in 1871.
- 15
The LouvreWhy did the glass pyramid at the Louvre cause such a fight?
How I. M. Pei's glass pyramid divided opinion at the Louvre, and what problem it actually solved.
- 16
The LouvreHow do you see the Louvre in a single day?
A practical one-day plan for choosing what to see at the world's largest museum.
- 17
The Sainte-Chapelle and the ConciergerieWho was held in the Conciergerie during the Revolution?
Marie Antoinette and thousands of others passed through the Conciergerie's halls before the guillotine.
- 18
The Sainte-Chapelle and the ConciergerieWhat story do the windows of the Sainte-Chapelle tell?
How Louis IX's palace chapel turned the Bible, and his own holy relics, into a wall of thirteenth-century colored glass.
- 19
Notre-Dame de ParisWhat is the point zero in front of Notre-Dame?
The bronze marker set into the parvis of Notre-Dame, and why French road distances are traditionally measured from this spot.
- 20
Notre-Dame de ParisWho carved the gargoyles and chimeras of Notre-Dame?
Why the horned creatures on Notre-Dame's towers are not medieval, and what a true gargoyle actually does.
- 21
Getting HereHow do you get from Charles de Gaulle Airport to central Paris?
Most visitors take the RER B, which runs from the airport's two stations to the Gare du Nord, Châtelet and the Left Bank. How the terminals connect, which train to board, how to handle luggage on a commuter line, and when a taxi makes more sense.
- 22
Day TripsHow do you visit Versailles from Paris?
Take the RER C to Versailles Château Rive Gauche, book a time slot for the palace, and give the rest of the day to the gardens and the Trianons. What to see inside, how the estate is laid out, and how to pace a day that most visitors underestimate.
- 23
Getting AroundHow does the Paris Métro work for visitors?
Sixteen lines, 321 stations and one simple rule: follow the line's number and the name of the station at the end of it. How to read the signs, change lines, pay, and where the Métro is hard going with luggage or a wheelchair.
- 24
Notre-Dame de ParisWhat happened to Notre-Dame in the fire of 2019?
On 15 April 2019 fire destroyed the spire and the medieval oak roof of Notre-Dame; the stone vaults, the towers, the façade and the great windows survived. How the fire spread, how firefighters saved the north tower, how the roof was rebuilt in oak, and what visitors notice since the reopening in December 2024.
- 25
The SeineWho are the booksellers along the Seine?
The bouquinistes, some two hundred booksellers who keep about nine hundred green boxes on the stone parapets of the Seine. Where they are, how the trade began on the Pont Neuf, why the boxes are the color they are, and how to browse them.
- 26
The SpiralWhy are the arrondissements of Paris numbered in a spiral?
Because in 1859 the wealthy residents of Passy refused to live in a new 13th arrondissement, and their mayor suggested a spiral instead. The story of the numbers, from the Revolution's twelve districts to the twenty of today, and how to use them.
Written one at a time