Entering Paris from the north side, our view opens quite unpleasant picture. A long line of warehouses and some factories stretches along the avalanche along which tower cranes are sloughed over with metallic dinosaurs. "Is it Paris at all?" - involuntarily flashes the thought. But very soon unpretentious factory buildings are replaced by an old French architecture, well-known in films and books. The city is changing before our eyes.
And now the gates of the Arc de Triomphe are looming ahead. Even after five or ten minutes, the fashionable mansions of the Champs-Elysees, densely surrounded by trees, are the heart of the French capital. This avenue was created at the end of the XVII century, but from that era there was only one small building that once served as a place for social receptions and royal balls. Most of the crowbars located on both sides of the avenue belong to the nineteenth century. Some were built at the end of the 20th century. But in the architectural fabric of the city they are woven so skillfully that they hardly stand out against the general background. All facades have a grayish-sandy tint and create the impression of a single architectural composition. And if you look at them from a bird's eye view, then they seem like a big oil stain. In total, there are 20 districts in the city, as if spiraling from the center to the outskirts.
The historical center is called "Little Paris". True, "small" it is only conditional. About 2.5 million people live in this area, and it is surrounded on all sides by Perferik Boulevard. At the same time, everything here is quite compact, and walking through historical places delivers an indescribable aesthetic pleasure. All major attractions are royal palaces turned into museums: the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame Cathedral and other museum fancies are next to each other. But during travel, you must be extremely careful: Parisian avenues are quite unpredictable. If, say, in St. Petersburg the famous Five corners are considered a local landmark, then there are a lot of such crossroads. And if during a walk cut and turn to another street, you can be very surprised, finding yourself in a couple of hours on the other end of Paris. It is better to go to the intended goal without turning off.
Inspection of Parisian attractions is better to start with the Louvre, rightly considered one of the best art museums in the world. Crossing the bridge of Alexander III through the Seine, I am heading towards the Place de la Concorde. From here to the once main residence of the French monarchs, it's a stone's throw away.
"Louvre" in translation from Celtic means "small fortress". This name reflects the history of the palace which the efforts of the ancient people from a small castle turned into a grandiose monument of world architecture. True, at the end of the XX century, the architectural perfection of the palace managed to spoil it slightly - a glass pyramid was poured in the middle courtyard of the rainbow.
The queues at the ticket offices of the palace are simply huge. To get inside all the way, it's best to come here early in the morning. And not only because of the great revival: the French say, if each exhibit lingers for a minute, the examination of the entire exposition will take more than 4 years and four months.
The hall, where the portrait of the Mona Lisa is, looks like a bazaar. Pushing out each other, a masterpiece of world painting with a photo and video cameras at the ready is crowded with tens, if not hundreds of tourists.
But you can be amazed not only by this, but also by sitting down peacefully in a circle, conversing peacefully or having dinner with families. Yes, and self-tourists are not too shy. In the center of Paris, numerous lawns are literally sown with seated, and even lying here and there people. Someone enjoys the wine, acto just decided to take a nap on the lawn.
A visit to the Louvre can take several hours. But these are flowers compared to the stunts of the church, which can be seen on the way to the Eiffel Tower. The columns of the people stretch out for many hundreds of meters, and the people come with a minute. Which, in general, is not surprising. The Eiffel Tower is the most recognizable architectural monument of France and "concurrently" one of the most visited attractions of the world.
After visiting the historical center, you can already examine Paris itself. When you move across the Seine, you immediately find yourself in the dimly lit tunnel where Princess Diana died. When we leave, a great shock awaits us. Any representations about France itself can collapse in a moment, when you see the forest. Brilliant shining in the rays of the warm Parisian sun and exciting imagination. This is the Défense - the business center of Paris, entirely consisting of the fantastic beauty of skyscrapers. Poletarchitectural fantasy is indeed quaint and unlimited. What kind of skyscrapers are there only: round and square, straight and triangular with and without arches.
If some skyscrapers look in the section, then some of them have the shape of a cross, some trapezoidal triangle. Here are all kinds of ministries, offices of various corporations. There are apartment houses, apartments in which are much cheaper than in the historic part of the city. At the same time, the message with the center is very good: after all, the first subway line. Parisians, they say, simply adore ettrayon.