You probably won’t need to read Spotted by Locals to know that the Louvre is a Paris “must-see”.

By the way, why is it a must-see??? Probably because it is a gorgeous historical palace, which now hosts the biggest museum of the world, whose collections are among the richest of all, covering all periods of “western” art, from Mesopotamia until the 19th century and Romanticism.

Nevertheless, most guides always advise the same tour path, focusing on the same masterpieces, like the Mona Lisa or the Victory of Samothrace. And for the average visitor without much knowledge in history of art, I’m not sure it makes much sense to follow hordes of tourists whose main purpose is to photograph themselves in front of the same world-famous masterpieces… And it is definitely not the best introduction to art, which, according to me, must target the senses before the reason.

On the contrary, walking in the endless corridors, monumental staircases and exhibition rooms of the Louvre, without any imposed sense of visit, just following one’s intuition, looking OR NOT at the artworks, is a great experience. You will be more relaxed not only to appreciate the works (and also the beautiful views of Paris from the windows) but also to feel this unique sensation to be nearly alone, surrounded by paintings, sculptures or objects, witnessing the glorious heritage of centuries of history and testifying the great genius of human kind!

Far more convincing than any learned explanation about Da Vinci and Mona Lisa…

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Louvre’s empty rooms | Art & culture, Relaxing | Entrance adults € 10
Cour Napoléon | Louvre/Les Halles | +33140205050
Wed – Mon 09:00 – 18:00, Wed & Fri 09:30 – 22:00

The Palais de justice is not a place where people go spontaneously when they visit a new town, but I find it just as interesting as cafes, museums and markets to learn about and understand the society and its way of functioning. Judicial rituals, roles, power representations-all so visible at the national courthouses are extremely interesting to observe (not understanding the language makes it even more apparent). There is of course a dose of suspense as seen on courtroom films and TV series, though less fairy tale like.

As the public principle is one of the most important in the French law, general public is allowed to follow the procedures. So, after passing the security check, you are free to choose a courtroom (just avoid the time between 12:30 – 13:30 as it is a lunch break).

The French law system is continental; based on Roman law and radically different from Anglo Saxon common law. It is based on written codes and not on the precedents (prior decisions), and judges have a more dominant role in a quest for proofs, not leaving all the burden of the proofs to the barristers.

As the common law system is more represented in movies, it makes it a more common vision of the process in our minds. At the Palais the process will be less theatrical and the big jury won’t be present, but the adventure of visiting the courtrooms is certainly worth a try.

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Palais de justice | Art & culture | Free
4, Boulevard du Palais | Louvre/Les Halles
Mon – Fri 09:00 – 18:00

Paris is a bit like the girl you see emerge each day from some beautiful ancient building – immaculately dressed with just a hint of contempt perceptibly emanating from her perfectly painted lips – who, you later discover, lives in some 14m sq chambre de bonne (attic rooms originally for maids), owns but 5 items of clothing, has no kitchen and shares a bathroom with 4 strangers and twice as many mice. All glamour and poise at first glace, somewhat more shambolic at the second.

And so it comes as no surprise to Parisians and no small shock to anyone else that such an establishment still welcomes (destruction-hungry) customers through its venerable doors.

If nothing else, the pest shop is worth a look for the large quantity of stuffed and variously positioned rats and mice in the window: some strung-up, others mid-trap and even a few poised a hairs-breadth from the sinister looking metal jaws of the murderous devices.

Be not deterred by the apparently gruesome nature of the display though; for me this shop truly is a wonderful statement in defense of Paris’s loyal attachment to its national traditions and pride in its history.

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Etablissements Julien Aurouze | Art & culture, Shopping
8 rue des Halles | Louvre/Les Halles | +331404116206
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 12:30 & 14:00 – 18:30

The « Rue du Louvre » is one of the most useful street to know in Paris for many reasons, and also because you will find a new french-japanese restaurant in one of the adjacent street, “Rue du Coq Héron” (see the “KEI” article).

So, the Rue du Louvre is a street which starts at the crossroad between Le Louvre and Rue de Rivoli, in the first district, and ends when it arrives at Rue Montmartre, in the second district of Paris. Of course, the first reason to know this really nice street is that it is located at the extreme east of the Louvre Museum, and just two minutes from the oldest bridge in Paris, “le pont neuf”, where you can take the flying boats.

When you go north, you will find “la Bourse de Commerce” (or trade exchange) which is the place you have to go if you want to become an entrepreneur in Paris and is a former corn exchange rebuilt after 1850. Passing the Viarmes street, you arrive at the end of “Les Halles” and you can still visit the St Eustache Church, and walk through “la Rue du Jour”, where you’ll find very trendy shops, like Agnès B or La Droguerie.

After passing the KEI restaurant, you’ll find the one and only post office which is open 24/7 in Paris. And finally, if you turn left when you cross Rue Etienne Marcel, you will find one of the nicest spot in Paris, “La Place des Victoires”.

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Rue du Louvre | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Rue du louvre 75001 | Louvre/Les Halles
24 hours daily

Green spaces in Paris are divided into parcs, which are big, generally in peripheral areas. Jardins are smaller, more central though, beautifully decorated by palaces and statues, and generally have no – or very little – grass to lie on.

But to me what makes a critical difference is the fact that in the jardins, it is possible to find the greatest piece of (urban) furniture on earth!!! The reclining Chaise Luxembourg!

Having a nap on one of those reclining chairs is a must-do during a stay in Paris!

You can find them in the Jardin du Luxembourg, but also in the Tuileries (picture) and a few ones in the Jardins du Palais-Royal (check the Palais-Royal article), close to the ponds and fountains, the edge of which is an excellent place to stretch your legs.

If all such chairs are already occupied when you arrive (as it often happens at Palais-Royal):

1) Don’t give up by taking another uncomfortable straight chair! It would be coward.

2) Walk around the pool and observe carefully all people who are sit on these chairs, using your psychological skills to guess when they might leave.

3) Be the first (run, jump, fight if necessary) where a chair becomes available again (usually you won’t have to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes).

4) Forget gallantry and courtesy towards old people (after all, they can come back whenever they want if they’re retired).

5) Enjoy! You won’t regret it.

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Reclining chairs | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Jardin des Tuileries | Louvre/Les Halles
Check the opening times of the gardens

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The gardens of the Palais-Royal are like French people’s minds: at first glance they’re symmetrical, rational, organized… Cartesian. The palace itself is very homogeneous, like in Places des Vosges (check the Place des Vosges article) Everything looks in order. But after a while, you’ll notice a hint of anarchy, disorder, a laid back atmosphere, and sometimes even a big confusion!

More Parisian than neighbouring Jardin des Tuileries, also gorgeous but very busy and touristic, Palais-Royal is an excellent place to observe Paris’s bourgeoisie: on weekdays, young executives enjoying their lunch break mix with young nannies and their pushchairs, retired people cross-wording or simply observing life, and young schoolboys playing football and dirtying their uniform in the sandy ground… In the hot season and sunny weekends, you’ll see a more various and relaxed crowd, including lost or well-informed tourists.

I prefer the central pond, mostly for its great chairs (check the reclining chairs article). But the flowered areas with benches are also nice and quieter. Sometimes, exhibitions of contemporary sculptures are displayed in the gardens, adding a touch of anachronism in this once royal residency.

In summer evenings it’s an excellent place to sip a bottle of wine, throw a picnic or play pétanque: garden remains open until its restaurants close.

Have a look at the arcades too: its mixture of fashionable and kitschy stores (search the pipe shop and the military decorations and medals ones) perfectly illustrates the contrast between old-fashioned declining grandeur and modern vitality of Palais-Royal and its surroundings.

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Jardins du Palais-Royal | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
2 place Colette | Louvre/Les Halles
07:30 – 20:30 daily

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Whether to have a rest on one of the reclining chairs or wandering along the old-fashioned stores of its arcades, the gardens of the Palais-Royal (see the Palais-Royal gardens article) is one of the best chilling place in Paris.

But the immediate neighbourhood of the garden should not be neglected: the rectangle formed by Rues Montpensier, Beaujolais, Valois, and Place du Palais-Royal and Place Colette contains notable curiosities.

Starting at Place Colette, with the famous theatre La Comédie Française, enjoy the Kiosque des Noctambules, the most original métro station entrance, made in 2000 by Jean-Michel Othoniel to celebrate the centenary of Paris’s underground.

In low-trafficked Rue de Montpensier, you’ll find elegant and trendy restaurants or bars, most of which are located in cellars below streetlevel. Several short but elegant covered arcades, like Potier or Beaujolais connect this island of quietness to the busier Rue de Richelieu. But the most interesting spot, just at the angle of Montpensier and Beaujolais streets, is without a doubt the beautiful Théâtre du Palais-Royal, with its outdoor stairs.

Rue de Beaujolais, named after a French wine region near Lyon, is full of small wine restaurants, and Le Grand Véfour (already inside the ceint of Palais-Royal buildings) is one of the smartest and most famous.

Rue de Valois has less interesting things, except the original and bourgeoise Place de Valois, and the interesting view on the office of the Minister of Culture.

Back to Place du Palais-Royal, the busiest square around, with its skaters and rollers’ addicts…

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Around Palais-Royal | Art & culture, Relaxing, Theaters, Restaurants
Place Colette | Louvre/Les Halles
24 hours daily

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Despite it lost its beautiful old chestnut trees in 2009 due to a parasite, this gorgeous square of the Île de la Cité reopened with new baby trees and keeping its romantic atmosphere.

Although one of the most central squares in Paris, Place Dauphine is not overrun by tourists, probably because of its small and hidden entrances which partly conceal it. But this partial isolation is probably what makes it so charming.

The homogeneity and regularity of the houses (typical of the 5 “royal squares”, and well suggested by the two identical buildings on the Pont-Neuf entrance to the square, see picture), its curious triangular shape, its traditional restaurants, but more than anything else its quietness while still being only a few steps from busy Sainte-Chapelle and Notre-Dame make it a great place to have a break, sit down for a few minutes on a bench, have a picnic and, during nice seasons, observe pétanque players.

All around the square, in addition to the restaurants, you’ll find art galleries and also the very austere Librairie de la Cour de Cassation, acknowledging the proximity of lawyers’ Bar and the final Court of Appeal.

This square was dedicated to “Le Dauphin” (crown prince) Louis XIII, son of “the good King Henry IV“, and was built at the same time as the Pont-Neuf and its royal statue. It was the second “royal square”, the first being Place Royale (now Place des Vosges).

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Place Dauphine | Art & culture, Relaxing
Place Dauphine | Louvre/Les Halles
24 hours daily

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The 6th floor of Centre Pompidou is a great place to have an overview of Paris’s sociology. Indeed, 4 different categories of what constitute Paris’s crowd can be examined:

1) snobbish Parisians and rich tourists meet at Georges (like Georges Pompidou) restaurant, a trendy place to be seen, with a terrace offering a view on surrounding areas, including Palais de Justice and Notre-Dame;

2) art students, art enthusiasts (for the centre’s exhibitions)

3) regular tourists who, after visiting the collections, climb to the 6th in the famous escalator to enjoy a look from what’s one of the best Parisian views;

4) finally, a 4th category, which I belong to, of people who get there only to have a break or even a nap on the comfortable coloured sofas in the hall (which access is not controlled except when there’s a long queue). In sunny days of winter, the glass structure produces a « greenhouse effect », and it’s a real pleasure to doze off in this atmosphere (like at BNF Mitterand).

To reach the 6th floor, you’re supposed to have a ticket for the Centre (it’ll be asked at the exhibitions entrances), but here’s a tip: go to the elevator on the left of the big square (see the map) and say you’re going to the Georges. They’ll let you in, and you’ll take 2 elevators. Once at the 6th floor, feel free to go to the Georges, or just admire the view, or of course, enjoy a decent nap on the sofas!!!

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6th Floor Centre Pompidou | Art & culture, Bars, Relaxing, Restaurants | Free
Place Georges Pompidou | Louvre/Les Halles
Wed – Mon 12:00 – 20:50

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