Paris Breaks

eurostar breaks to Paris

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Contents
Paris Breaks with Holiday Inn
Paris breaks in the 7th
The Picasso museum in Paris
Musee D’Orsay restaurant
The Kiss by Rodin – a must for Paris breaks

Paris Breaks with Holiday Inn

November 1st, 2009 · No Comments · paris-breaks

Do you prefer your Paris breaks with more of an international standard feel and all the modern luxuries of a big well known hotel chain? If so you might consider the Holiday Inn at La Villette, Paris for the full four star treatment without aristocratic prices.

Paris, 4* Holiday Inn Paris La Villette, 2 nights from £139.00pp
Available on selected dates, address :

216 AVE JEAN JAURES PARIS, 75019 FRANCE

The Holiday Inn Paris La Villette is a modern hotel located opposite the museums of music, science and industry and La Grande Halle (theatre and convention hall) and within direct reach of the main historical monuments, cultural and shopping areas of Paris by metro. The hotel has 182 air conditioned bedrooms with many facilities including a TV with in-house movies, minibar, safe, hairdryer and telephone. There’s also a fine restaurant and a mini gym. Great for Paris breaks with familiar comforts.

Holiday Inn Paris breaks

Holiday Inn Paris breaks

Within walking distance is a unique complex associating the Science and Technology complex, the Music complex, the Grande Halle and the Zénith venue.

The “Porte de Pantin” underground metro (line 5), situated only 50 m from the hotel will quickly take you to Notre Dame de Paris (20 min), the Eiffel Tower (30 min) and the Louvre Museum (20 min) .

Paris breaks in the 19th Arrondissement

Today, Paris visitors come to what was once the village of La Villette to see the angular Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, a spectacular science museum and park built on a site that for years was devoted to the city’s slaughterhouses. Mostly residential and not at all upscale, the district is one of the most ethnically diverse in Paris, the home of people from all parts of the former Empire. A highlight is Les Buttes Chaumont, a park where kids can enjoy puppet shows and donkey rides.

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Paris breaks in the 7th

July 18th, 2009 · No Comments · art, paris-breaks

The chances are that nearly all first time Paris breaks cover the 7th arrondissement, largely because of the iconic Eiffel Tower which dominates both Paris itself and the idea of Paris so it’s an aspiration which simply has to be fullfiled. Whether you actually go up the tower, and how far is another question. Many people such as myself have never bothered to do it, put off the queues, the crowds, the cliche, the costs but no doubt the view from high up is breathtaking, and the experienc of riding those 19th century lifts or else walking up a ridiculous number of steps.

eiffeltower Paris breaks in the 7th eiffeltowerinfog 150x150 Paris breaks in the 7th

Paris 7th Arrondissement – Eiffel Tower and also the Musée D’Orsay

Apart from the greatest tourist attraction of all, the 7th arrondissement on the Left Bank dis largely a district of smart residences and dull offices. The Eiffel Tower of course is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world, but many Parisians especially in the immediate neighbourhood hated it when it was unveiled in 1889 as a temporary exhibition for the World Fair. There are many other Parisian monuments in the 7th too, such as the Hôtel des Invalides, which contains Napoleon’s Tomb, the Musée de l’Armée, and the fantastic Musée d’Orsay, the world’s premier showcase of 19th-century French art and culture, housed in the old station termial building – the Gare d’Orsay. There’s much hidden charm here in the 7th as well, such as the Rue du Bac, which was once home to the real Three Musketeers and to James McNeill Whistler, who moved to no. 110 after selling Mother. Auguste Rodin the father of modern sculpture lived at what’s now the Musée Rodin, 77 rue de Varenne, until his death in 1917.

MuseedOrsay parisbreaks Paris breaks in the 7th

Both the Rodin museum and the Musee d’Orsay are essential visits for art lovers on Paris Breaks in the 7th arrondissement, and did you know you can also walk all the back to the latin quarter just by following the Boulevard St Germain which starts in the 7th, or take the batobus which stops just outside the Musee d’Orsay.

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The Picasso museum in Paris

July 6th, 2008 · 4 Comments · art, marais, museums, paris-breaks

The Picasso museum – for art lovers Paris breaks

When the Picasso museum in Paris first opened it was launched as a “museum for Picasso’s Picassos,” and that’s exactly what it is. The French state acquired the world’s greatest Picasso collection in lieu of his family’s paying enormous inheritance taxes. So now 203 paintings, 158 sculptures, 16 collages, 19 bas-reliefs, 88 ceramics, and more than 1,500 sketches and 1,600 engravings, along with 30 notebooks – works spanning about 75 years of the artist’s life and ever-changing styles, are all on show to the public in a magnificent old setting.

The building – Hotel Sale houses the French Picasso collection

The Hotel Sale - home of the picasso museum in ParisThe beautifully restored Hôtel Salé means literally the “Salt Mansion” because it was built by a man who made his fortune by controlling salt distribution and taxes in 17th century France.

Picasso often lived in old houses, such as the Boisgeloup and Vauvenargues chateaux, and his workshop on the rue des Grands Augustins, Notre-Dame de Vie. So he would probably have have The Hotel Sale, one of the most beautiful in the Marais district, being the painter who once told Gertrude Stein: “I want an old house.” The building is named after its sponsor, Pierre Aubert, Lord of Fontenay, responsible for levying a tax on salt. The hotel, typical of the Marais, overlooks courtyard, surrounded by public passages, and a garden, was built between 1656 and 1659 by the architect Jean de Bouiller. The carved decorations, including the sumptuous staircase, were entrusted to the brothers Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy and Martin Desjardins.

By the end of the seventeenth century, the hotel was used by a variety of agencies. Embassy of the Republic of Venice, an institution for young people, and as a Central School of Arts and design. The latter purpose considerably changed the layout inside the building. In 1964, the City of Paris bought the Hotel Sale, which is now classified as a historic monument. From 1974 to 1984, the hotel has been refurbished and restored to much of its original condition. ( Pic by Daquella manera )

Picasso Museum Opening Times

From April to September : All days 9:30am-6pm except Tuesday when closed.

From October to March : All days 9:30am-5pm except Tuesday when closed.
( also closed on Dec 25 and Jan 1 )

Address of the Hotel Sale

5 rue de Thorigny, 3rd arrondissment

Nearest Metro station

St-Paul, Filles du Calvaire, or Chemin Vert

Addmission Prices

Admission 9.50€ adults, 7.50€ seniors and ages 18-25, free for children younger than 18

The paintings and exhibition

the paintings at the picasso museum in Paris (Picture by jane vc. )
Many people go to Spain to see Picasso’s paintings but the range of paintings on show in the Picasso museum in Paris includes a remarkable 1901 self-portrait, The Crucifixion and Nude in a Red Armchair, Le Baiser (The Kiss), Reclining Nude, and Man with a Guitar, all painted at Mougins on the Riviera in 1969 and 1970. Also the wicked Jeune Garçon à la Langouste (Young Man with a Lobster), painted in Paris in 1941. Several intriguing studies for Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, which shocked the establishment and launched cubism in 1907, are also on display. Because the collection is so vast, temporary exhibits featuring items such as his Studies of the Minotaur are held twice per year. Also here is Picasso’s own treasure trove of art, with works by Cézanne, Rousseau, Braque, Derain, and Miró. Picasso was fascinated with African masks, many of which are on view. So a tour of the museum will lead the visitor to understand the man and his art by putting the different phases into context. Cubism didn’t come from nowhere, you can see how Picasso and his peers where fasciniated by primitivist art and how those imported artifacts influenced his own revolutionary artistic style.

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Musee D’Orsay restaurant

February 9th, 2008 · 1 Comment · paris, paris-breaks, restaurants

2080877334 eb5b437852 m Musee DOrsay restaurant

The Musee D’Orsay is a favourite destination for short Paris Breaks, especially if you’ve never been there before. There are three attractions.

The Museum contents

Art, sculpture, great expressionists, art nouveau furniture and classics to say the least.

The building itself.

One of the most impressive railway stations ever built, comparable with King Cross St Pancras, Paddington or Grand Station Central. And it hasn’t been spoilt at all by the conversion into a museum when the trains from Orleans and the West stopped arriving here.

The restaurant

In a beautifully decorated grand setting, with an affordable but classy menu.

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The Kiss by Rodin – a must for Paris breaks

January 27th, 2008 · No Comments · museums, paris, paris-breaks, rodin

457605514 b6a219f840 m The Kiss by Rodin   a must for Paris breaks

kiss

Originally uploaded by Andyrob
Unmissable on Paris breaks if you’ve never been is the Rodin museum. The garden and house are full of this famous sculptors creations including The Kiss as illustrated, the Gates of Hell and the Burgers of Calais.

There’s also an excellent cafe in the garden of the Rodin Museum, so you don’t need to let hunger or thirst curtail a visit. It’s about fifteen minutes walk from the Bateaux Bus stop at Musee D’Orleans, which will be the subject of further Paris Breaks articles here.
Rodin Museum for Paris Breaks

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