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Place des Vosges
Place des Vosges, built by Henri IV and completed in 1612, it
is known as the most beautiful square in Europe. It is noted for
its picturesque streets, boutiques, galleries, and beautifully restored
16th & 18th century "hôtels particuliers". Madam
de Seveigne was born at #1 bis, #21 is where Richelieu lived and
#6 was Victor Hugo’s residence, now a museum to him
The Bastille
Built around 1370, was once part of the defenses of Paris. Louis
XIV had the wall demolished but left the Bastille, which later became
a luxury prison for aristocratic and notable people who could have
goods and services sent in. The Marquis de Sade was a prisoner here
as were Mirabeau and Voltaire. It was stormed on 14 July 1789, but
at that time there were only seven prisoners. It was later razed
and replaced in 1831 by the column, called the July Column, now
standing surmounted by the "Spirit of Liberty". In Place
Henri Galli can be found a commemorative pile of stones from the
original Bastille.
Place de Bastille
The Place de Bastille was where the Bastille stood, a prison
whose name has reverberated around the world as a symbol of democracy,
and has always been a rallying point for political protestors.
The area around the Bastille, especially rue de Lappe, rue du Faubourg
Saint-Antoine and part of rue de Charonne has become a rather
hip neighborhood.
Belleville
An outlying residential area that includes Belleville and the
Pere-Lachaise cemetery. The Père-Lachaise Cemetery is the 20th's
greatest landmark, it is the largest and most elite Cemetery in Paris,
and perhaps the most famous in the world. It is the last resting-place of
Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, Isadora Duncan,
Sarah Bernhardt, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Colette,
and many others. This 108 acre museum of french history is used
as much as a park as a cemetery and Parisians come here to picnic.
Belleville, which was the home of Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier,
has been for a long time the neighborhood where new immigrants
would settle.
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