Paris The City of Light, The City of Love, The Capital of Romance and Art. Nice, isn’t it? That’s the Sunny face of Paris :P
There are many things you can do in Paris. It’s a big city divide into 20 administrative districts (“arrondissements”). The number of the arrondissement is indicated by the last two digits in most Parisian postal codes (75001 up to 75020). If you see the map carefully, you’ll find that those 20 arrondissements are arranged in the form of a clockwise spiral.
To make it short, tourist most visited landmarks in Paris are usually at
- 1st Arr = Da Vinci Code started in this district :P This is the ultimate Paris must-see spots; you’ve got the Tuileries, Pont des Art, Place de Vendôme, Rue de Rivoli, Place de la Concorde and of course the great Louvre.
- 4th Arr = Centre Georges Pampidou & Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris
- 5th Arr = Pantheon, Quarter Latin
- 7th Arr = Romantic. You have Eiffel Tower, Invalides, fancy and rather expensive French restaurant but no clubs). This is a very very safe area because all the embassies seem to be there.
- 8th Arr = Sightseeing + shopping + party. Champs-Elysées, Arc de Triomphe, shopping centres, branded boutique, fancy lounges and clubs.
- Between 9th and 18th you have Montmartre area, Sacre Coeur, then the famous Moulin Rouge (you do know that rouge = red, right?) and Pigale area.
I wont be strolling around Pigalle specially at night, but i do love Montmartre. In fact, I’ve spent almost a whole day just strolling around this area. It’s classic, it’s full of cultural sightseeing, it’s the place where great artist were gathered.
Take a look at Place du Tertre where Picasso, Vlamenck, Derain, Soutine, Modigliani, Van Gogh and countless others lived and worked in these narrow streets.
You could see the architecture of Basilica of the Sacré Cœur or Musée de Montmartre is in the house where the painter Maurice Utrillo lived and worked in a second-floor studio.
Last but not least, it’s my best spot to find souvenirs with good price and lot of options :)
Where do I stay?
I was staying at 11th Arrondissement, between Belleville and Couronnes Metro. It’s not a tourist area, colourful, multi-ethnic neighbourhood. Lucky me, I stay within the Moslem society, so it’s easy to find or asking for halal food. Yayyyyy \^_^/. There’s even a mosque (but don’t expect it to be a typical mosque in Indonesia).
