French Holiday Ideas | Off the beaten track: 5 things to do in Paris

Friday, February, 11th at 12.15 by Katharine Barrau

Forget the heaving queue at the Eiffel Tower and avoid the crowds clambering for a glimpse of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Here we present our alternative take on fun things to do Paris.




1. Go to the top of the Tour de Montparnasse

As 210-metre buildings go, it’s perhaps not the prettiest. Indeed, some say the view from the top is the best in Paris, simply because you cannot see the building itself from there! But the giant Tour de Montparnasse – the tallest skyscraper in France and the ninth biggest in the European Union – does provide some spectacular views of the French capital. Completed in 1972, the interior certainly has a dated feel to it. But jump in the lift and climb the 59 floors and your reward is 360-degree vista. Once you’ve got your bearings and taken in Paris’s other monuments on the horizon, head down to the restaurant or shops to catch your breath.

www.tourmontparnasse56.com; Métro: Bienvenue

2. The Rodin Museum

Paris-born Auguste Rodin is perhaps France’s most celebrated and best-loved sculptor. Indeed, for most he is viewed as the father of modern sculpture. Although casts of his most famous work – The Burghers of Calais – can be found in places as diverse as London, California, Philadelphia and Calais, there’s only one place to really enjoy it: at the museum devoted to the great man’s life and work. Housed between the beautiful Hôtel Biron in Paris and Villa des Brillants in Meudon is a wonderfully diverse collection of his works. The permanent collection contains some 6,600 sculptures in terracotta, plaster, bronze, marble, and wax. The Biron includes two of Rodin’s most inspiring works – The Thinker and The Kiss.


www.musee-rodin.fr/; Métro: Line 13: Varenne or Invalides

3. The Man in the Wall

To many outside France Marcel Aymé may be a lesser known cultural figure than Rodin but a tribute to the writer is certainly as eye-catching and memorable as any of the latter’s works. Stopping you in your tracks on Place Marcel Aymé in Montmartre is half a human figure – a man’s head, upper torso and right leg – seen emerging from a wall. It’s an unconventional reference to Aymé’s 1943 short story Le Passe-Muraille or The Walker-Through-Walls. The writer lived nearby until his death in 1967, and he would have loved this whimsical tribute that has become one of the capital’s best loved ‘secret’ sites to visit.

www.montmartre-paris-france.com/english/; Métro: Lamarck-Caulaincourt or Abbesses

4. The I Love You Wall

Remaining in Montmartre, if you want to fill your heart with a little love, there’s only one place to go: the I Love You wall. As monuments erected in tribute to l’amour are concerned, it couldn’t have a more lovely location in the world’s most romantic city. In the garden of the Square Jehan Rictus, on Place des Abbesses in Paris Montmartre, this sweet work of art, created by Frederic Baron and Claire Kito, has become a meeting place for lovers of all ages. From a thousand written samples the artists chose 311 and put them onto dark blue glazed lava tiles, with a few pink ones thrown in for good measure. So what are you waiting for? Take your loved one to the capital and pay your own tribute to romance with a visit.

www.lesjetaime.com/english/; Métro: Abbesses


5. Eat at Paris’s oldest restaurant

After all that off-the-beaten-track sightseeing, you must be hungry. So why not eschew the increasing number of fast food outlets and chain restaurants in favour of somewhere with a little more heritage? Located on the rue de L’Ancienne Comédie, Le Procope was opened as a café for gentlemen coffee drinkers in 1686 by a Sicilian called Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli. Over the years, many luminaries popped into this three-storey townhouse for a quick drink, including Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin. Following major renovation work in the late 1980s, today the restaurant serves classic bistrot fare in sumptuous surroundings, with oil paintings of esteemed former locals, gilded mirrors and chandeliers. Reservation is recommended for dinner service, but you can simply pop in for coffee to enjoy the atmosphere. Note that disabled access is poor.


www.procope.com; Métro: Odéon