The stretch of boulevard de Clichy between place Pigalle and place Blanche is well-known for its lively and provocative nightlife. Bright neon lights and clubs line the street, attracting the attention of both tourists and locals looking for entertainment. For some, this area offers a brief escape from the usual city sights, but it comes with a reputation for aggressive tactics and scams.
Many of the clubs in this part of Pigalle advertise enticing deals, such as a free drink with a modest entry fee of around €10. However, these offers often conceal expensive surprises. Once inside, performers may join visitors at their tables, quickly ordering drinks like Red Bull. Without warning, guests can find themselves facing an unexpectedly high bill, sometimes ranging from €500 to €700 for just a short visit.
Male travelers, in particular, may be approached by club representatives or performers outside the venues who try to physically pull them inside. Groups or those accompanied by women generally experience less pressure. Large bouncers are commonly stationed at the doors, and reports describe them using threats or force to make sure guests pay excessive bills.
Local authorities are aware of these practices, but the situation seems to persist. Many visitors choose to simply avoid this stretch of Pigalle to steer clear of unwanted attention and costly encounters.
Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Pigalle
A Gothic church tower in a square 150m to the west of the Hôtel de Ville was restored by Ballu, is all that remains of Eglise Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, which was the meeting place in Paris for pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compestela. As such it is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.
Opened in January 2005, the Holocaust Memorial comprises a major documentation centre and a wall bearing 76,000 names of Jews deported from France to the Nazi camps between 1942-1944. Includes an archive of a million artefacts, including 55,000 photographs. Excursions are run from the memorial to French internment camp sites such as Drancy.
Try to visit the cabinet des Médailles.
Visitable only by reservation and then only one Saturday every month. A richly decorated palace built for Marie de Medici in the early 17th century, which is now the French Senate. For those interested in seeing a Parisian monument normally unavailable to the public, or for those interested in the inner workings of the French Government. The large Luxembourg Garden is open to the public year-round. The garden is home to the Medici fountain, a children's playground, and vintage toy boats for hire that children push around in the Grand Bassin duck pond (a 90-year tradition).
For a taste of the French countryside, a visit to Bercy Village brings to life the spirit of market shopping inside Paris.
Established in 1926, it was meant to show appreciation for Muslim help in fighting the Germans. The café serves excellent mint tea and North African food.
It was conceived by Louis XV as a grand neo-classical church honouring St. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris. After the Revolution, the building was converted into a mausoleum for the great philosophers, military, artists, scientists, and heroes of the French Republic. Occupants of the crypt include Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Zola, the Curies, and Alexandre Dumas (reinterred here in 2002). The view from the dome (206 steps) is marvellous. Check tour departure times at the information desk. A fascinating reconstruction of Foucault's pendulum also hangs within the Panthéon.
The burial place of existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, feminist Simone de Beauvoir (both of whom lived nearby); musician Serge Gainsbourg; artist Man Ray; the poets Charles Baudelaire, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Sainte-Beuve, and Marguerite Duras; the founders of the Theatre of the Absurd Samuel Becket and Eugene Ionesco; the sculptors Constantin Brancusi and Ossip Zadkine; the composers Camille de Saint-Saens and César Franck; the actors Maria Montez and Jean Seberg; the French officer Alfred Dreyfus; the founder of the Larousse encyclopedia, Pierre Larousse; the industrialist André Citroen, and many others.
An industrial design museum in Paris that houses the collection of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (National Conservatory of Arts and Industry), which was founded in 1794 as a repository for the preservation of scientific instruments and inventions.
This charming museum is owned by the French Académie des Beaux-Arts. Its main collection areas, the result of several large donations, include: First Empire art and furnishings; illuminated manuscripts; and Impressionist art, including the largest Monet collection in the world and works by Renoir, Manet, Morisot, Caillebotte and Gauguin.
The Palais de Tokyo is Paris's largest specialist contemporary art exhibition venue, owned and operated by the national government. The building dates to 1937 and also includes the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris.
The northwest corner of the Bois de Boulogne is occupied by the oldest operating amusement park in the world, the Jardin d'Acclimatation, which is mainly known for offering a wide range of amusements which are appropriate even for very small children. They have miniature roller-coasters for children as small as three years, and the usual range of pony rides etc.
An ancient Roman theater, the only surviving above-ground ruins of the Gallo-Roman era in Paris (ancient Lutetia, French Lutèce) apart from the nearby Thermes de Cluny. The theatre could hold approximately 15,000 spectators and measures some 132 m x 100 m. Built sometime in the 2nd century CE, the location of the actor's dressing room, the platform of the stage, and lapidary remains can still be seen. The remains were rediscovered in 1869, when new streets were being built. An excavation was subsequently ordered in 1883. The theatre has been preserved as a quiet archaeological park removed from the bustle of Parisian streets.
The Paris Botanical Garden, founded as the royal medicinal garden in 1626 by King Louis XIII's doctor, contains over 10,000 species. The grounds also include a small zoo known as La Ménagerie, and the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, which includes the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution (where you can see thousands of naturalized animals from all over the world) and the 'Galerie de paléontologie et d'anatomie comparée' (same thing, but with skeletons).
The ancient medieval fortress and prison of the city's island, site of some remarkable medieval royal architecture and the scene of Marie Antoinette's imprisonment in the period leading to her execution in 1793; lots of revolutionary associations.
The national library preserves collections of historic documents of both French and international origin. It holds 5,000 Greek manuscripts. You can get a day pass to visit or choose to visit only the expositions the library hosts.