Paris is a city where taking in the street life -- shopping, strolling, and hanging out -- should claim as much of your time as sightseeing in churches or museums. Having a picnic in the Bois de Boulogne, taking a sunrise stroll along the Seine, spending an afternoon at a flea market -- Paris bewitches you with these kinds of experiences. For all of the Louvre's beauty, you'll probably remember the Latin Quarter's crooked alleyways better than the 370th oil painting of your visit.
Best City View -- From the observation deck of the Arc de Triomphe, you can see up the Champs-Elysées and such landmarks as the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Sacré-Coeur, and La Défense. Although we don't want to get into any arguments about this, we think the view of Paris from this perspective is the grandest in the entire city.
The "Beach" of Paris
Relaxing under a palm tree on a chaise lounge sounds more Caribbean than Parisian, but a nearly 4.8km (3-mile) stretch of sandy shore has opened along the Seine. With the Eiffel Tower looming in the background, visitors and locals can splash in fountains, swing in hammocks, play volleyball, or enjoy a picnic. Just don't go into the polluted water of the murky Seine. The Paris beach opened in the late summer of 2003, after tons of sand were poured into concrete bases along the river.
Memorial to a Princess
Place de l'Alma (Métro: Alma-Marceau) has been turned into a tribute to the late Diana, princess of Wales, killed in an auto accident August 31, 1997, in a nearby underpass. The bronze flame in the center is a replica of the one in the Statue of Liberty and was a gift from the International Herald Tribune to honor Franco-American friendship. Many bouquets and messages (and even graffiti) are still placed around the flame.
Paris has also opened the Center for Nature Discovery, Garden in Memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, at 21 rue des Blancs-Manteaux in the Marais. The small park, which you can visit daily during daylight hours, is devoted to teaching children about nature and gardening and contains flowers, vegetables, and decorative plants.
