The Paris of old stones and dreams
The history of Paris can be read in its stones as well as in books... A monumental condensation of styles which will not leave the attentive stroller unmoved. Antiquity left a heritage of its public baths and arenas to the city. The Middle Ages remains present with the Romanesque bell-tower of Saint-German-des-Près, and the delicacy of the Sainte Chapelle affirms the miracle of Gothic. Paris is also the Classicism of the Grand Siècle, its domes and pediments, its dream of Antiquity already touched by the Renaissance. You will be charmed by the eclecticism of the Second Empire, the thrust of Haussmann’s boulevards, and the metal architecture celebrated by the Eiffel Tower, which spearheaded Art Nouveau. Art Deco did not lag far behind, and its modernity heralded the future concrete-and-glass emblems of a city in constant renewal.
Gallo-Roman art
This period leaves the memory of its splendour in the Arena, and above all the Cluny Thermes, or Gallo-Roman public baths. The Lutèce Arena was home to Roman circus games and theatrical representations. One can still see there a part of the stone tiers constructed at the time of Roman Antiquity.
The Thermes are better preserved, with the impressive room of the Frigidarium (cold bath) and its vault 14m overhead, one of the highest constructions of this type remaining today.
