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Paris : History & Culture

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  • Gracing either side of the Pont Alexandre III are these two splendid exhibition halls, built for the Universal Exhibition in 1900. The iron Art Nouveau skeleton of the Grand Palais is topped by an enormous glass roof, which is most impressive when illuminated at night. The Petit Palais is smaller but similar in style, with a dome and many Classical features (see Petit Palais).

  • In the southeast corner of the gardens stands the Grand Trianon, a miniature palace built by Louis XIV to enable him to retreat from royal duties and enjoy a little private female company.

  • Built in the late 19th century, this elaborate synagogue is the second-largest in Europe. Its façade design represents the Tablets though, sadly, the building is not open to the public. Other smaller synagogues can be found in the Marais, which has a large Jewish community, including one at 10 rue Pavée, built in 1913 by Hector Guimard, the architect who designed the city’s Art Nouveau metro stations.

  • The great French novelist and short-story writer died in Paris in 1893, and his grave with its luxuriant growth of shrubs stands out because of the open book carving (see Bel-Ami).

  • More than any other artist, Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) is associated with Montmartre for his sketches and posters of dancers at the Moulin Rouge and other dance halls. They epitomize the era to this day (see Jane Avril Dancing).

  • The French aviator was born in Paris in 1874 and died here in 1958. He was the first man to make a circular 1-km (0.5-mile) flight, and the first to fly across the Atlantic to New York. His gravestone shows him at the controls of a primitive plane.

  • Miller (1891–1980) showed the seedier side of Paris in his novel Tropic of Cancer (1934).

  • This display on the life and times of the former war-time president is in the Cour de la Valeur from summer 2007.

  • Hôtel Biron

    Built in 1730, this elegant mansion was home to the duc de Biron. From 1904 it was transformed into state-owned artists’ studios and among its residents was Auguste Rodin (1840–1917), who agreed to donate his works to the nation in return for his flat and studio space. After the sculptor’s death the house became the Musée Rodin.

  • Built in 1732 by Jean Sylvain Cartaud, this mansion has housed the Italian Embassy since 1938.

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