traveldk.com

This enormous park is the Parisians’ favourite green retreat, especially on summer weekends when its 865 ha (2,135 acres) can become crowded. There is plenty to do, apart from simply walking and picnicking, such as cycling, riding, boating or visiting the various attractions. These include parks within the park, two race courses and an art and folk museum. The park is open 24 hours a day, but it should be avoided after dark.

To the southeast of the city centre lies the vast parkland of the Bois de Vincennes. Amid its greenery are three lakes, including a boating lake, along with the “Parc Floral” and its Four-Seasons Garden, a zoo, Buddhist Centre, and a summer amusement park. The beautiful Château de Vincennes, surrounded by a wall and a moat, was the French royal residence prior to the building of Versailles. After the Revolution Napoleon converted it into an arsenal.

The Royal Chapel is regarded as one of the finest Baroque buildings in the country. Finished in 1710, the elegant, white marble Corinthian columns and numerous murals make for an awe-inspiring place of prayer.

The poet who shocked the world with his frank collection of poems Les Fleurs du Mal was born in Paris in 1821 and died here in 1867.

This charming and touching grave shows Charles Pigeon and his wife in bed, reading by the light of the gas lamp he invented.

At the same time as he re-designed central Paris (see The Second Empire), Baron Haussmann created the Bois de Boulogne. This chateau was given to Haussmann as a thank-you from Napoleon III.

This is the most visited cemetery in the world, largely due to rock fans who come from around the world to see the grave of the legendary singer Jim Morrison of The Doors. There are about one million other graves here, in some 70,000 different tombs, including those of Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Balzac, Edith Piaf, Colette, Molière and Delacroix (see Oscar Wilde, Père Lachaise Cemetery). There are maps posted around the cemetery to enable you to find these notable resting places, or a more detailed plan can be bought at the kiosks around the grounds.

This small circus puts on a new show each year, with jugglers, clowns, tightrope walkers and acrobats performing from November until March.

Handy after a visit to Père Lachaise (see Cimetière du Père Lachaise). The food is first class, from ostrich and fish dishes to pastas and salads.