Paris Culture
This is a picture of me and my mom. I am holding a baguette in my hands, okay, a partially eaten baguette. Baguettes, croissants, cheese, and pâte are very popular foods in France... and so are pastries!
Originally, a tribe called the Parisii settled in this region. You can get to The Crypte Archéologique du Parvis Notre-Dame by going to Notre Dame and looking for the steps that lead underground. If you're looking out from Notre Dame's Cathedral Square, the entrance to the crypte is on the right-hand side out past all the tourists (almost to the street).
This is one of my favorite places in Paris. When you go down the stairs, you escape from the loud sounds of the busy city. It is a huge place underground (more than 80m) where you can see a recreated settlement of the Parisii (Celtic) tribe that first settled in Paris 2000 years ago. This is how the city got its name, after the Parisii. Paris was here for thousands of years and many tribes fought over this land. If you have a Paris Pass, you can visit this place for free (as well as the Towers of Notre Dame, Saint-Chapelle, the National Museum of Modern Art, and the Pompidou (near our apartment). The Pompidou has a toilet in its collection, which is pretty funny.
Originally, a tribe called the Parisii settled in this region. You can get to The Crypte Archéologique du Parvis Notre-Dame by going to Notre Dame and looking for the steps that lead underground. If you're looking out from Notre Dame's Cathedral Square, the entrance to the crypte is on the right-hand side out past all the tourists (almost to the street).
This is one of my favorite places in Paris. When you go down the stairs, you escape from the loud sounds of the busy city. It is a huge place underground (more than 80m) where you can see a recreated settlement of the Parisii (Celtic) tribe that first settled in Paris 2000 years ago. This is how the city got its name, after the Parisii. Paris was here for thousands of years and many tribes fought over this land. If you have a Paris Pass, you can visit this place for free (as well as the Towers of Notre Dame, Saint-Chapelle, the National Museum of Modern Art, and the Pompidou (near our apartment). The Pompidou has a toilet in its collection, which is pretty funny.
Heritage Everywhere
Elements of Paris' cultural heritage are everywhere you look. From the cobblestone streets to the old Hotel de Ville (the building behind me and my family in this photo). My mom works in the preservation of antiquities, and I can tell you that much of Paris' cultural property lives in the museums, in the labs, and in archives, and far underground where few people have access.
Since Paris was the center of the world, many legacies were left here. For example, Baron George-Eugène Haussmann modernized Paris during the reign of Napoléon III between 1853 and 1870, it was called the Haussmann Plan. This plan improved the city by cleaning up the Old Paris, which was small streets from the Middle Ages that were difficult to control when you had riots of Parisians protesting. These improvements included creating new boulevards in the middle of old neighborhoods, fixing up the outside or the façades of buildings, making public parks, and starting the construction of the Opera House, one of the marvels of the world. The plan also improved the city's sewers and water works, city facilities, and public monuments. Basically, Paris got a facelift.
Paris's culture has positively affected the economy, bringing almost 30 million tourists to Paris every year. Paris is a favorite tourist destination with 1/3 of the visitors coming from Britain or the USA. 60% of all the visitors to Paris live outside of France.
Since Paris was the center of the world, many legacies were left here. For example, Baron George-Eugène Haussmann modernized Paris during the reign of Napoléon III between 1853 and 1870, it was called the Haussmann Plan. This plan improved the city by cleaning up the Old Paris, which was small streets from the Middle Ages that were difficult to control when you had riots of Parisians protesting. These improvements included creating new boulevards in the middle of old neighborhoods, fixing up the outside or the façades of buildings, making public parks, and starting the construction of the Opera House, one of the marvels of the world. The plan also improved the city's sewers and water works, city facilities, and public monuments. Basically, Paris got a facelift.
Paris's culture has positively affected the economy, bringing almost 30 million tourists to Paris every year. Paris is a favorite tourist destination with 1/3 of the visitors coming from Britain or the USA. 60% of all the visitors to Paris live outside of France.
French Contributions to the World
Parisians have influenced people all over the world. One of the biggest influences is in language. Over 200 million people people speak French around the world, and it is the official language in 32 countries.
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, Norman French became the language of the court, even though English was the language of the common people. Since French was the language of the ruling class, words in French got incorporated into English vocabulary. If you used French words during that time, you were probably someone who had a lot of money, power, and privileges.
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, Norman French became the language of the court, even though English was the language of the common people. Since French was the language of the ruling class, words in French got incorporated into English vocabulary. If you used French words during that time, you were probably someone who had a lot of money, power, and privileges.
French Cheese
In the picture to the left, my sister and I are eating Fondue. Fondue is melted cheese that is kept hot over a rechaud (hot lamp). Fondue is from the French verb "fondre" (to melt) but the word is used like it's a noun. Even though fondue might have come from Zurich, Switzerland, it is also a main meal in Le Jura (a region in the French Alpine Mountains). Today, you can eat fondue all over the world or make it yourself at home if you have a fondue pot. (Jura gave the name to the Jurassic Period).
And what goes best with fondue? Baguettes! French croissants and baguettes are famous all over the world. Not only for eating fondue, but for eating sandwiches, as a side to a meal, or just as a snack while riding the metro on your way home from school.
And what goes best with fondue? Baguettes! French croissants and baguettes are famous all over the world. Not only for eating fondue, but for eating sandwiches, as a side to a meal, or just as a snack while riding the metro on your way home from school.
French Innovators
The French also gave the world aviation (flying machines) before the Wright Brothers. Félix du Temple de la Croix (Félix du Temple) was a French navy officer and an inventor. He made some of the first flying machines and made the first successful flight in a powered aircraft in 1857. He is also credited with making the first manned powered flight in history on his Monoplane in 1874.
If you want to see an amazing steam-powered aircraft built by Clément Ader from 1897, check out the Avion III at the Musée des Arts et Métiers (near our apartment). They have the coolest experimental monoplane I have ever seen (check out the picture below).
If you want to see an amazing steam-powered aircraft built by Clément Ader from 1897, check out the Avion III at the Musée des Arts et Métiers (near our apartment). They have the coolest experimental monoplane I have ever seen (check out the picture below).
French Cinematography (Film)
Cinema was born in France! Everyone around the world loves movies. Auguste and Louis Lumière invented cinématographe and their film L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station) in Paris in 1895. This 50-second silent black-and-white documentary film was directed and produced by the Lumière brothers. The movie was made with an all-in-one camera, which was a film projector and developer both. It was made in 35 mm format.
George Méliès was a famous filmmaker who made some of the coolest technical special effects. He discovered the stop trick in 1896, and was one of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves, and hand-painted color. His most famous films are "A Trip to the Moon (1902) and "The Impossible Voyage (1904).
The movie "Hugo" (2011) is about a boy who lives in a Paris railway station that meets George Méliès. It is a great movie directed by Marcin Scorsese and gives you a behind-the-scenes reenactment of what it might have felt like to be there when Méliès was making his movies.
I want to major in film studies in Paris. This gives me a chance to explore film at institutions like La Cinémathèque, Le Forum des Images, and Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson. Because cinema is an industry and an art form, I can learn all about aesthetics in Paris, the City of Lights (the City that Never Sleeps).
For right now, I'm working on my basic techniques: camera, audio, lighting, editing, and writing, shooting, and directing shorts (short videos), which I post on YouTube. This summer I will be sharing more of my shorts (from Paris) on my YouTube channel.
If you want to follow my work, visit my blog at: MyTechTreks (MyTechTreks.blogspot.com) or my YouTube channels VolantMars2 and TheChargerProduction.
George Méliès was a famous filmmaker who made some of the coolest technical special effects. He discovered the stop trick in 1896, and was one of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves, and hand-painted color. His most famous films are "A Trip to the Moon (1902) and "The Impossible Voyage (1904).
The movie "Hugo" (2011) is about a boy who lives in a Paris railway station that meets George Méliès. It is a great movie directed by Marcin Scorsese and gives you a behind-the-scenes reenactment of what it might have felt like to be there when Méliès was making his movies.
I want to major in film studies in Paris. This gives me a chance to explore film at institutions like La Cinémathèque, Le Forum des Images, and Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson. Because cinema is an industry and an art form, I can learn all about aesthetics in Paris, the City of Lights (the City that Never Sleeps).
For right now, I'm working on my basic techniques: camera, audio, lighting, editing, and writing, shooting, and directing shorts (short videos), which I post on YouTube. This summer I will be sharing more of my shorts (from Paris) on my YouTube channel.
If you want to follow my work, visit my blog at: MyTechTreks (MyTechTreks.blogspot.com) or my YouTube channels VolantMars2 and TheChargerProduction.
Conclusion
I have traveled to over 25 countries and France is one of my favorites. We have lived in Paris since 2008. There is so much to discover in this city, that you could live here for your entire life and never see everything and never eat in the same restaurant twice!
I hope you enjoyed my report on Paris, France.
I hope you enjoyed my report on Paris, France.