Musée de l'Institut du Monde Arabe

Musée de l'Institut du Monde Arabe
Originally uploaded by AndyRob

The Musée de l'Institut du Monde Arabe is near the Jardin des Plantes accessible by batobus on Paris City Breaks

Designed in 1987 by architect Jean Nouvel and funded by 22 different, mostly Arab countries, it includes expositions on calligraphy, decorative arts, architecture, and photography produced by the Arab/Islamic world, as well as insights into its religion, philosophy, and politics. There's a bookshop on-site, a replica of a Medina selling high-quality gift and art objects, and archival resources that are usually open only to bona-fide scholars. Views from the windows of the on-site Moroccan restaurant encompass Notre-Dame, l'Ile de la Cité, and Sacré-Coeur.

Paris - Charonne, Rue de Bagnolet

Paris - Charonne, Rue de Bagnolet
Originally uploaded by Añelo de la Krotsche

Paris - Charonne, Rue de Bagnolet

In the 18th Century, wealthy Parisians liked to come to "their Belleville countryside". They had fine residences built there, now demolished. At number 148, Rue de Bagnolet, there are still some of the last vestiges of the Château de Bagnolet and the Ermitage pavilion, which was most notably a meeting place for counter-revolutionaries, in times before they were guillotined.

Undiscovered Paris

Well to be honest there aren't any undiscovered districts in Paris at all but it can feel a bit special if you get to know a new part that is a little off the beaten Paris breaks pathway. Here I am sitting next to the fountain in the place de la contrescarpe in the Rue Mouffetarde, also known as the old latin quarter.



It's a great little area to get away from the big boulevards and busy traffic in most of Paris, and imagine you are in a small French provincial town or village, bacause that's what it feels like.