Visit the Louvre
Museum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJxH-QuJeXo
How well do you really know the most famous museum in the
world?
In the heart of the former home of the King's of France, stands the famous glass pyramids of Pei (extremely
controversial in 1988). A few feet away, the artist Anselm Kiefer is installed
in the northern staircase of la Cour carrée, for contemporary art also has a
place inside the museum. A full program of temporary exhibitions, film
projections and concerts makes the Louvre a fascinating place to be.
Thus, the Louvre is « a secular institution resolutely
focused on the future ».
Twenty Minutes at the Louvre Museum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmT-djHyo3E
An honest, whirlwind tour of the Louvre, visiting only the
two greatest hits that tourists usually want to see: the Mona Lisa (at 12:19)
and the Venus de Milo (at 16:15). Yes, it's possible to do this in less than
half an hour if you know what you're doing and you're in a rush (I've done it
as a tour guide endless times). This shows the logistics of seeing the Louvre,
without the period music and highly selective editing of a typical tourist
video.
Champs-Élysées, Paris,
France
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4idGwtdhIgI
A twenty-minute visit to the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, one of the
world's best known avenues. Complete with the original traffic noise. The video
starts with a quick visit to the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the avenue. At
2:22 the stroll down the avenue des Champs-Élysées begins and continues down to
the Rond Point roundabout and back up the other side of the avenue. Purely
documentary, not romantic or creative.
Around the Paris
Opera at Rush Hour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZKqzoDMuz8
A 13-minute look at the large roundabout in front of the
Opéra Garnier in Paris, France, during afternoon rush hour
on an absolutely beautiful spring day in March. Lots of shots of people and
cars making their way through and around the intersection. Pictures of tourists
and Parisians standing and strolling about. A few images of the façade of the
Opera itself.
A Visit to the Île de la Cité
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYAO4OhaE0Y
A half-hour visit to various parts of the Île de la Cité, in
the center of Paris, France. Included are views of
Notre-Dame Cathedral, the surrounding park and streets, the flower and Sunday
bird market, and the Pont Neuf.
Père Lachaise Cemetery
in Paris, France
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=826GJParjCE
A twenty-minute visit to the world's most famous cemetery, Père Lachaise
Cemetery in Paris, France.
More than a million people have been buried at Père Lachaise, and its tombs are
among the most artistic and varied that you'll find anywhere. It's also a quiet,
pleasant place for a stroll or a rest—if you don't mind being surrounded by
dead bodies.
This video shows how to reach the cemetery, and shows
examples of some of the many varied tombs within. It also shows a random
handful of "celebrity" tombs, and a selection of memorial monuments.
It's not an inventory of famous dead people or funereal art, just a sampler of
what you can see at the cemetery—enough to show why it is such a popular
tourist destination.
I've included some very simple narration in the closed
captions, but it's not very interesting. The actual audio in the video is sound
from the cemetery—and the cemetery is very quiet most of the time, so you'll
have to crank it if you want to hear anything (mostly wind in the trees).
Montmartre and Pigalle, Paris, France
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abFO-yZQZ60
A quick tour (1/4 hour) of Pigalle and Montmartre in Paris, France.
About the first two minutes of the video contains scenes of Pigalle (including
the Moulin Rouge); Sacré-Cœur Basilica and the areas on Montmartre
start at 03:11.