Culture in Paris - Hotels Paris, France

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Hotel Tulip Inn Marciano Hotel - Hotels Paris - France - Hallway

The Hotel Tulip Inn Marciano Hotel is situated close to the Opéra, the Gran... More...

Starting from 90.00 €

Hotel Hotel De Vendôme - Hotels Paris - France - Hotel outside

Located at number 1 on the prestigious Place Vendôme, the hotel de Vendôme ... More...

Starting from 535.00 €

Hotel Hotel Holiday Inn Paris Auteuil - Hotels Paris - France - Exterior - entrance

Holiday Inn Paris Auteuil enjoys a strategic location in the exclusive Pari... More...

Starting from 119.00 €

Hotel Hotel Sully Saint Germain - Hotels Paris - France - Hotel front view

The Sully Saint Germain Hotel is located in Paris Latin District and Saint ... More...

Starting from 128.00 €

Hotel Hotel La Manufacture - Hotels Paris - France - Lobby

Very well linked to Orly airport and several railway stations in Paris, hot... More...

Starting from 80.00 €

Hotel Hotel Arioso - Hotels Paris - France - Exterior - entrance

The Arioso hotel is located in the heart of Paris, a few steps from the Cha... More...

Starting from 155.00 €

Hotel Hotel Abbatial Saint Germain - Hotels Paris - France - Hotel outside

The Abbatial Saint Germain hotel lies in Paris' 5ème arrondissement, close ... More...

Starting from 115.00 €

Hotel Hotel Observatoire Luxembourg - Hotels Paris - France - Hotel front view

Hotel Observatoire Luxembourg is located in the heart of the Latin Quarter ... More...

Starting from 109.00 €

Hotel Comfort Hotel Median - Paris 17ème - Hotels Paris - France - Exterior - entrance

The Comfort Hotel Médian is a welcoming property located right on the edge ... More...

Starting from 90.00 €

Hotel Hôtel du Triangle d'Or - Hotels Paris - France - Exterior - entrance

The Hôtel du Triangle d'Or is a charming property providing everything you ... More...

Starting from 98.00 €

 

Paris

Entertainment in Paris

   
Paris - Opéra Garnier
   
     

Opera

Paris' largest opera houses are the 19th-century Opéra Garnier and modern Opéra Bastille; the former tends towards the more classic ballets and operas, and the latter provides a mixed repertoire of classic and modern.

Theatre/Concert halls

Theatre traditionally has had a large place in Parisian culture. This still holds true today, although, perhaps strangely, many of its most popular actors today are also stars of French television. A few of Paris' major theatres are Bobino, Théâtre Mogador and the Théâtre de la Gaîté-Montparnasse. Some Parisian theatres also doubled as concert halls.

Many of France's greatest musical legends such as Édith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier, Georges Brassens and Charles Aznavour found their fame in Parisian concert halls: legendary yet still-showing examples of these are Bobino, l'Olympia, la Cigale and le Splendid.

The below-mentioned Élysées-Montmartre, much reduced from its original size, is a concert hall today. The New Morning is one of few Parisian clubs still holding jazz concerts, but the same also specialises in 'indie' music. More recently, the Zenith hall in Paris' La Villette quarter and a "parc-omnisports" stadium in Bercy serve as large-scale rock concert halls.

Dancehalls/Discotheques

Guinguettes and Bals-concerts were the backbone of Parisian entertainment before the mid-20th century. Early to mid-19th century examples were the Moulin de la Galette guinguette and the Élysées-Montmartre and Chateau-Rouge dancehalls-gardens. Popular orchestral fare gave way to the Parisian accordionists of lore whose music moved the Apollo and le Java faubourg du Temple and Belleville dance-hall crowds. Out of the clubs remaining from this era grew the modern discothèque: Le Palace, although closed today, is Paris' most legendary example. Today, much of the clubbing in Paris happens in clubs like Le Queen, L'Etoile, Le Cab which are highly selective. Electronic music oriented clubs such as Le Rex, the Batofar (a boat converted into a club) or The Pulp are quite popular and the world's best DJs play there.

Cinema

Parisians tend to share the same movie-going trends as many of the world's global cities, that is to say with a dominance of Hollywood-generated film entertainment. French cinema comes a close second, with major directors (réalisateurs) such as Claude Lelouch, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol and Luc Besson, and the more slapstick/popular genre with director Claude Zidi as an example. European and Asian films are also widely shown and appreciated. A specialty of Paris is its very large network of small movie theaters: on a given week the movie fan has the choice between around 300 old or new movies from all over the world.

Many of Paris' concert/dance halls were transformed into movie theatres when the media became popular from the 1930s. Later most of the largest cinemas were divided into multiple, smaller rooms: Paris' largest cinema today is by far le Grand Rex theatre with 2800 seats, while other cinemas all have less than 1000 seats. There is now a trend toward modern multiplexes with more than 10 or 20 screens in the same building.

Cafés, restaurants and hotels

   
Paris - Restaurant les Deux Magots
   
     

Cafés quickly became an integral part of French culture from their appearance, namely from the opening of the left bank Café Procope in 1689 and the café Régence at the Palais Royal one year earlier. The cafés in the gardens of the latter locale became quite popular through the 18th-century, and can be considered Paris' first "terrace cafés"; these would not become widespread until sidewalks and boulevards began to appear from the mid-19th century. Cafés are an almost obligatory stop on the way to or from work for many Parisians, and especially during lunchtime.

Paris' culinary reputation has its base in the many origins of its inhabitants. With the early-19th-century railways and ensuing industrial revolution came a flood of migration that brought with it all the gastronomical diversity of France's many different regions, and maintained through 'local speciality' restaurants catering to the tastes of people from all. "Chez Jenny" is a typical example of a restaurant specialising in the cuisine of the Alsace region, and "Aux Lyonnais" is another with traditional fare originating from its city name's region. Of course migration from even more distant climes meant an even greater culinary diversity, and today, in addition to a great number of North African and Asian establishments, in Paris one can find top-quality cuisine from virtually the world over.

Hotels were another result of widespread travel and tourism, especially Paris' late-19th century Expositions Universelles (World's Fairs). Of the most luxurious of these, the Hôtel Ritz appeared in the Place Vendôme from 1898, and the Hôtel de Crillon opened its doors on the north side of the place de la Concorde from 1909.