Rick Steves' Europe
Travel Bites 954: Paris’ Other Great Museums
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After Versailles, the Louvre, and the Orsay, Paris’ less famous museums are also worth a visit.
After Versailles, the Louvre, and the Orsay, Paris’ less famous museums—the Cluny, Rodin, Orangerie, Jacquemart-André, and Quai Branly—are also worth a visit.
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Rick Steves' Europe
Travel Bites 954: Paris’ Other Great Museums
Clip | 5m 35sVideo has Closed Captions
After Versailles, the Louvre, and the Orsay, Paris’ less famous museums—the Cluny, Rodin, Orangerie, Jacquemart-André, and Quai Branly—are also worth a visit.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship[upbeat music] Paris, with such a rich cultural heritage, has plenty of great sights.
Sure, you've got to see the Louvre and the Orsay, but here are three of my favorites that aren't on everyone's list.
The Cluny Museum fills a medieval mansion that's actually built upon an ancient Roman bath.
Its forte is Paris in the late Middle Ages, offering a delightful peek into the art of that so-often underappreciated age.
The sumptuous ivory pieces, vibrant enamel work, and gorgeous sculptures reflect a surprisingly refined society.
The centerpiece is a 15th-century series of tapestries called The Lady and the Unicorn.
In medieval lore, unicorns were solitary creatures that could only be tamed by a virgin.
These exquisite tapestries give us a peek at life, sensual life, from a time when the people of Paris were just stepping out of medieval darkness.
It's sexy, a celebration of all the senses, sight, taste, smell, sound, and touch.
[classical music] Nearby is another low-key highlight of Paris.
If you like sculpture and if you like impressionism, don't miss the Rodin Museum.
Auguste Rodin was a modern Michelangelo.
He sculpted human figures with powerful insight, revealing through the body their deepest emotions.
[classical music] Here, his Hand of God shapes Adam and Eve from the mud of the Earth to which they will return.
In The Kiss, a passionate woman twines around her solid man, surrendering to the power of love with their first kiss.
We can almost read the emotions that led up to this meeting of the lips.
This was the first work by Rodin that the public loved.
Rodin enjoyed his garden, as do visitors today.
They find it a place for peaceful meditation a century after the artist last planted a statue here.
He sculpted his famous Thinker in 1906.
Leaning slightly forward, tense and compact, with every muscle working toward producing that one great thought, man contemplates his fate.
And finally, here in the king's backyard behind the palace is a royal indoor garden called The Orangery.
While The Orangery no longer contains plants, today it's filled with a garden of impressionist and early 20th century paintings, select works by Renoir, by Cézanne, by Gauguin, and others.
[classical music] And its main attraction is Monet's Water Lilies, floating dreamily in the oval rooms the artist himself designed to showcase his masterpiece.
This series of expansive curved panels is the epitome of Impressionism.
It immerses you in Monet's garden.
We're looking into his pond, dotted with water lilies and dappled by the reflections of the sky, clouds, and trees on the surface.
Monet mingles the pond's many elements and then lets us sort it out.
The true subject of these works is not the pond itself.
It's the play of light reflecting off the water.
Sublime and tranquil, Monet intended this to be a place of reflection.
[classical music] Of course, there's no way to cover all the delights of Paris in just an hour.
The more you know the city, the more you appreciate its huge range of attractions.
You'll find mansions, like Jacquemart-André, where a fabulously rich couple lived in unthinkable luxury while patronizing the arts.
[upbeat music] There are museums, like Quai Branly, working to celebrate societies in the Global South and give dignity to cultures beyond Europe.
There's Pere Lachaise Cemetery, my vote for the most romantic graveyard in all of Europe, eternal home for the mortal remains of permanent Parisians, from Chopin to Oscar Wilde.
Or for the nameless dead, there's the catacombs, a mile-long series of tunnels filled with the bones of literally millions of Parisians who once filled its graveyards.
And the business district, La Défense, where Parisians live, work, and rarely see a tourist and you'll find great public art, some of which makes you feel very small in such a big, big city.
For more information, visit RickSteves.com.
NewTravel Bites 971: Passeggiata and Rome After Dark
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Clip | 3m 59s | Join Romans for the beloved evening passeggiata. (3m 59s)
NewTravel Bites 970: Jewish Rome and Monti
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Clip | 5m 6s | Rome’s ancient Jewish community shares its extraordinary story of endurance and resilience. (5m 6s)
NewTravel Bites 969: Rome's Colorful Trastevere Neighborhood
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Clip | 4m 23s | Across the river, Trastevere invites travelers into intimate lanes. (4m 23s)
NewTravel Bites 967: St. Peter’s and Vatican City
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Clip | 4m 45s | Cross into the world’s smallest country to explore magnificent St. Peter’s Basilica. (4m 45s)
NewTravel Bites 966: Borghese Gallery’s Baroque Masters
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Clip | 3m 2s | Rome’s fabulously wealthy patrons transformed collecting and commissioning art into dazzling display (3m 2s)
NewTravel Bites 965: Art in Rome’s Churches
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Clip | 2m 45s | Step into Rome’s often unassuming churches to discover masterpieces in their original settings. (2m 45s)
NewTravel Bites 964: Rome’s Back Street Riches and Piazzas
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Clip | 4m 4s | Rome’s public spaces transform an ordinary morning stroll into a memorable sightseeing adventure. (4m 4s)
NewTravel Bites 963: Testaccio: A Roman Food Tour
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Clip | 5m 40s | In earthy Testaccio, a lively food tour through a neighborhood market provides a delicious taste. (5m 40s)
NewTravel Bites 962: Catacombs and Early Christianity
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Clip | 5m 29s | A bike ride along the ancient Appian Way leads underground into Rome’s catacombs. (5m 29s)
NewTravel Bites 961: Pantheon: Rome’s Perfect Temple
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Clip | 1m 33s | The best-preserved temple of ancient Rome showcases engineering genius. (1m 33s)
NewTravel Bites 960: Imperial Rome in Art
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Clip | 3m 18s | Trajan’s Forum, the Circus Maximus, and Rome’s National Museum reveal the empire at its peak. (3m 18s)
NewTravel Bites 959: Colosseum and Caracalla Baths
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Clip | 3m 28s | Rome’s colossal engineering comes alive at the iconic Colosseum. (3m 28s)
NewTravel Bites 958: Eating Like a Roman
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Clip | 2m 23s | A convivial Roman meal celebrates seasonal ingredients and regional specialties. (2m 23s)
NewTravel Bites 957: Capitoline Hill’s Ancient Treasures
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Clip | 3m | Rome’s historic Capitoline Hill brings ancient Rome vividly to life. (3m)
NewTravel Bites 956: Its Birth Story
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Clip | 4m 4s | Tracing the story of Rome in a nutshell. (4m 4s)
NewTravel Bites 955: Paris: A floodlit tour
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Clip | 2m 10s | The fabled “City of Light” is also the city of flood light. (2m 10s)
Now PlayingTravel Bites 954: Paris’ Other Great Museums
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Clip | 5m 35s | After Versailles, the Louvre, and the Orsay, Paris’ less famous museums are also worth a visit. (5m 35s)
NewTravel Bites 953: Versailles, Europe’s Palace of Palaces
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Clip | 3m 40s | This ultimate royal palace is Louis XIV’s lavish explosion of baroque bling. (3m 40s)
NewTravel Bites 952: The Orsay Gallery
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Clip | 3m 8s | The paintings of the Orsay take you from 1848 to 1914. (3m 8s)
NewTravel Bites 951: Paris's Louvre Museum
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Clip | 5m 38s | The Louvre—with masterpieces from Ancient Greek to Renaissance and Romantic—is a must to visit. (5m 38s)
NewTravel Bites 950: Paris: Boulevards, Les Invalides, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees
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Clip | 5m 38s | Grand boulevards like the Champs-Élysées connect great sights with edible memories. (5m 38s)
NewTravel Bites 949: Paris: Haussmann buildings and grand boulevards
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Clip | 1m 37s | The elegance of Paris is no accident. Broad boulevards, grand monuments, people-friendly greenbelts. (1m 37s)
NewTravel Bites 948: Eating French Cliches at a Parisian Bistro
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Clip | 3m 55s | Grab a seat for lunch to enjoy a kir, French onion soup, escargot, croque madam, steak tartare. (3m 55s)
NewTravel Bites 947: Paris’ Marais neighborhood
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Clip | 4m 6s | The Marais is a hub of Parisian history and culture—with its Jewish Quarter, and Bastille prison,. (4m 6s)
NewTravel Bites 946: Shopping for Dinner on Paris’ Rue Cler
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Clip | 4m 6s | Paris’ most inviting market street is Rue Cler. (4m 6s)
NewTravel Bites 945: Two Grand Parisian Churches: Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle
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Clip | 2m 28s | Paris’ two most popular churches are the beloved Notre-Dame and the exquisite Sainte-Chapelle. (2m 28s)
NewTravel Bites 944: The Eiffel Tower
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Clip | 2m 15s | Paris’ Eiffel Tower, a muscular symbol of France’s Industrial Age, has been entertaining since 1889. (2m 15s)
NewTravel Bites 943: Paris’ River Seine
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Clip | 4m 35s | The Seine River defines Paris’ Right and Left Bank. (4m 35s)
NewTravel Bites 942: The Regeneration of London’s Industrial Heritage
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Clip | 6m 23s | London’s once abandoned industrial corners have morphed into popular people and culture zones. (6m 23s)
NewTravel Bites 941: The British Library
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Clip | 2m | London hosts the national archive with 12 million books and one Treasures Room. (2m)
NewTravel Bites 940: A Proper Afternoon Tea
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Clip | 2m 6s | Afternoon tea is a great British tradition and London does it with style. (2m 6s)
NewTravel Bites 939: London’s East End Food Tour
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Clip | 4m 40s | London’s happening East End survives and thrives just beyond a tsunami of skyscrapers. (4m 40s)
NewTravel Bites 938: London’s Victoria and Albert Museum
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Clip | 4m 34s | “Albertopolis” is the corner of London built by and celebrating the vision of Prince Albert. (4m 34s)
NewTravel Bites 937: The Tower of London
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Clip | 2m | The Tower of London entertains and inspires. (2m)
NewTravel Bites 936: St Paul's Cathedral, London’s Pride
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Clip | 2m 37s | St. Paul’s Cathedral is architect Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, the greatest dome in Britain. (2m 37s)
NewTravel Bites 935: The City of London
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Clip | 3m 34s | London’s historic core is called “The City.” (3m 34s)
NewTravel Bites 934: Britain’s National Portrait Gallery
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Clip | 2m 35s | The National Portrait Gallery is the perfect place. (2m 35s)
NewTravel Bites 933: London’s Westminster and Whitehall, Home of Britain’s Government
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Clip | 8m 40s | The core of royal London. (8m 40s)
NewTravel Bites 932: Istanbul's Grand Main Drag, Istiklal Caddesi
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Clip | 4m 38s | The best way to feel the pulse of urban Istanbul is to explore its teeming main boulevard. (4m 38s)
NewTravel Bites 931: Whirling Dervishes
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Clip | 2m 24s | Mystic Sufi monks whirl themselves into a meditative trance as they embrace the poet Rumi’s wisdom. (2m 24s)
NewTravel Bites 930: Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar
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Clip | 3m 27s | Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar remains enchanting, perplexing visitors with its maze-like network of lanes. (3m 27s)
NewTravel Bites 929: Istanbul, the Great Port on the Bosphorus
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Clip | 5m 53s | Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus Strait that separates Europe and Asia. (5m 53s)
NewTravel Bites 928: Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace
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Clip | 5m 14s | Here we find the storybook image of the Ottomans—sultans, eunuchs, harems. (5m 14s)
NewTravel Bites 927: Hagia Sophia, the Great Church of Constantinople
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Clip | 3m 6s | This magnificent church-turned-mosque offers the visitor an opportunity to be inspired. (3m 6s)
NewTravel Bites 926: Islamic Art, Ramadan, and the Blue
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Clip | 4m 57s | Istanbul offers a chance to better understand Islam. (4m 57s)
NewTravel Bites 925: A Turkish Bath in Ottoman Splendor
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Clip | 3m 9s | The splendor of Istanbul’s Ottoman Empire is best experienced in a hammam. (3m 9s)
NewTravel Bites 924: Istanbul when it was Constantinople
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Clip | 4m 36s | For thousands of years, this place, where East meets West, has been a crossroads of civilizations. (4m 36s)
NewTravel Bites 923: A Leisurely Day on a Burgundian Canal
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Clip | 5m 39s | A crack-of-dawn trip to the bakery before breakfast on our barge. (5m 39s)
NewTravel Bites 922: Burgundy: Wine, Vineyard, and Chateau
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Clip | 3m 3s | France’s famed Côte d’Or, or “Golden Slopes,” is all about fine wine. (3m 3s)
NewTravel Bites 921: Barging: A Barge Cruise in Burgundy
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Clip | 6m 3s | France’s Burgundy, with its inviting canals and iconic vineyards. (6m 3s)
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