Hotel de Ville, Paris

The Mairie de Paris (Town Hall) web site now has a virtual tour in English (well, a woman speaking in French but with English subtitles and captions) that shows images of the beautiful interior, and explains the interesting history of the building and its importance to Parisians.

Check it out!!! It's VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!
A great way to familiarize yourself with this beautiful building (probably the most magnificent in Paris) before actually going there for a visit.
http://www.paris.fr/EN/

A Short Synopsis:

The Town hall is closely linked to the history of Paris.
The first Town Hall was built in 1357 by the Leader of the Merchants, Etienne Marcel.
It symbolized the acquired municipal freedoms against the rule of King Charles V.

During the 16 century, King François I rebuilt the Town Hall in a Renaissance style.

During the 19 century, it has been used twice as a refuge for the republicans who proclaimed there, the Second and the Third Republic in 1848 and 1870, after the fall of King Louis Philippe and Napoleon III.
But the terrible defeat of Napoleon led to a terrible action: Parisians rebelled against the republican authorities. They invaded the Town Hall and on March 28, 1871 and the Commune of Paris was proclaimed. Repression was extremely hard. The insurrectionists ended up setting fire at the Town Hall.

It has been rebuilt to its identical in the years between 1873-1882.

Since 1977, the Mayor of Paris directed there the debates of the City Council

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Hotel de Ville (Paris City Hall), designed by Deperthes and Ballu, is one of the most beautiful buildings in Paris. It is situated in the centre of a huge square, it’s the seat of city’s authorities but it’s also the front square there that several events take place like concerts, ice rink during winter, videowalls for big football matches like world cup etc
I never been inside but there are daily tours for groups

Not very far from the City Hall you can find the head de Mille (pic 2) which is great opportunity for a funny pic of you in between the huge head

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Built in the 1800's as a reconstruction of the Town Hall which burnt down in 1871. The square in front was once used for hangings and other styles of executions. It is now used for elaborate dinners and official functions.

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This grand Renaissance-style edifice is l'Hôtel de Ville de Paris, the city hall of Paris. It was built in the late 19th century identically to a previous 16th century Hôtel de Ville de Paris structure, which had burnt down in 1871 during the turbulent times of the Paris Commune. This site has been the location of l'Hôtel de Ville de Paris since the 14th century. In wintertime, an ice skating rink is built on the place de l'Hôtel de Ville.

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City Hall is a palace in the centre of Paris, built in the 14th century. In 1533 king Francis decided to build a bigger palace and the former building was replaced. A long history have those walls, that, in the revolucionary period, were set on fire by extremists, being reconstructed afterwards with the actual look.

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For some reason, I felt that one of the most fantastic things to do in Paris in February was...
TO SKATE!!

I live in Canada, so it is somewhat laughable that I needed to cross an ocean to skate. But, that said, skating in Paris, in front of the Hotel de Ville, adjacent to a carousel and surrounded by busy Parisians, was one of the best experiences of my trip!

There was a rink outside of the Montparnasse metro station, which was alright... but I held out until I could get to the Hotel de Ville. The ice rinks were open in mid-February still (and apparently stay open until March, weather permitting).

Suspend your disbelief and just go! It is very much worth your time and the 5 Euro skate rental.

(I've linked to a great "What's Happening" website... it has the rink hours and a great deal of other useful information.)

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Although I could fill this particular tip with the historical significance of the Hotel de Ville - such as how the plaza out front was used for rebellions, book burnings, and public executions...instead I'd like to talk about the carousel.

For a mere 2 Euro you too can ride this fantastic little machine. I didn't personally ride, but my husband (seen in several of the photos) said that the ride was a great way to see the streets off the plaza...and for me it was worth it to see how much fun he and our friends had - someone had to do the photography. *grin*

At any rate, for young and old alike, I say go for it! Whens the last time you were on a carousel??

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Worst title ever....I know...it was just so cheesy I couldn't help myself! Cheesy aside however, this is one hotel you won't want to check out of because........it's a magnificent building to look at, the size is overwhelming and during the winter they have an ice skating rink set up directly in front of the building. Oh yeah, one more thing, its not actually a hotel at all, it's basically a city hall for Paris! In all seriousness its worth seeing as its just a short walk from Notre Dame and like most of the architecture in Paris its something you won't see anywhere else in the world.