1 00:00:05,007 --> 00:00:07,202 This is Paris. 2 00:00:10,407 --> 00:00:13,126 A city of romance and adventure, 3 00:00:14,807 --> 00:00:18,356 from the buzz of its cafes to its swinging street life. 4 00:00:22,487 --> 00:00:24,762 Paris has natural born style, 5 00:00:26,767 --> 00:00:28,678 fabulous buildings, 6 00:00:31,127 --> 00:00:32,480 great restaurants. 7 00:00:32,567 --> 00:00:34,444 (SPEAKING FRENCH) 8 00:00:34,527 --> 00:00:38,486 Charm, glamour, it's got it all. 9 00:00:39,607 --> 00:00:41,404 But beyond the postcard Paris, 10 00:00:41,487 --> 00:00:44,559 there's something else that's very special, 11 00:00:46,047 --> 00:00:48,242 a spirit of rebellion, 12 00:00:48,807 --> 00:00:52,277 energy and endless creativity. 13 00:00:55,047 --> 00:00:57,003 This is the city I love. 14 00:00:57,087 --> 00:01:00,523 Brilliant cinema, hidden worlds, 15 00:01:01,287 --> 00:01:05,041 a photographer's dream, amazing fashion, 16 00:01:05,127 --> 00:01:07,083 unforgettable art. 17 00:01:10,487 --> 00:01:13,797 The way we work, rest and play was born here. 18 00:01:23,847 --> 00:01:25,724 Welcome to my city. 19 00:01:45,767 --> 00:01:48,327 This is one of the world's great museums, 20 00:01:49,247 --> 00:01:51,602 and it means so much to me personally. 21 00:01:55,127 --> 00:01:57,163 My name is Sandrine Voillet. 22 00:01:58,287 --> 00:02:00,801 It was the Louvre that first brought me to Paris 23 00:02:00,887 --> 00:02:03,845 from my hometown of Nantes in western France. 24 00:02:06,327 --> 00:02:10,400 Welcome to my turf. This is a quite familiar place to me. 25 00:02:10,487 --> 00:02:14,605 I was nine when I came here for the first time with my parents, 26 00:02:14,687 --> 00:02:17,599 and I think, I guess, I fell in love with the place. 27 00:02:17,687 --> 00:02:20,520 I came back, I was 19, studied at the Louvre School, 28 00:02:20,607 --> 00:02:22,484 and now I'm a curator. 29 00:02:26,767 --> 00:02:30,521 I've moved on from the Louvre, but I come back whenever I can. 30 00:02:36,967 --> 00:02:39,800 Being a student here was like a dream come true. 31 00:02:40,607 --> 00:02:43,599 just imagine, this was my playground. 32 00:02:45,047 --> 00:02:46,526 I spent every day 33 00:02:46,607 --> 00:02:49,917 with some of the most beautiful artworks ever created. 34 00:02:53,327 --> 00:02:55,079 The Louvre used to be a palace 35 00:02:55,167 --> 00:03:00,116 and only became a museum after the French Revolution of 1789. 36 00:03:02,087 --> 00:03:05,523 And that's when the Paris we all think of today was born, 37 00:03:05,607 --> 00:03:08,917 in the aftermath of the world's most famous revolution. 38 00:03:12,087 --> 00:03:15,124 (BAND PLAYING LA MARSEILLAISE) 39 00:03:19,647 --> 00:03:21,842 When we talk about the Revolution, 40 00:03:21,927 --> 00:03:25,715 we don't mean just the day of the 14th of July, 1789, 41 00:03:25,807 --> 00:03:27,763 or even the year. 42 00:03:27,847 --> 00:03:30,566 The Revolution was about a whole era, 43 00:03:30,647 --> 00:03:34,845 a period of 25 years that began with the storming of the Bastille 44 00:03:34,927 --> 00:03:38,920 and saw the rise and fall of one of the greatest rulers in history, 45 00:03:39,007 --> 00:03:41,157 Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. 46 00:03:46,407 --> 00:03:49,080 So as you can see, today is the 14th of July, 47 00:03:49,167 --> 00:03:52,682 one of the biggest days of the year in Paris, 48 00:03:52,767 --> 00:03:56,885 and all this parade has got very little to do 49 00:03:56,967 --> 00:04:00,084 with the people's revolution of 1789. 50 00:04:00,287 --> 00:04:02,243 And this is more about the vision 51 00:04:02,327 --> 00:04:05,000 Napoleon had for France and especially Paris. 52 00:04:09,887 --> 00:04:13,402 Napoleon dreamt of making France a great military power 53 00:04:13,487 --> 00:04:16,160 with Paris at the heart of his empire. 54 00:04:17,887 --> 00:04:20,355 The Garde Republicaine are among the favourites 55 00:04:20,447 --> 00:04:22,483 'cause they're very dashing, of course, 56 00:04:22,567 --> 00:04:27,038 and at the back of their helmets you can see the horse hair. 57 00:04:28,847 --> 00:04:32,203 Yeah, it's almost like a glimpse of Napoleon's time here. 58 00:04:37,087 --> 00:04:39,521 Those are my favourite. That's the firemen. 59 00:04:40,767 --> 00:04:45,921 I guess all the 1 4th of July, it's like, I don't know, a nice masquerade. 60 00:04:46,007 --> 00:04:48,521 It's a nice costume parade. 61 00:04:50,447 --> 00:04:52,517 The parade lasts for one hour and a half. 62 00:04:52,607 --> 00:04:55,599 That's not really my cup of tea, I must admit. 63 00:05:02,367 --> 00:05:05,518 I don't like all this nationalism, tanks and everything. 64 00:05:08,207 --> 00:05:11,358 But this pomp is only one part of Napoleon's legacy. 65 00:05:11,447 --> 00:05:16,043 Without him, Paris wouldn't have become the world's first truly modern city. 66 00:05:43,567 --> 00:05:46,400 In Napoleon's time, if you wanted to get a glimpse 67 00:05:46,487 --> 00:05:49,320 of what Paris was to become in the 1 800s, 68 00:05:49,407 --> 00:05:53,366 this was the place to be, the Palais-Royal. 69 00:05:56,247 --> 00:06:00,001 This was where the empire's new aristocracy, the bourgeoisie, 70 00:06:00,087 --> 00:06:01,486 came to have a good time, 71 00:06:01,567 --> 00:06:04,525 shopping, drinking, eating and cavorting. 72 00:06:07,487 --> 00:06:09,603 Paris gave the world the restaurant, 73 00:06:09,687 --> 00:06:12,759 and I'm going to take you to one of the very best. 74 00:06:15,407 --> 00:06:18,399 The first restaurants had opened just before the Revolution. 75 00:06:19,847 --> 00:06:22,315 People didn't go there to eat themselves silly, 76 00:06:22,407 --> 00:06:23,601 but to get healthy. 77 00:06:23,687 --> 00:06:26,918 The word ''se restaurer'' means to restore oneself. 78 00:06:28,127 --> 00:06:30,038 (SPEAKING FRENCH) 79 00:06:36,847 --> 00:06:39,486 Today the Grand Vefour's head chef is Guy Martin, 80 00:06:39,567 --> 00:06:41,603 with three Michelin stars. 81 00:07:02,007 --> 00:07:03,599 Mmm! 82 00:07:36,607 --> 00:07:38,563 (BOTH SPEAKING FRENCH) 83 00:08:02,127 --> 00:08:06,006 It's just amazing. I've never experienced such food. 84 00:08:06,087 --> 00:08:10,205 I mean, it's what we call haute gastronomie, absolutely. 85 00:08:13,487 --> 00:08:15,637 To tell you the truth, it's a bit pricey, 86 00:08:15,727 --> 00:08:18,082 so I've never eaten here before. 87 00:08:18,167 --> 00:08:20,158 It's quite a privilege. 88 00:08:22,447 --> 00:08:25,405 Some of the decoration is over 200 years old 89 00:08:25,487 --> 00:08:28,638 and celebrates the delights of Parisian gastronomy. 90 00:08:32,127 --> 00:08:35,597 Some of the great names in our history have been regulars here, 91 00:08:35,687 --> 00:08:38,326 including Napoleon Bonaparte himself. 92 00:08:46,247 --> 00:08:49,796 From the early 1 9th century, more and more of the people of Paris 93 00:08:49,887 --> 00:08:53,163 began to eat out, a habit which continues to this day. 94 00:08:54,207 --> 00:08:56,038 We just love our cuisine. 95 00:08:56,127 --> 00:09:00,166 That's why we've got so many words for the places we eat and drink in. 96 00:09:00,807 --> 00:09:06,518 Le restaurant, caf'conce, cabaret, la taverne, cafe, cafe-theatre, 97 00:09:06,647 --> 00:09:09,923 boullion, troquet, estaminet, le bock, 98 00:09:10,047 --> 00:09:13,005 la bibine, table, cafeteria, le zinc... 99 00:09:43,687 --> 00:09:45,757 Food was the key to Napoleon's plan 100 00:09:45,847 --> 00:09:48,839 to make sure the monarchy could never return. 101 00:09:51,247 --> 00:09:55,286 He knew the best way to a person's heart is through the stomach. 102 00:09:59,287 --> 00:10:04,520 He once said that what mattered most to Parisians was water, wine and food, 103 00:10:04,607 --> 00:10:08,395 and he called the market in Les Halles ''the people's Louvre''. 104 00:10:11,367 --> 00:10:13,927 To this day, one of the great pleasures of Paris 105 00:10:14,007 --> 00:10:16,077 is shopping in its food markets. 106 00:10:17,527 --> 00:10:19,722 I recommend the one in Rue Montorgueil, 107 00:10:19,807 --> 00:10:22,560 once the heart of the thriving fish trade. 108 00:10:39,127 --> 00:10:41,357 I like the choice here, actually, to see... 109 00:10:41,447 --> 00:10:44,996 On the Parisian stalls, you've got lots of choice, variety. 110 00:10:45,087 --> 00:10:49,717 Mushrooms, fresh food, fresh vegetables and fruit. It's very colourful. 111 00:10:49,807 --> 00:10:54,198 And I guess that's been always the priority, 112 00:10:54,287 --> 00:10:57,279 to bring fresh food to feed the population. 113 00:11:01,607 --> 00:11:04,075 No meal is complete without a little treat, 114 00:11:04,167 --> 00:11:07,716 so where better to go than the oldest patisserie in town? 115 00:11:09,607 --> 00:11:13,122 The Patissier Stohrer was founded right back in 1 730. 116 00:11:46,527 --> 00:11:48,438 It's real strawberry. 117 00:12:09,327 --> 00:12:11,966 Before his fall from power in 1 8 1 5, 118 00:12:12,087 --> 00:12:15,716 Napoleon determined who would be the main victor of the Revolution, 119 00:12:15,807 --> 00:12:17,638 the middle class. 120 00:12:18,647 --> 00:12:20,717 He helped them on their way to new fortunes 121 00:12:20,807 --> 00:12:24,356 by setting up the Paris Bourse, or Stock Exchange, 122 00:12:24,447 --> 00:12:26,438 a temple of big-money finance. 123 00:12:30,407 --> 00:12:33,683 The new breed of capitalists needed somewhere to go shopping 124 00:12:33,767 --> 00:12:37,123 without having to brave the damp climate, filthy streets 125 00:12:37,647 --> 00:12:39,956 and speeding horse-drawn carriages. 126 00:12:46,447 --> 00:12:49,996 This was the solution, the galeries or the shopping arcade. 127 00:12:50,087 --> 00:12:54,000 Havens of elegance and calm, they were sophisticated and safe. 128 00:12:57,367 --> 00:13:00,086 The Galerie Vivienne was built in 1 823, 129 00:13:00,167 --> 00:13:03,239 and soon there were 1 50 arcades in Paris. 130 00:13:06,807 --> 00:13:08,923 They had the very latest technology, 131 00:13:10,447 --> 00:13:13,519 glass roofs, iron frames, gas lighting. 132 00:13:17,607 --> 00:13:21,395 The shops catered for the aspirations of the bourgeois elite. 133 00:13:22,807 --> 00:13:28,086 There were restaurants, bookstores, clothes shops and wine merchants. 134 00:14:17,607 --> 00:14:20,963 Everyday life for many Parisians was being transformed. 135 00:14:21,847 --> 00:14:23,758 As more people became literate, 136 00:14:23,847 --> 00:14:27,078 more books and newspapers were read than ever before. 137 00:14:29,047 --> 00:14:31,515 After Napoleon, the monarchy came back, 138 00:14:32,367 --> 00:14:35,165 but the new kings were not above criticism. 139 00:14:37,007 --> 00:14:39,646 King Louis Philippe was savaged by the press. 140 00:14:42,087 --> 00:14:45,443 The sharpest pen against Louis Philippe didn't belong to a journalist 141 00:14:45,527 --> 00:14:49,486 but to an illustrator, an artist whose work I love. 142 00:14:49,767 --> 00:14:52,076 His name was Honore Daumier. 143 00:14:55,447 --> 00:14:59,804 His caricatures were cruel but funny and full of political messages. 144 00:15:04,367 --> 00:15:06,358 They've survived the test of time, 145 00:15:06,447 --> 00:15:09,678 and you can still find them today in antiquarian bookshops, 146 00:15:10,487 --> 00:15:13,763 though they'll set you back as much as 1,000 euros per print. 147 00:15:35,767 --> 00:15:39,123 SANDRINE: This king, Louis Philippe, decided to finish the publications, 148 00:15:39,207 --> 00:15:41,118 and Daumier had to go to jail. 149 00:15:41,647 --> 00:15:44,320 Louis Philippe appears like a very big, fat man, 150 00:15:44,407 --> 00:15:48,286 and he hauls in front of him this puppet of the President, 151 00:15:48,367 --> 00:15:50,358 but yeah, it's quite ferocious, actually. 152 00:15:58,207 --> 00:16:01,677 After his problems, he started to work for another newspaper, 153 00:16:01,767 --> 00:16:05,476 far less politics, actually, which were really dangerous, 154 00:16:05,567 --> 00:16:07,683 and much more what we call comedie de mceurs, 155 00:16:07,767 --> 00:16:10,235 so he would just depict 156 00:16:10,327 --> 00:16:13,717 either the bourgeois or the working class 157 00:16:14,567 --> 00:16:17,127 and the lawyers and the doctors, 158 00:16:17,727 --> 00:16:20,685 just sharp and very well spotted. 159 00:16:22,487 --> 00:16:24,478 They're quite funny. 160 00:16:25,287 --> 00:16:27,323 (SANDRINE READING CAPTION) 161 00:16:28,647 --> 00:16:33,880 So, ''I like hairless soup.'' There is lots of humour in it 162 00:16:34,407 --> 00:16:36,238 and it's terribly human. 163 00:16:37,127 --> 00:16:40,881 I think you can still appreciate 164 00:16:41,727 --> 00:16:44,002 the caricatures of people, 165 00:16:44,607 --> 00:16:47,804 because even nowadays I don't think we've changed much. 166 00:16:53,287 --> 00:16:56,359 The city he was portraying was growing so fast. 167 00:16:59,927 --> 00:17:03,442 At the start of the century, there were half a million Parisians. 168 00:17:03,527 --> 00:17:09,284 By mid-century, there were a million and Paris simply couldn't cope. 169 00:17:11,327 --> 00:17:14,080 The whole place was terribly overcrowded. 170 00:17:19,967 --> 00:17:24,324 Most people lived in dark, dank alleys where disease was rife. 171 00:17:27,527 --> 00:17:29,757 That was all about to change. 172 00:17:33,647 --> 00:17:37,162 This narrow street behind Notre Dame is typical of the old Paris. 173 00:17:37,247 --> 00:17:39,920 It's hardly changed since the Middle Ages. 174 00:17:40,007 --> 00:17:42,521 You can't say that about most of Paris today. 175 00:17:43,807 --> 00:17:45,877 It looks quaint and charming now, 176 00:17:45,967 --> 00:17:48,481 but around 1 850 it was often said 177 00:17:48,567 --> 00:17:51,206 people here lived like reptiles in a swamp. 178 00:17:53,607 --> 00:17:58,237 The solution was simple, demolish the slums. 179 00:17:59,567 --> 00:18:01,444 There used to be a church here. 180 00:18:01,527 --> 00:18:04,360 Its footprint, it's marked on the pavement. 181 00:18:04,447 --> 00:18:07,837 Now it's a distant memory, a ghost of the old Paris. 182 00:18:11,167 --> 00:18:12,919 And all this was down to two men, 183 00:18:13,007 --> 00:18:15,965 the Emperor Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann. 184 00:18:19,207 --> 00:18:22,199 Together they turned Paris into the city it is today. 185 00:18:24,527 --> 00:18:28,679 After another revolution, the kings were finally booted out for good 186 00:18:28,767 --> 00:18:31,679 and Bonaparte's nephew, Napoleon III, was in. 187 00:18:34,047 --> 00:18:37,357 Like his uncle, he had grand designs for Paris. 188 00:18:39,047 --> 00:18:43,120 Haussmann, the Prefect of the Seine, was the man to carry them out. 189 00:18:48,207 --> 00:18:52,803 Haussmann wanted to make Paris safe, clean and easy to move about in. 190 00:18:53,967 --> 00:18:57,676 To do so, he had to carve through the poor, dingy back streets. 191 00:18:59,887 --> 00:19:02,959 ''Get these warts off my face'' is how he put it. 192 00:19:03,687 --> 00:19:07,680 No wonder his enemies soon called him ''the demolition artist': 193 00:19:08,447 --> 00:19:10,961 but it's his legacy that survives. 194 00:19:36,127 --> 00:19:39,915 So we are just right in the middle of Haussmann's district. 195 00:19:40,407 --> 00:19:46,801 He just pierced very large boulevards in Paris to ease the traffic 196 00:19:47,927 --> 00:19:52,284 and just transform the city into a modern city. 197 00:19:54,007 --> 00:19:56,237 And you've got boulevards and boulevards 198 00:19:56,327 --> 00:20:00,479 of this very homogeneous, slightly monotonous, architecture. 199 00:20:13,447 --> 00:20:16,837 I prefer to say Paris is one of the nicest cities in the world. 200 00:20:20,167 --> 00:20:24,126 The star-shaped Place de l'Etoile, with the Arc de Triomphe at its centre, 201 00:20:24,207 --> 00:20:26,721 was the crowning glory of the new Paris. 202 00:20:28,367 --> 00:20:31,837 Haussmann added seven new boulevards to the existing five. 203 00:20:33,487 --> 00:20:37,446 Today it's one of the busiest and scariest roundabouts in the world. 204 00:20:55,647 --> 00:20:59,720 Les grands boulevards would soon be lined with les grands magasins. 205 00:21:01,847 --> 00:21:05,123 From the 1 860s, new department stores sprung up, 206 00:21:05,407 --> 00:21:08,285 like Les Galeries Lafayette and Le Printemps. 207 00:21:11,287 --> 00:21:13,642 Everything was available and affordable. 208 00:21:14,007 --> 00:21:16,521 The new stores soon overtook the galleries 209 00:21:16,607 --> 00:21:19,440 as the place where you could shop till you dropped. 210 00:21:27,167 --> 00:21:28,839 You can really see from up here 211 00:21:28,927 --> 00:21:32,124 that Haussmann was the architect of modern Paris. 212 00:21:34,887 --> 00:21:38,960 In a burst of urban planning on a scale not seen since ancient Rome, 213 00:21:39,047 --> 00:21:41,800 he created the cityscape in front of me. 214 00:21:44,167 --> 00:21:46,044 He opened up the broad vistas 215 00:21:46,127 --> 00:21:48,846 to show off the city's buildings and monuments. 216 00:21:50,127 --> 00:21:54,245 He had many critics, but he gave Paris the distinctive character 217 00:21:54,327 --> 00:21:56,363 it still has today. 218 00:21:57,687 --> 00:22:00,645 Haussmann saw the modern city as an organism 219 00:22:00,727 --> 00:22:03,400 and the boulevards as a city's arteries. 220 00:22:04,167 --> 00:22:07,159 He changed the way Parisians worked and played. 221 00:22:11,287 --> 00:22:12,925 I'll let you into a little secret. 222 00:22:13,007 --> 00:22:17,000 The best way to see and to feel Paris is by wandering the streets. 223 00:22:17,087 --> 00:22:19,920 That was one of the favourite pastimes of the 1 9th century. 224 00:22:20,007 --> 00:22:22,475 This is the world of the flaneur. 225 00:22:27,367 --> 00:22:29,756 There's just no word for flaneur in English, 226 00:22:29,847 --> 00:22:32,486 and you don't know what you're missing. 227 00:22:33,527 --> 00:22:37,884 Loosely translated, it means 'gentleman stroller of city streets''. 228 00:22:38,967 --> 00:22:42,880 It used to be the preserve of dandies, bohemians and posers, 229 00:22:44,287 --> 00:22:47,279 but the wide pavements of Haussmann's new boulevards 230 00:22:47,367 --> 00:22:48,880 meant the pastime spread, 231 00:22:48,967 --> 00:22:52,960 and soon being a flaneur became one of Paris'great traditions. 232 00:22:55,047 --> 00:22:58,005 just walk, look at buildings and places, 233 00:22:58,807 --> 00:23:02,880 watch the passers-by, think, be inspired. 234 00:23:02,967 --> 00:23:04,400 You might as well. 235 00:23:04,487 --> 00:23:07,001 When in Paris, do as the Parisians. 236 00:23:10,087 --> 00:23:14,558 Just feels too good to just sit down after a long day at work, 237 00:23:14,647 --> 00:23:18,037 either shopping or working or walking anytime, 238 00:23:18,687 --> 00:23:21,520 and, yeah, just watch the world go by. 239 00:23:22,847 --> 00:23:25,202 You sit at a cafe to look at people, 240 00:23:25,287 --> 00:23:28,836 but it's to be seen, also. 241 00:23:28,967 --> 00:23:33,324 It's a little game, I guess, 242 00:23:33,647 --> 00:23:38,402 between the person who watches and the person who walks by. 243 00:23:58,287 --> 00:24:00,801 There were also huge new public parks. 244 00:24:02,007 --> 00:24:04,885 Napoleon III called them ''the lungs of Paris''. 245 00:24:07,247 --> 00:24:11,798 He decreed that Paris should have more green spaces,just like in London. 246 00:24:12,647 --> 00:24:15,957 The Tuileries Gardens, next to the Louvre, had a makeover. 247 00:24:19,047 --> 00:24:22,164 He also gave the people the Bois de Boulogne in the west 248 00:24:23,367 --> 00:24:26,006 and had two pleasure lakes dug there. 249 00:24:32,967 --> 00:24:35,197 But one of the city's best kept secrets 250 00:24:35,287 --> 00:24:39,121 is in the working-class 1 9th arrondissement, or district. 251 00:24:42,847 --> 00:24:45,805 The Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is a magical, fairy-tale park 252 00:24:45,887 --> 00:24:47,923 in northeastern Paris. 253 00:24:48,007 --> 00:24:50,805 It is so picturesque and down-to-earth. 254 00:24:52,167 --> 00:24:55,045 The park is known as ''the people's Tuileries''. 255 00:24:57,487 --> 00:25:01,036 Here you can get lost in nature, a special thing in Paris. 256 00:25:04,567 --> 00:25:07,764 On the top of the massive rock rising out of the water, 257 00:25:07,847 --> 00:25:10,122 there's a Roman-style folly. 258 00:25:15,487 --> 00:25:18,206 It's quite a lovely park here. I quite like it. 259 00:25:18,287 --> 00:25:21,802 It's quite a rare park in Paris because it's very hilly, 260 00:25:22,367 --> 00:25:26,155 so it feels much more like an English park than a French one. 261 00:25:26,847 --> 00:25:31,238 But it's a perfect place to come here, wander, take pictures and just relax. 262 00:25:31,327 --> 00:25:32,680 I love it. 263 00:25:34,607 --> 00:25:37,644 This early photo shows the amazing change 264 00:25:37,767 --> 00:25:41,237 from disused quarry and rubbish dump to wonderful park. 265 00:25:53,167 --> 00:25:54,919 At the end of the 1 830s, 266 00:25:55,007 --> 00:25:58,920 the new art of photography transformed the way Paris was portrayed. 267 00:26:03,527 --> 00:26:07,122 The photograph arrived just in time to capture the old Paris 268 00:26:07,207 --> 00:26:09,437 before it disappeared forever. 269 00:26:13,407 --> 00:26:18,197 Since then, Paris has become probably the most photographed city in the world. 270 00:26:20,807 --> 00:26:23,719 Belleville,just down the road from Buttes-Chaumont Park, 271 00:26:23,807 --> 00:26:28,005 is the spiritual home of one of France's most talented photographers. 272 00:26:30,207 --> 00:26:32,084 Born in Paris in 1 9 1 0, 273 00:26:32,207 --> 00:26:36,519 Willy Ronis is the man behind some of the most iconic images of his home city. 274 00:26:37,567 --> 00:26:41,242 I've always admired his work, and now I have a chance to meet him. 275 00:28:58,167 --> 00:28:59,964 (SANDRINE SPEAKING FRENCH) 276 00:29:01,007 --> 00:29:04,443 In the 1 9th century, the place I'm going to take you next 277 00:29:04,527 --> 00:29:07,678 was a magnet to photographers and tourists alike. 278 00:29:07,767 --> 00:29:11,760 Even kings and queens took excursions to the pride of Paris. 279 00:29:13,207 --> 00:29:17,439 Goodness! I mean, it's as if I'm going to war. 280 00:29:20,207 --> 00:29:24,485 I'm going on a guided tour of the sewers with the city's unsung heroes 281 00:29:24,567 --> 00:29:28,685 who help keep Paris clean and smelling of roses. 282 00:29:28,767 --> 00:29:30,519 Pray for me. 283 00:30:11,807 --> 00:30:16,801 In 1 850, engineer Eugene Belgrand began work on a new sewer system 284 00:30:16,887 --> 00:30:21,165 to try and stamp out the scourge of cholera blighting Paris. 285 00:30:22,367 --> 00:30:26,804 Today, thanks to him, the tunnels run for more than 2,000 kilometres. 286 00:30:29,207 --> 00:30:34,361 This is much more technical than I expected. 287 00:30:35,527 --> 00:30:39,645 This is really good. I mean, Belgrand was a real genius, actually, 288 00:30:39,727 --> 00:30:42,924 to think of all this network. 289 00:30:44,767 --> 00:30:47,679 I expected it to smell even stronger, 290 00:30:47,767 --> 00:30:51,316 but I can imagine after staying here a few hours, 291 00:30:51,407 --> 00:30:54,080 you might have a very strong headache. 292 00:30:55,447 --> 00:30:59,645 Feels like very physical work. It must be really hard to work here. 293 00:31:05,487 --> 00:31:10,038 What's so striking is how the whole of Paris is mirrored below ground, 294 00:31:10,127 --> 00:31:13,085 building by building, street by street. 295 00:31:45,967 --> 00:31:49,437 I'm really disappointed there's no rats. 296 00:31:49,527 --> 00:31:53,600 I was told they are really big, big like cats. I want to see that. 297 00:31:53,687 --> 00:31:57,805 And also, what is quite interesting is that rats are necessary 298 00:31:57,887 --> 00:32:02,642 because they eat all the detritus, all the junk, 299 00:32:03,287 --> 00:32:05,926 so again, that's quite eco-friendly. 300 00:32:07,167 --> 00:32:09,601 I guess you can find lots of stuff here. 301 00:32:11,127 --> 00:32:15,678 They found a crocodile years ago, dead cats, snakes. 302 00:32:15,767 --> 00:32:16,995 Anything goes. 303 00:32:17,087 --> 00:32:18,884 Depending on the volume of the water, 304 00:32:18,967 --> 00:32:22,437 you can see if people had a shower or bath 305 00:32:23,207 --> 00:32:25,118 or something else. 306 00:32:25,207 --> 00:32:27,243 (SANDRINE LAUGHS) 307 00:32:38,887 --> 00:32:42,357 The Opera Garnier has been called an over-the-top wedding cake, 308 00:32:42,447 --> 00:32:44,517 but I can't resist it. 309 00:32:47,247 --> 00:32:49,886 It's named after its architect, Charles Garnier, 310 00:32:49,967 --> 00:32:53,357 who won a competition to design it in 1 860. 311 00:32:54,087 --> 00:32:57,716 After many delays, it finally opened in 1 875. 312 00:33:04,327 --> 00:33:07,637 My friend Frederic Vaysse-Knitter is rehearsing here. 313 00:33:08,327 --> 00:33:10,318 (SPEAKING FRENCH) 314 00:33:18,327 --> 00:33:21,637 just walking up the grand escalier, or great staircase, 315 00:33:21,767 --> 00:33:24,440 is a theatrical experience in its own right. 316 00:33:25,327 --> 00:33:27,682 It's so luxurious and decadent. 317 00:33:32,287 --> 00:33:35,643 I adore the multicoloured marble from all over France, 318 00:33:35,727 --> 00:33:37,957 but it's only an appetiser. 319 00:33:38,047 --> 00:33:40,607 The piece de resistance is the foyer. 320 00:33:40,687 --> 00:33:42,882 I've never been there before. 321 00:33:48,567 --> 00:33:50,239 Wow. 322 00:33:52,407 --> 00:33:53,840 Goody! 323 00:35:21,887 --> 00:35:24,765 The story of Marie Duplessis is very moving. 324 00:35:24,847 --> 00:35:28,886 She was young, brilliant and beautiful, 325 00:35:28,967 --> 00:35:31,925 but died from tuberculosis at the age of 23. 326 00:35:37,087 --> 00:35:39,681 Her story was told by one of her many lovers, 327 00:35:39,767 --> 00:35:43,203 the writer Alexandre Dumas, and set to music by Chopin. 328 00:35:45,887 --> 00:35:49,163 Marie was one of Paris' legendary courtesans. 329 00:35:49,247 --> 00:35:51,124 More than just elite prostitutes, 330 00:35:51,207 --> 00:35:54,199 they were muses to the great artists of their day. 331 00:36:02,487 --> 00:36:05,877 I'm intrigued by the role these cultured and influential women 332 00:36:05,967 --> 00:36:08,003 played in the history of Paris. 333 00:36:10,007 --> 00:36:11,759 It's partly because of them 334 00:36:11,847 --> 00:36:15,840 that the city earned its reputation as the sexiest place on earth. 335 00:36:58,527 --> 00:37:01,644 During the second half of the 1 9th century, 336 00:37:01,727 --> 00:37:05,800 Paris was famed around the world for its exotic striptease revues. 337 00:37:08,567 --> 00:37:10,717 Hanky-panky was very big business, 338 00:37:14,287 --> 00:37:17,404 and about 30,000 women worked in the industry. 339 00:37:20,487 --> 00:37:24,321 There is an amazing number of words in French for prostitute. 340 00:37:24,407 --> 00:37:26,557 Many date from this time. 341 00:38:00,407 --> 00:38:02,875 Lassina takes me to the Left Bank, 342 00:38:02,967 --> 00:38:06,277 to what was then one of the hottest places in Paris. 343 00:38:10,807 --> 00:38:14,083 Today the Laperouse is a very chic and expensive restaurant, 344 00:38:15,407 --> 00:38:18,444 perfect for a romantic meal a deux or more. 345 00:38:27,447 --> 00:38:31,235 It's quite a charming place here, and famous for those boudoir lounges, 346 00:38:31,327 --> 00:38:33,397 those little private salons 347 00:38:33,487 --> 00:38:37,400 where, in the 1 9th century, slightly before that, 348 00:38:37,927 --> 00:38:41,237 all the politicians, aristocrats... 349 00:38:41,327 --> 00:38:43,761 I mean, wealthy men of all sorts 350 00:38:43,847 --> 00:38:47,920 could just see some courtesans in the privacy. 351 00:38:48,007 --> 00:38:53,604 Actually, that's a perfect illustration of this famous French libertinage, 352 00:38:53,687 --> 00:38:56,155 which started in the 1 8th century. 353 00:38:56,247 --> 00:39:01,446 And it's about this art of love and flirt and seduction, 354 00:39:01,527 --> 00:39:05,076 and really not making sex a big deal. 355 00:39:05,167 --> 00:39:07,681 And, yeah, it's lovely. 356 00:39:14,527 --> 00:39:16,199 Here is one of those mirrors. 357 00:39:16,287 --> 00:39:21,156 They are known for the scratchings, and the story goes that the courtesans 358 00:39:21,247 --> 00:39:24,000 used to scratch, actually, their diamonds, 359 00:39:24,087 --> 00:39:27,602 the presents of those messieurs, to check if they were real. 360 00:39:28,887 --> 00:39:31,799 One of the most outrageous courtesans was English, 361 00:39:31,887 --> 00:39:33,957 Emma Crouch from Plymouth. 362 00:39:34,047 --> 00:39:36,197 Her lovers knew her as Cora Pearl. 363 00:39:36,287 --> 00:39:39,962 They included princes, dukes and, she claimed, the Emperor. 364 00:39:40,607 --> 00:39:43,280 All is revealed in her colourful memoirs. 365 00:39:44,967 --> 00:39:49,722 Apparently she had the fancy to just present herself as a dessert 366 00:39:49,807 --> 00:39:53,038 at the end of the meal, in front of the dukes, the princes, 367 00:39:53,127 --> 00:39:56,278 and among meringues and fruit. 368 00:39:58,207 --> 00:40:01,802 ''With that deftness and artistry for which he was so famed, 369 00:40:01,887 --> 00:40:05,960 ''the chef, Salis, began to decorate my naked body 370 00:40:06,047 --> 00:40:09,642 ''with rosettes and swathes of creams and sauce, 371 00:40:10,207 --> 00:40:13,119 ''each carefully composed so that the heat of my body 372 00:40:13,207 --> 00:40:16,244 ''would not melt them before I came to table.'' 373 00:40:16,327 --> 00:40:19,922 That's really the artistry and the haute cuisine, 374 00:40:20,007 --> 00:40:23,079 with haute prostitution, too. 375 00:40:23,167 --> 00:40:26,398 Well, that's quite sweet and quite funny, 376 00:40:26,487 --> 00:40:29,365 but then I must admit that all those courtesans 377 00:40:29,447 --> 00:40:30,960 and petites femmes de Paris 378 00:40:31,047 --> 00:40:34,801 just stigmatised the image of French women, even abroad, 379 00:40:34,887 --> 00:40:38,641 when we're, again, believed to be always very seductive 380 00:40:38,727 --> 00:40:41,844 and very pretty and very charming, which is not always true. 381 00:40:46,647 --> 00:40:50,083 The courtesans of Paris inspired many artists. 382 00:40:50,527 --> 00:40:55,237 A little further along the Left Bank there's a converted railway station, 383 00:40:55,327 --> 00:40:57,397 now the Orsay Museum. 384 00:40:57,487 --> 00:41:02,356 It boasts the world's finest collection of 1 9th-century French masters. 385 00:41:05,207 --> 00:41:07,402 One of the most erotic works 386 00:41:07,487 --> 00:41:11,321 is this sculpture of a courtesan called Apollonie Sabatier, 387 00:41:11,407 --> 00:41:13,443 clearly in rapture. 388 00:41:14,687 --> 00:41:17,565 If you find this offensive, please look away now. 389 00:41:25,527 --> 00:41:28,758 This is The Origin of the World, by Gustave Courbet. 390 00:41:29,287 --> 00:41:31,960 As you notice, it's a bit slightly in-your-face, 391 00:41:32,047 --> 00:41:35,596 but let me tell you, it wasn't meant to be in-your-face. 392 00:41:35,687 --> 00:41:38,201 It was meant to be hidden away behind shutters, 393 00:41:38,287 --> 00:41:42,439 which the viewer could open for a discreet and private peek. 394 00:41:42,527 --> 00:41:44,916 Much more mysterious that way. 395 00:41:49,167 --> 00:41:51,727 The world was not ready for such realism, 396 00:41:51,807 --> 00:41:53,479 as Edouard Manet found out 397 00:41:53,567 --> 00:41:57,845 when his Dejeuner sur l'herbe outraged Paris in 1 863. 398 00:41:59,527 --> 00:42:02,644 That was another truly shocking painting for the time. 399 00:42:02,727 --> 00:42:05,366 People were absolutely appalled by it. 400 00:42:05,927 --> 00:42:09,476 The main reason, it's because it's portraying a naked lady 401 00:42:09,567 --> 00:42:11,398 with a dressed man. 402 00:42:11,487 --> 00:42:13,045 The first reaction for people 403 00:42:13,127 --> 00:42:15,402 was that they thought it was a prostitute. 404 00:42:15,487 --> 00:42:19,446 In the 1 9th century, the only accepted nudes 405 00:42:19,527 --> 00:42:23,600 had to be goddesses or anything to do with mythology. 406 00:42:23,687 --> 00:42:27,396 But just to show a modern day lady naked like that, 407 00:42:27,487 --> 00:42:29,637 that was truly shocking to them. 408 00:42:40,887 --> 00:42:43,685 Manet sparked a revolution in art. 409 00:42:44,287 --> 00:42:48,280 A new generation of painters known as the Impressionists 410 00:42:48,367 --> 00:42:49,925 broke through. 411 00:42:50,007 --> 00:42:52,362 They included Claude Monet, 412 00:42:54,247 --> 00:42:55,885 Edgar Degas, 413 00:42:57,047 --> 00:42:59,481 and Pierre Auguste Renoir. 414 00:43:08,527 --> 00:43:11,917 The Impressionists wanted to celebrate the new Paris 415 00:43:12,007 --> 00:43:14,521 as it took shape before their very eyes. 416 00:43:17,287 --> 00:43:20,882 The steam engine embodied this extraordinary new age. 417 00:43:24,647 --> 00:43:29,118 The railways changed the way Parisians lived, worked and played. 418 00:43:31,887 --> 00:43:35,402 Paris' first railway station was the Gare Saint-Lazare. 419 00:43:38,247 --> 00:43:39,999 Monet loved to paint here, 420 00:43:40,087 --> 00:43:43,284 delighting in the way the light danced through the steam. 421 00:43:45,887 --> 00:43:48,401 Stations were the cathedrals of their day, 422 00:43:48,487 --> 00:43:50,523 symbols of freedom and progress. 423 00:43:54,487 --> 00:43:57,524 Suddenly people could take day trips out of town 424 00:43:57,607 --> 00:43:59,996 and found new ways to have fun. 425 00:44:03,327 --> 00:44:06,125 Riverside party venues known as guinguettes 426 00:44:06,207 --> 00:44:07,879 became all the rage. 427 00:44:07,967 --> 00:44:11,004 You could swim, dance, pose and flirt, 428 00:44:12,487 --> 00:44:16,844 a tradition which continues to this day with Paris Plage every August, 429 00:44:16,927 --> 00:44:18,645 when the banks of the river 430 00:44:18,727 --> 00:44:21,685 are covered with sand and turned into beaches. 431 00:44:27,727 --> 00:44:32,039 In 1 869, Monet painted one of the great Impressionist paintings 432 00:44:32,127 --> 00:44:34,846 at a guinguette called La Grenouillere. 433 00:44:43,487 --> 00:44:45,682 With the Impressionists leading the way, 434 00:44:45,767 --> 00:44:49,646 Paris was fast becoming the art capital of the world. 435 00:44:52,007 --> 00:44:55,158 To me, there was one man who stood out in the 1 9th century, 436 00:44:55,247 --> 00:44:56,441 a real genius. 437 00:44:56,527 --> 00:44:58,597 His name was Auguste Rodin. 438 00:44:59,367 --> 00:45:01,323 What I like about his work 439 00:45:01,407 --> 00:45:07,004 is that you have the feeling of life, a real masterpiece of drama and effect. 440 00:45:09,927 --> 00:45:12,122 This is The Thinker. 441 00:45:12,207 --> 00:45:15,995 It shows Rodin's incredible grasp of body language. 442 00:45:17,207 --> 00:45:22,042 From the head right down to the toes, every inch is taut with concentration. 443 00:45:26,567 --> 00:45:30,116 The Thinker was meant to be part of a hugely ambitious work, 444 00:45:30,207 --> 00:45:32,038 The Gates of Hell. 445 00:45:43,847 --> 00:45:47,522 It was unfinished when Rodin died in 1 9 1 7. 446 00:46:03,087 --> 00:46:04,645 This house on the Left Bank 447 00:46:04,727 --> 00:46:08,003 is where Rodin lived and worked at the end of his life. 448 00:46:08,087 --> 00:46:10,760 It's now a museum devoted to his work. 449 00:46:11,927 --> 00:46:16,045 It's where you can find his best-loved and most sensual sculpture. 450 00:46:18,087 --> 00:46:19,759 So now, this is The Kiss. 451 00:46:19,847 --> 00:46:24,284 This piece was originally made for The Gates of Hell 452 00:46:24,367 --> 00:46:28,599 and then after that removed from this original project. 453 00:46:29,287 --> 00:46:33,565 What I really like in this piece is that you see some parts 454 00:46:33,647 --> 00:46:37,356 are left unsculptured, untouched. 455 00:46:37,447 --> 00:46:41,804 It's as if the whole sculpture was just born from the mass. 456 00:46:41,887 --> 00:46:46,119 From any angle, it's a real masterpiece. 457 00:46:46,207 --> 00:46:51,042 You can really see the embrace, the two characters being in fusion. 458 00:46:51,127 --> 00:46:52,958 It's almost like a swirl. 459 00:46:54,687 --> 00:46:56,518 I really like this piece, actually, 460 00:46:56,607 --> 00:47:00,202 because it reminds me of a story when I was a teenager. 461 00:47:00,287 --> 00:47:04,963 A friend of mine, a girlfriend of mine, sent me the postcard of this piece. 462 00:47:05,047 --> 00:47:08,756 And initially she wanted to send the postcard to her boyfriend, 463 00:47:08,847 --> 00:47:10,963 but apparently she got too shy, I don't know, 464 00:47:11,047 --> 00:47:14,403 and then I ended up with the postcard of The Kiss. 465 00:47:19,487 --> 00:47:22,559 This was a century of innovation on every front, 466 00:47:22,647 --> 00:47:25,320 sculpture, painting, photography, 467 00:47:25,407 --> 00:47:29,082 boulevards, department stores and even sewers. 468 00:47:30,567 --> 00:47:34,765 Napoleon III presided over this modernisation of Paris, 469 00:47:34,847 --> 00:47:37,645 but in some ways he was stuck in the past. 470 00:47:38,727 --> 00:47:41,287 You can see that for yourself in the Louvre, 471 00:47:41,367 --> 00:47:43,927 where he renovated a wing for his own use. 472 00:47:48,447 --> 00:47:49,846 Wow. 473 00:47:49,927 --> 00:47:53,044 These are Napoleon III's apartments. 474 00:47:53,127 --> 00:47:56,563 They are sumptuous, ostentatious. 475 00:47:56,647 --> 00:47:59,605 For one minute you think you could be in Versailles. 476 00:48:00,527 --> 00:48:04,759 It means that Napoleon III was a true monarch, actually, 477 00:48:04,847 --> 00:48:07,566 in the line of the others. 478 00:48:08,127 --> 00:48:10,436 It's quite incredible, actually. 479 00:48:11,247 --> 00:48:14,478 Looks like a theatre. I mean, it's a real fantasy. 480 00:48:16,527 --> 00:48:21,237 Makes me think that Napoleon III was living in a world of his own. 481 00:48:24,287 --> 00:48:25,959 Napoleon III led France 482 00:48:26,047 --> 00:48:29,119 into its most turbulent time since the Revolution. 483 00:48:29,767 --> 00:48:34,158 It all began when he declared war on Prussia in 1 870. 484 00:48:36,367 --> 00:48:38,927 It was a big mistake. 485 00:48:39,007 --> 00:48:41,316 The French Army was duly crushed. 486 00:48:41,407 --> 00:48:44,922 Napoleon left the country and the Prussians took Paris. 487 00:48:48,367 --> 00:48:52,121 When they left, there was a political vacuum in the capital 488 00:48:52,207 --> 00:48:54,767 because the French government had fled to Versailles, 489 00:48:54,847 --> 00:48:56,803 24 kilometres away. 490 00:48:59,047 --> 00:49:01,925 Then in March 1 87 1, a riot broke out 491 00:49:02,007 --> 00:49:04,237 between local people and government troops 492 00:49:04,327 --> 00:49:06,716 in Montmartre, to the north of the city. 493 00:49:10,167 --> 00:49:13,204 Two generals were shot dead here, 494 00:49:14,007 --> 00:49:17,238 prompting the government to withdraw the army to Versailles. 495 00:49:18,207 --> 00:49:22,280 A popular left wing movement, the Commune, took control of Paris, 496 00:49:22,367 --> 00:49:26,280 but their experiment in social democracy would only last for 1 0 weeks. 497 00:49:30,247 --> 00:49:33,637 The Communards were a mix of socialists, anarchists 498 00:49:33,727 --> 00:49:35,877 and ordinary men and women. 499 00:49:38,207 --> 00:49:41,199 Among them was Louise Michel, 500 00:49:41,287 --> 00:49:44,324 a schoolteacher who famously manned the barricades. 501 00:49:48,967 --> 00:49:52,004 The Communards literally set Paris alight, 502 00:49:52,087 --> 00:49:55,397 burning down some of its most important buildings. 503 00:49:55,487 --> 00:49:59,162 But the government in Versailles responded with a vengeance. 504 00:50:11,567 --> 00:50:13,159 Driven by government forces 505 00:50:13,247 --> 00:50:16,284 to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in northeast Paris, 506 00:50:16,407 --> 00:50:20,161 the Communards made their last stand among the tombs. 507 00:50:25,247 --> 00:50:27,681 The cemetery had been one of the great achievements 508 00:50:27,767 --> 00:50:30,281 of Napoleon III's era, 509 00:50:30,367 --> 00:50:32,278 a mini-Paris for the dead, 510 00:50:32,367 --> 00:50:35,006 but now it was the scene of slaughter. 511 00:50:45,247 --> 00:50:47,636 Some of the heaviest fighting was here, 512 00:50:47,727 --> 00:50:50,480 among the graves of the great and the good. 513 00:50:51,767 --> 00:50:54,565 The soldiers were ordered to show no mercy. 514 00:50:58,527 --> 00:51:02,725 It's quite sad to see that in such a beautiful, sacred place, 515 00:51:02,807 --> 00:51:05,082 such violence took place. 516 00:51:09,327 --> 00:51:11,238 But worse was to come. 517 00:51:13,207 --> 00:51:15,801 On the 28th of May, 1 87 1, 518 00:51:15,887 --> 00:51:19,596 1 4 7 Communard rebels were machine-gunned 519 00:51:19,687 --> 00:51:22,645 against the eastern wall of Pere Lachaise. 520 00:51:25,687 --> 00:51:29,396 Alain Dalotel and Maryse Bezagu, of the Friends of the Commune, 521 00:51:29,487 --> 00:51:31,955 regularly pay their respects to the dead. 522 00:52:14,327 --> 00:52:16,318 (CHURCH BELLS RINGING) 523 00:52:18,407 --> 00:52:20,204 After the Commune had been crushed, 524 00:52:20,287 --> 00:52:23,757 the government decided that Paris would repent, 525 00:52:23,847 --> 00:52:25,678 so they built this. 526 00:52:36,487 --> 00:52:39,479 The Basilica of Sacre Coeur was built in Montmartre 527 00:52:39,567 --> 00:52:42,127 to atone for the sins of the Communards. 528 00:52:48,527 --> 00:52:50,597 Nowadays tourists flock here, 529 00:52:50,687 --> 00:52:54,919 attracted by its romantic aura and panoramic views of the city. 530 00:52:59,327 --> 00:53:01,158 Many Parisians really hated it. 531 00:53:01,247 --> 00:53:04,125 It was seen as the symbol of repression. 532 00:53:04,847 --> 00:53:06,678 Although it's really beautiful, 533 00:53:06,767 --> 00:53:09,725 knowing the history, I feel rather saddened by it. 534 00:53:13,287 --> 00:53:16,404 Its Romano-Byzantine architecture and bright white stone 535 00:53:16,487 --> 00:53:18,796 were out of keeping with the rest of Paris. 536 00:53:18,887 --> 00:53:21,162 Everything about it was wrong. 537 00:53:24,007 --> 00:53:27,204 In 2004, the Commune won a small victory 538 00:53:27,287 --> 00:53:30,120 when this square, in the shadow of the basilica, 539 00:53:30,207 --> 00:53:33,404 took the name of Louise Michel, the Communard heroine. 540 00:53:37,927 --> 00:53:40,725 (SINGING LE TEMPS DES CERISES IN FRENCH) 541 00:53:45,607 --> 00:53:47,882 She also had a song dedicated to her, 542 00:53:47,967 --> 00:53:52,324 one of the many inspired by the uprising which remain popular today. 543 00:54:22,687 --> 00:54:24,837 Long before it was completed, 544 00:54:24,927 --> 00:54:28,556 Sacre Coeur had a rival as the most hated building in Paris. 545 00:54:31,007 --> 00:54:32,804 This one. 546 00:54:41,167 --> 00:54:43,397 When the Eiffel Tower was proposed, 547 00:54:43,487 --> 00:54:45,921 it was attacked as a ''truly tragic streetlamp'' 548 00:54:46,007 --> 00:54:48,123 and a ''belfry skeleton''. 549 00:54:52,967 --> 00:54:55,640 A group of leading writers and intellectuals 550 00:54:55,727 --> 00:54:59,083 put together a petition to try to stop it being built. 551 00:55:00,087 --> 00:55:01,645 Thank goodness they failed. 552 00:55:01,727 --> 00:55:04,480 Today it's the most famous monument in the world, 553 00:55:04,567 --> 00:55:07,798 visited by 200 million people and counting. 554 00:55:10,847 --> 00:55:15,523 I join chief engineer Yves Camaret on an early morning inspection. 555 00:55:39,047 --> 00:55:42,756 Named after the engineer who designed it, Gustave Eiffel, 556 00:55:42,847 --> 00:55:46,522 the 300-metre tower took just over two years to build. 557 00:56:30,447 --> 00:56:32,278 (SPEAKING FRENCH) 558 00:57:04,047 --> 00:57:07,244 I've never come up this high before, with good reason. 559 00:57:07,327 --> 00:57:09,079 I've got vertigo. 560 00:57:11,247 --> 00:57:13,886 Allo, allo. Reaching the very top now. 561 00:57:15,127 --> 00:57:17,436 Thank goodness. There's someone here. 562 00:57:17,527 --> 00:57:19,597 (SPEAKING FRENCH) 563 00:57:31,207 --> 00:57:33,516 You know, I'm quite afraid of heights usually, 564 00:57:33,607 --> 00:57:36,360 but what feels good, it's all those grids, 565 00:57:36,447 --> 00:57:41,157 so it's not as if you were in the void, really. 566 00:57:42,487 --> 00:57:44,557 (LAUGHING NERVOUSLY) 567 00:57:45,367 --> 00:57:47,358 Hold onto it! 568 00:57:51,407 --> 00:57:53,443 It's beautiful, really. 569 00:57:53,527 --> 00:57:55,199 (LAUGHING) 570 00:57:55,287 --> 00:57:58,245 It's great. I feel great. 571 00:57:58,327 --> 00:58:00,318 But I'll be able to talk about it 572 00:58:00,407 --> 00:58:04,764 once I'm down on the plateau des vaches, as we say, 573 00:58:04,847 --> 00:58:07,805 on the cows' floor. Voila. 574 00:58:12,047 --> 00:58:15,084 The tower was due to be dismantled after 20 years, 575 00:58:15,167 --> 00:58:17,886 but was saved when they made it a radio mast. 576 00:58:20,847 --> 00:58:24,760 The Eiffel Tower has become the very symbol for Paris itself. 577 00:58:24,847 --> 00:58:28,203 It's not bad for a building which wasn't supposed to last. 578 00:58:28,287 --> 00:58:32,758 Back in 1 889, it proclaimed Paris a new city for a new era. 579 00:58:37,807 --> 00:58:43,120 Next time, chocolate, fashion, cafes, sex and revolution. 580 00:58:43,207 --> 00:58:45,323 The story of how Paris was born. 581 00:58:46,007 --> 00:58:47,804 For a free bilingual guide 582 00:58:47,887 --> 00:58:50,526 featuring one of my favourite walks in Paris 583 00:58:50,607 --> 00:58:53,724 and more about Open University programmes on the BBC, 584 00:58:53,807 --> 00:58:58,085 call 0870 900 958 1 585 00:58:58,167 --> 00:59:02,319 or go to bbc.co.uk/paris.