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Ten of the most beautiful doors in Paris to walk through

For a city swathed in shades of grey, there sure are a lot of gorgeous and colourful doors in Paris. Here are ten of the most unique and beautiful doors to walk through, or at least to feast your eyes on.

Published: 6 July 2016 08:55 CEST
Ten of the most beautiful doors in Paris to walk through
Photo: seth m/Flickr

Photo: seth m/Flickr

This intricate Art Nouveau masterpiece was constructed in 1901 by architect Jules Lavirotte. At the time it was considered so exotic and lavish that it won a facade award, an honor that it certainly still merits in our day and age. Find it at 29 Avenue Rapp in the 7th arrondissement.

Photo: Steve Cadman/Flickr

Another gorgeous entryway by architect Lavirotte, this door just might've been his favorite as he lived in the building with his family. It's just a stone's throw from its more famous counterpart, at 3 square Rapp in the 7th arrondissement. 

Photo: Claudius Dorenrof/Flickr

Another Art Nouveau stunner, this porte was designed by Hector Guimard. It's the entrance to the Castel Béranger building at 14 rue la Fontaine in the ritzy 16th arrondissement of western Paris.

Photo: daryl_mitchell/Flickr

The golden doors of the Petit Palais in the 8th arrondissement look built for a king (and in Paris, you never know — they could've been) but the design was actually the winner of a 1894 architecture competition for a permanent fine arts museum, which it still is today.

 

Photo: Mark Fischer/Flickr 

This one's for the street art lovers. This colourful door might seem a bit out of place on the opulent rue de Rivoli, but it makes sense when you know that it's home to an artist collective.

Photo: Francisco Martins/Flickr

These twin doors belong to the famous Notre Dame de Paris cathedral on the Île de la Cité, a small island in the middle of the River Seine. The view of this amazingly detailed entryway is beat only by the view inside the church once you walk through it. 

Photo: Steve Cadman/Flickr

This doorway of the Hotel de Marsilly in the 6th arrondissement was completed in 1738. If you'd like to be transported back to the 1700s, head on over to 18 rue du Cherche-Midi and give yourself at least a few minutes to stare at this gorgeous door.

Photo: John Kroll/Flickr

This artsy door in Montmartre is a reminder that before tourists took over the northern neighborhood, it was once an offbeat, bohemian district that inspired artists such as Van Gogh and Matisse. 

Photo: mjfagioli/Flickr

You might recognize this picturesque purple porte from the Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris. It's where Owen Wilson's character is whisked away to 1920s Paris. Check out its time-traveling capabilities for yourself in the 5th arrondissement — the name of the church is Eglise Saint-Etienne-du-Mont.

 

A photo posted by JUSTINE (@_justinerivera_) on May 7, 2016 at 12:55pm PDT

Can you imagine coming home every evening through this extravagant door? If you want to go play pretend, you can find it at 6 Rue Marbeuf in the 8th arrondissement. 

 

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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