Introduction
Paris is the City of Lights, the world capital of fashion, the fountainhead of vogues, the trendsetter, the home to the bohemians and romantics. You can wonder at art at the Louvre, cruise past 18th century palaces on the Seine, write poetry at a sidewalk cafe table, dance in the coloured glow of Notre Dame's stained glass, dine stupendously in a tiny bistro, or experience shivers atop the Eiffel Tower. The Seine River divides Paris between the Right Bank (Rive Droite) to the north and the Left Bank (Rive Gaunche) to the south. Paris began on the Ile de la Cite, an island in the Seine that is still the centre of the city and home to Notre Dame cathedral. You may have many Paris's, Paris of East, West, South, and North but be sure that there is nothing comparable to original Paris.

What to do
Paris is a restless city. It is where you cannot stay inactive at one place for a long period of time. There are scores of activities and they would leave you anything but exhausted. To begin with, for example, there are the world famous Parisian cafes. You can sit all day over a single cup of coffee or order a light meal or a flute of champagne. There is the famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery, where you would like to pay homage to the cultural giants like Chopin, Oscar Wilde and who not? You can go for shopping, as Paris is a shopping capital and you have fine perfumes and gourmet stuff. Nightlife in Paris is a hell lot of activity full of dance and music. Go check it out in any nightclub, cultural centre, theatre, or just appreciate Paris skyline.

City at a Glance

Latitude 48° 49' N Longitude 2° 29' E Area 105 Sq Km Population 2,147,857 Language French Religion Christianity Telephone Code 01

History
There is so much already available on the history of Paris that not much is left to be said except uttering the same thing. In the 3rd century BC, a Celtic tribe, the Parisii settled an island in the river Seine. By 280 AD, this city was razed to the ground by Barbarians. In 508 AD, King Clovis made Paris his capital of his Frankish Kingdom. The Notre Dame Cathedral was constructed by 1163 to 1345 AD. The city experienced the Paris Renaissance in the 16th century. Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw the reign of King Louis XIV, the Sun King who moved his capital to Versailles and Age of Enlightenment. In 1789, France moved its first step towards democracy and universal suffrage when prison of Bastille Prison was stormed by the people of Paris and National Assembly was constituted. Napoleon Bonapart arrived on the political scene in 1794 when he was elected First Consul of France. He seized power in 1799 in a coup d'etat and proclaimed himself emperor of France in 1804. His grand plans to become the emperor of the world could not lived long and he lost in the war at Waterloo in 1815. Paris remained in the centre of many events that shaped the world in the next two centuries including both world wars. Versailles Peace Treaty after the World War II created a world order that is still continued with some minor changes.

Weather and Best Season to Visit
January is the coldest month with minimum temperature falling to 3ºC and plenty of snowfall. The temperature rises fairly and continuously and July has a pleasant climate with temperature averaging 26ºC. Rain is a common phenomenon though it falls less in winter than any other season. Snowfalls are an integral feature of local climate but modern transportation system makes sure that there are no disruptions in the city life. Spring months from March to May are the best to visit this city.

Attractions
The Louvre
The Grand Louvre – a former royal palace opened to the public as an art gallery when the French Revolution struck – has 195,000 square feet of galleries, five million visitors annually, and over 30,000 works on display spanning three millennia. Louvre houses a remarkable collection of antiquities from Greece, Etruria, Rome, Egypt, and the Orient. More than anything else have a look on Vinci's Monalisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Samothrace that have made The Louvre their home.

Notre Dame Cathedral
The 12th-to-14th century cathedral is a study in gothic beauty and gargoyles, at one solid with squat, square facade towers and graceful with flying buttresses around the sides. It's been remodelled, embellished, ransacked and restored so often that it's a wonder that it still has any architectural integrity at all.

Eiffel Tower
Talk about Paris and you remember of the Eiffel Tower. Gustave Alexandre Eiffel's tower rises 1,056 feet above the banks of the Seine in all its steel girder glory. The man who gave the Statue of Liberty a backbone designed this quintessential Parisian symbol merely as a temporary exhibit for the Exhibition of 1899 and managed to rivet together all 7,000 tons of it in under two years.

Musee d'Orsay
In 1986, Paris consolidated most of its collections of French art from 1848 to World War I in the most unlikely of spots: an old converted train station. Although the Orsay has earlier works by the likes of Ingres and Delacroix, its biggest draw is undoubtedly those crowd-pleasing impressionists.

Rodin Museum
The studio where great sculptor Rodin worked in from 1908 until his death has been converted into a small museum. It houses some of the great works of Rodin including The Thinker, The Burghes of Calais, Balzac, The Gate of Hell, The Three Shades, Iris and more.

Centre Georges Pompidou
This is the best place in town to appreciate the creativity that took place in the last century. There are galleries of modern art, exhibits in music research, industrial design, history of film, and photography. Street performances are held on the sloping square out front. Cafeteria on the top floor has some fantastic views.

Musée Picasso
The museum has got one of the best collections of Picasso's masterpieces with 203 of his paintings, 177 sculptors, and thousands of sketches and engravings. Some of the masterpieces here include Le Baiser, Pan Flute, Two Women Running Along the Beach, Nude in a Red Armchair, and The Crucifixion.

IMPORTANT FESTIVALS AND EXHIBITIONS
Paris is a place to indulge in various activities like fashion show, film festivals, grand prix, art exhibitions, and music festivals. Le Salon International de Prêt-à- Porter (International Ready to Wear Fashion Show in January, Foire du Trône in March, Paris Marathon in April, French Open Tennis and Les Grandes Eaux Musicales in May, Festival Juin and Paris Air Show in June, Bastille Day in July, Ile de France Festival in August, and Festival d'Automne (Paris Autumn Festival) in December are but a few of the festivals and events this city celebrate. For more information about these festivals you can contact local tourist office that would be of much help.

PLACES NEARBY
The Palace at Versailles
If you are in Paris, half-hour excursion to Versailles to see its extravagant 17th-century palace is one option that you would not like to miss. This is a palace of truly monumental proportions and appointments started in 1624 by Louis XIII as a hunting lodge and given its present shape by Louis XIV, the Sun King. You can wander through State Apartments, Hall of Mirrors, and Royal Chappel yourself or with guided tours.

Kutná Hora
The small village that in 14th century minted silver coins that became one of the foremost currencies of the continent still look life almost same. main attraction are the cathedral, Bone Church, and center of the village, all well preserved. You can reach Kutná Hora in one and half hours by bus from Prague.

Fontainebleau
From Paris Gare de Lyon there are 10 daily trains to Fontainebleu-Avon station that takes anything between 35 to 60 minutes. there is sumptuous mansion now renovated and extended into a rambling palace and plenty of hiking options in the famed forest surrounding it.

Chartres Cathedral
This is the fourth largest church in the world and one of the greatest of High Gothic cathedrals. The church is situated at an hour's ride from Paris's Gare Montparnasse station.

WHERE TO STAY
Paris has some 2,000 hotels. The Right Bank has more upscale hotels, while the bohemian Left Bank boasts more inexpensive options. November-to-February is low season for tourism and so is July-August. These are also the time to go for a good bargain on hotel tariffs.

WHERE TO EAT
For the French, food is close to a religion, and they gladly worship at the altars of their award-winning celebrity chefs. Paris is perhaps the world capital of dining. Traditional haute cuisine – a delicate balance of flavours, sauces and ingredients blended with a studied technique – includes such classics as blanquette de veau, pot-au-feu, coq au vin and that hearty staple boeuf bourguignon.

AFTER HOURS
Paris is a city that lives in parties and there is no night when some of them are not going on. Music is an integral part of these parties held in night clubs and hotel bars. Night clubs are certainly more hot of the others and music and dance performances of all types can be experienced. Discos and Jazz are most favourite among the nightbirds of the city. But, there are other favourites too like gay and lesbian exclusives, techno, rock and break beats, fashion hubs, for young, for adults, and for old. Options are wide and it is up to you where you want to go.

SHOPPING
Shopping is one of the hottest activities in Paris. Fashion is in the air of Paris. Perfumes, foods, and a host of other items are there to tantalise the avid shopper. On boulevard Haussmann rises Paris's two flagships of shopping, the department stores Au Printemps and Galeries Lafayette. Au Printemps is a bit more modern and American-styled, and Galeries Lafayette is more Old World French, but both are very upscale and carry the ready-to-wear collections of all the major French designers and labels.

TRAVEL INFORMATION
Air Travel Resources
Most International flights land at Charles de Gaulle Airport (Roissy), 14 miles northeast of the city. Some charter flights, as well as many national flights, land 8.5 miles south of town at Orly Airport. Both airports have shuttle buses that will take you to nearby RER (commuter train) stations, where you can catch trains into Paris.

Land and Water
Paris has many rail stations, but most international trains arrive at one of the following three. The Gare du Nord serves the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and northern Germany. Gare du Nord also serves all the trains coming from London.

Local Transport
The Paris Metro (subway) is one of the best subways in Europe, a clean and efficient system so well interconnected that you'll never have to walk too far to find a stop. Using a Metro map, find which line you want to take and the name of the last station in the direction you want to take it.

Travel Resources
Tourist Office
Office du Tourisme
127 ave des Champs Elysées
75008 Paris
Tel: 01 49 52 53 54
Fax: 01 49 52 53 00
Email: info@paris-touristoffice.com

Airlines
Air France
Tel: 800-237-2747

AOM French Airlines
Tel: 800-892-9136

Hospital
Hôtel Dieu
1 pl Parvis Notre Dame
4th Arr
Metro: Cité
Medical, surgery
Tel: 01 42 34 82 32
ophthalmology
Tel: 01 42 34 80 36
gynecology
Tel: 01 42 34 82 34
diabetic
Tel: 01 42 34 84 01

Hôpital Saint Vincent de Paul
74 ave Denfert Rochereau
14th Arr
Metro: Denfert Rochereau
Medical
Tel: 01 40 48 81 69
Surgery
Tel: 01 40 48 81 18

Hôpital Lariboisière
2 rue Ambroise Paré
10th Arr
Metro: Barbès Rochechouart
Maternity
Tel: 01 49 95 62 37
Emergencies
Tel: 01 49 95 64 43

Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades
149 rue Sèvres
15th Arr
Children emergencies
Metro: Duroc
Tel: 01 44 49 42 90
Tel: 01 44 49 46 86

Emergency Calls
SOS Médecins
Tel: 01 47 07 77 77

Urgences Médicales de Paris
Tel: 01 53 94 94 94

Banks and Money Exchange
ABN Amro Bank
3, ave Hoche
75008 PARIS
Tel: 01 42 67 50 50
Fax: 01 42 67 48 40

American Express Bank
11, rue Scribe
75009 PARIS
Tel: 01 47 14 50 00
Fax: 01 47 14 51 99

Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP)
16, Bd des Italiens
75009 PARIS
Tel: 01 40 14 45 46
Minitel: 3614 BNP

Deutsche Bank
3, ave de Friedland
75008 PARIS
Tel: 01 44 95 64 00
Fax: 01 53 75 07 01

Thomas Cook Bankers France
8, rue Bellini
75016 PARIS
Tel: 01 47 55 52 25
Fax: 01 47 27 37 22

Citibank Consumer Banking Services
30, ave des Champs Élysées
75008 PARIS
Gen. Info : 01 40 76 33 77
Tel: 01 40 76 33 70
Fax: 01 40 76 33 79
Minitel: 3615 CITIBANK