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 Paris is a moveable feast. This is how Hemingway described the City of Lights. Magic, charm, glamour and romance are some of the epithets that capture the spirit of the city.
As the cradle of French culture, literature, the arts and music, and a city with an important, world-renowned gastronomic tradition, the capital of France is for many the most joyous European city with the warmest atmosphere.
Paris is also known as the city of hills. Montmartre, (the highest neighbourhood in Paris, which is much sought-after by bohemian writers and painters, is named after this hill), Montparnasse and Mont Valérien are three of them.
Monuments such as the Eiffel Tower – France’s most iconic landmark – built in the Champ de Mars on the first anniversary of the Revolution –, the Arc de Triomphe – the symbol of the Napoleonic Wars – , the Bastille, Notre-Dame Cathedral – the most visited Gothic cathedral by tourists who are also attracted by Victor Hugo’s novel which brought the Hunchback of Notre-Dame to life –, are some of the most important monuments that visitors simply must see during their visit to Paris.
Another of the symbols of the French capital is the church of the Sainte-Chapelle with its 15 stained-glass windows that stand 15 metres high. A real burst of colour.
Paris is the perfect place for long, pleasant walks, either along its broad avenues, such as the Champs Elysées and the Boulevard Raspail or across some of the 35 bridges that span the Seine.
During your wonderful stay in the city, you can visit the amazing Latin Quarter, the intellectual and student neighbourhood where the existentialists discovered jazz in its taverns, or let your senses be transported by the magnificent works of art at the Louvre Museum, such as Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and Boticelli’s Graces, or the Musée d’Orsay, housed in a former railway station, devoted to art from 1848 and 1914; the Centre Georges Pompidou, with works by Picasso, Miró, Dalí, Matisse and Kandinsky; the Musée Rodin, which showcases the most important works by the brilliant sculptor, and the city’s history museum, the Musée Carnavalet. Also worth visiting is the Place de la Concorde, the biggest square in Paris, which is located by the Seine.
The Folies Bergère are the most famous place of entertainment in Paris, together with the Moulin Rouge. Their skilfully staged revues are still extremely popular. If you stroll down the Boulevard Saint Germain, you can stop off at the Café de Flore, the bar once frequented by Jean-Paul Sartre.
At the Père Lachaise Cemetery, one of the most visited burial grounds in Europe, you’ll find the tombs of Oscar Wilde, Honoré de Balzac and Paul Eluard. You can do a spot of shopping at the couture houses of Dior, Chanel and Vuitton on the Avenue Montaigne or visit one of Paris’s most popular department stores, Printemps.
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