The City of Lights is, for many, the most beautiful city in the world. From the top of Montmartre to the tip of the Eiffel Tower, in the Louvre or on the Left Bank, Paris is stylish through and through.
Between its Gothic cathedrals and grand avenues are modern flashes: the Pompidou Centre and L’Institut du Monde Arabe, one of Paris’s most beautiful contemporary constructions.
It is the layers of old and new that give Paris its ageless verve – the 8ème and 16ème arrondissements are top for couture-clad glamour; romantics still head to Montmartre and Montorgueil is the up-and-coming area to watch.
Come to Paris for culture, shopping and cuisine and add on a trip to ageless St Tropez, for its yachts, shops and people watching.
TOP THINGS TO DO IN PARIS
The Arc de Triomphe stands at the center of Place de l’Étoile, the hub from which 12 grand avenues — including the idyllic pedestrian mall, the Champs Élysées — radiate to form the star for which the Place de l’Étoile is named. Climb to the Arc’s panoramic viewing terrace and gaze down each avenue into the cityThe Gothic Cathdrale de Notre Dame which rears up from the Ile de la Cite was begun in 1160, completed about 1345, and renovated considerably in the 19th century. You can climb the towers if you are brave enough to see wonderful views. Centre Pompidou designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, is both an art gallery and cultural hub. Its modern and contemporary art collection, with over 50,000 works and multiple temporary exhibitions, is one of Europe’s most significant, and its public library and performance spaces throng with life — more than 6 million visit the Pompidou each year.
Take a walk around the cobbled streets of le Marias A marsh until the 12th century, the Marais has led many lives — parade of grand villas, Jewish district, gay nightspot. It’s also a famous shopping precinct, its boutiques and ateliers supplying Paris’s yen for simple things done beautifully.
The Louvre one of the world’s greatest museums, covering the finest European painting, sculpture and objets d’art from
the middle ages to the beginnings of impressionism, plus antiques from Egypt, the middle east Greece d and Rome as well as African and Asian-Pacific artsMusée de l’Air et de l’Espace: Located in the north of the capital, on the site of Le Bourget airport, the Musée de ’Air et de l’Espace has just finished its first phase of renovation work and offers visitors the opportunity to see the renovated ‘Salle des Huit Colonnes’. Fully restored to be identical to the original, this art deco space, at the heart of the former airport designed by Georges Labro, bore witness to the journeys of millions of passengers from the 30s to the 70s. Built in 1937 for
the Exposition Universelle, the departures and arrivals lounge presents a magnificent glass dome and a black and white chequered floorAéroport de Paris –
Le Bourget, Le Bourget
Tel +33 (0) 1 49 92 70 00
