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Description of Paris

Location: Île-de-France region  Map

Paris is the capital of France and its most populous city. Capital of the region of the Isle of France (or "Parisian Region"), it is constituted in the only unidepartamental commune of the country. It is located on both banks of a long meander of the Seine River, in the center of the Parisian basin, between the confluence of the Marne River and the Seine, upstream, and the Oise and the Seine, downstream. The city of Paris, within its narrow administrative limits, has a population of 2 273 305 inhabitants in 2015. However, in the twentieth century, the metropolitan area of ​​Paris expanded beyond the limits of the municipality of Paris, and is today, with a population of 12 405 426 inhabitants in 2013, the second metropolitan area of ​​the European continent (after London) and the 28th in the world.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries together with the city of London, Paris was the center of development of architectural projects within the framework of the Industrial Revolution and its famous exhibitions. Examples are: the Mercado de la Madeleine, in 1824; the Great Halles started in 1853, the Galerie des Machines and the Eiffel Tower both made in the Paris exhibition of 1889.

It is also known as the "Light City" (Ville lumière), it is the most popular tourist destination in the world, with more than 42 million foreign visitors per year.It has many of the most famous and admired monuments in the world: Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Avenue des Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur, the Palace of the Invalides, the Pantheon, the Arch of Defense, the Garnier Opera or the Montmartre district , among others. It also houses world-renowned institutions: the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay and the National Museum of Natural History of France, as well as an extensive system of higher education of international prestige. Paris occupies an important place in the field of culture, gastronomy, fashion and luxury.

Tourist information
1 Pari Tourist and Convention Office 29 rue de Rivoli (4th) ((1) (11) Hôtel de Ville), +33 1 49 52 42 63 9 a.m. - 6:45 p.m. - Handicapped accessible, without assistance, to people with reduced mobility The main office is located in the Town Hall building and has a space of 200 m² including documentation and several information desks as well as a shop. Another information point is located at Gare du Nord.

Neighborhoods
Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements, arranged in a spiral (like a snail) from the center. Encircling Paris, Les Banlieues. They range from classical or bourgeois architecture with an average wealthy to very wealthy population (as in the west, with Neuilly-sur-Seine or Versailles), to sets of concrete towers inhabited by a more popular population.

Central Paris
1st arrondissement of Paris (Louvre Museum)
the Tuileries Gardens, Place Vendôme, Les Halles, Saint-Eustache church, Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, the Louvre Museum, the Decorative Arts Museum, the Orangerie Museum, the Palais-Royal ( and its gardens), the Île de la Cité: Conciergerie and Sainte-Chapelle

2nd arrondissement of Paris
The Path, the Place des Victoires, the Bourse district, the passages: Vivienne and Colbert galleries

3rd arrondissement of Paris
the north of the Marais: Archives with the Hôtel de Soubise-Clisson- National Archives museum, and Haut-Marais, the Temple district, the Hotels of Guénégaud and Mongelas (Museum of Hunting and Nature), the Hôtel de Rohan, Hôtel de Saint-Aignan (Museum of Art and History of Judaism), Hôtel de Salé (Picasso Museum), Cognacq-Jay museum, Carnavalet-Histoire de Paris museum, museum of Arts and Crafts

4th arrondissement of Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, Île Saint-Louis, Town hall, Beaubourg district, Center Pompidou-National Museum of Modern Art, the south of the Marais with Place des Vosges, Victor's house -Hugo, Hôtel de Sens, Hôtel de Beauvais, Hôtel de Lamoignon, Hôtel de Sully, Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis church, rue des Rosiers and rue des Francs-Bourgeois

Left bank
5th arrondissement of Paris
the Jardins des Plantes district with the National Museum of Natural History, its Grande Galerie de l'Evolution, its other galleries and the Menagerie, the Latin Quarter, Maubert, Mouffetard and the Contrescarpe, Universities, La Sorbonne, Le Panthéon, Saint-Etienne-du-Mont church, Saint-Séverin church, Val-de-Grâce, the Arab World Institute, the National Museum of the Middle Ages and the Cluny thermal baths

6th arrondissement of Paris
the Jardin du Luxembourg, the Odeon district, the Saint-Sulpice district with the Saint-Sulpice square and the Saint-Sulpice church, the Luxembourg Palace, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the Saint-Germain church -des-Prés, the Mineralogy Museum of Mines-Paristech

7th arrondissement of Paris
Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides with the Hôtel des Invalides, the Dôme church, the Plans-Reliefs museum and the Army Museum, the Orsay Museum, the Quai-Branly-Jacques-Chirac Museum, the Rodin Museum (Hôtel Biron), the Maillol Museum and the Faubourg Saint-Germain.

Inner Paris
8th arrondissement of Paris
The Champs-Élysées with the Avenue, the Arc de Triomphe, the Place Charles-de-Gaulle-Etoile, the Place de la Concorde, the Church of the Madeleine, Parc Monceau, the Hôtels de la Marine and de Crillon, Gare St Lazare, the Grand Palais and the National Galleries of the Grand Palais, the Palais de la Découverte, the Petit Palais-Musée des Beaux-Arts of the City of Paris, the Jacquemart-André Museum, the Nissim-de-Camondo Museum

9th arrondissement of Paris
the Palais Garnier-Opéra national de Paris, the Musée national Gustave-Moreau, the Musée de la Vie Romantique, the department stores, the Grands Boulevards, the southern part of the Pigalle district and Place Clichy

East Paris
10th arrondissement of Paris
The Saint-Martin canal with its locks, its bridges and the Hôtel du Nord ("Atmosphere, atmosphere ..."), Gare du Nord, Gare de l'Est, the lower part of Belleville

11th arrondissement of Paris
Republic, Bastille, Nation, Faubourg-Saint-Antoine

12th arrondissement of Paris
Gare de Lyon, the Opéra Bastille, Bercy, La Promenade plantée-Viaduc des Arts, the Aligre district, Bercy-village, the Bercy park, the Place de la Nation, the French Cinematheque- Cinema Museum, the palace de la Porte Dorée, the Bois de Vincennes with the Château de Vincennes, the arboretum, the Paris Floral Park and the Paris Zoological Park

South Paris
13th arrondissement of Paris
the Asian district "Chinatown", the Place d'Italie, the Butte aux Cailles district, Gare d'Austerlitz, the Gobelins district, the National Library of France - François-Miterrand site (BNF), the Saint-Louis chapel and the Pitié-Salpétrière hospital

14th arrondissement of Paris
the Montparnasse district, the Montparnasse station, the Montparnasse cemetery, the Denfert-Rochereau district, the Pernety district, the Montsouris park, the Montsouris-Alésia district, the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris

15th arrondissement of Paris
the Montparnasse tower, the Sports Palace, the André-Citroën park, the Georges-Brassens park, the Vaugirard district, the Front de Seine and Beaugrenelle, the Bourdelle museum

West Paris

16th arrondissement of Paris
The Auteuil district, the Marmottan-Monet museum, the Passy district, the Balzac house, the Trocadéro, the Palais de Chaillot-Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, the National Maritime Museum, the Musée de la 'Man, the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, the Guimet Museum of Asian Arts, the Bois de Boulogne with the Jardin d'Acclimatation, the lakes, the Pré Catelan and the Bagatelle park

17th arrondissement of Paris
the Batignolles district, the Ternes et Villiers district, Clichy, Parc Monceau

Paris Hills

18th arrondissement of Paris
Montmartre with the Sacré-Coeur, its museums and its cemetery, the Barbès and Goutte d'Or districts, the northern part of the Pigalle district

19th arrondissement of Paris
the City of Science and Industry, the City of Music with the Music Museum, the Villette park, the Villette basin, the Buttes Chaumont district with the Buttes-Chaumont park, the the Mouzaïa, the Ourcq canal

20th arrondissement of Paris
the Père-Lachaise cemetery, the village of Charonne around the church of St Germain, Ménilmontant and the park of Belleville

Travel Destinations in Paris

History of Paris

History
Paris is first known to us under the Gallo-Roman name of Lutèce, (Lutetia) since the conquest of the city in 52 BC Traditionally, we think of the city founded on the Île de la Cité, this islet on the Seine on which today is the Notre Dame Cathedral. But recent archaeological finds could dispute this fact. The Romans settled on the left (south) bank, in a district that is still known today as "the Latin Quarter", located in the current 5th arrondissement.

The name of Lutèce was gradually abandoned in favor of that of Paris, evoking the main Celtic tribe occupying the area since the third century BC, the Parisii.

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, in 508 came Clovis, king of the Franks, and his descendants the Carolingians who took Paris as their capital and founded the first dynasty and the first kingdom of the country. The Carolingians held out willy-nilly for several centuries against various invasions including Viking raids, which prompted the notables of the time to seek out kings more aggressive or skilful than the Carolingians. Thus, under the Capetians, Paris prospered and developed in particular by the draining of the district still called the Marais today, on the Right Bank. A handful of buildings dating from this period can still be seen today, in the 4th arrondissement.

It was also during these medieval times that the Sorbonne was founded, which from then on was one of the most prestigious educational centers in the world.

At the end of the 18th century, a series of political and social upheavals in France and in Europe shook the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy of divine right, following the teachings of the Enlightenment and the development of nationalism, citizenship and inalienable rights. The Fall of the Bastille marked the advent of the Revolution and then, quite quickly, of Napoleonic France.

Today's Paris still bears the mark of the powerful lords who built the Louvre and the Royal Palace, but it was above all shaped in the 19th century by Baron Hausmann, who was commissioned to rebuild the city after the bloody episode of the Commune: the wide avenues he has drawn are infinitely more difficult to block by insurgents than the previous medieval alleys that can be admired in the Marais and the Temple district. Thus, these long straight avenues, the most famous of which is of course the Champs-Élysées, bear his mark.

The so-called Belle Époque period saw the blooming of a new Parisian Golden Age during which we saw the famous Eiffel Tower rise, the first metros set in motion and most of the parks that the city has today developed. . Public lighting caused the city's nickname, "City of Light" to cease to be abstract and become concrete. Of course, both through the arts and through diplomacy, Paris literally shone during this period.

The twentieth century, on the other hand, was much less glorious: as the Third Reich collapsed, the order given by Hitler to General von Choltitz to burn Paris was fortunately a dead letter, the Nazi governor realizing that his Fürher was mad and that he had more to gain by surrendering unconditionally. After the war, Paris rebuilt and developed to become the busy capital that we know, but had to face from the 1980s onwards the problems of all the metropolises around the world, namely pollution, housing shortage and tensions social.

During this period, however, Paris received emigrants from all over the world (and mainly from the former French colonial empire, La Francophonie, making it a multiethnic metropolis focused on renewal). These migrants include flows from North and West Africa as well as Vietnamese and Laotians and more recently Chinese. This followed the influxes dating from the 1950s, 60s and 70s of Mediterranean migrants fleeing the dictatorships then in power in their countries.

One only has to stroll through the trendy places of Paris to find that fashion belongs to the Spanish speaking countries, with mojito rivaling beer in popularity on the terraces and salsa and zumba clubs with the electronic scene.

The town hall worked a lot during the first years of the twenty-first century to improve the living conditions of Parisians with the development of “Vélib '” and cycle paths everywhere, an endlessly renovated and modernized metro and pedestrian streets which allow visitors to find the Paris of yesteryear.

Weather
Located in Western Europe, Paris, although inland, has a climate referred to as oceanic. (Normandy is only two hours away by car), which means cool winters and hot summers. In fact, the weather is very capricious: if normally January is the coldest month with an average temperature of 6 ° C, there are almost every year short periods during which temperatures can reach −10 °. It snows every year but unfortunately the white coat does not stay immaculate for very long. The summers can see episodes very hot (over 30 °), moderate (23 °) or even cool (16 °) as in 2007. But at the same time, the month of October 2011 was supernaturally beautiful, with temperatures exceeding daily. the 25 °, so difficult to be sure of anything! Springs and autumns are generally cool and humid, but there is no hard and fast rule! In the summer and especially in August, the city is emptied of a good chunk of its inhabitants, so now is the perfect time to visit it if you don't like crowds. Conversely, in April and September, the city overflows with energy, pushed forward by its thousands of students and employees who feel the sun coming back ... Or make a last stand on the many Parisian terraces.

Getting here

By plane
1 Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport (Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport / Code: CDG) Roissy-en-France (95) (23 km north-east of Paris), Logo indicating a telephone number +33 1 70 36 39 50 - Located in the North-East, CDG is the most important and the most recent airport and is served by the RER (B). It may be more economical to take RATP buses instead of the official shuttles ("Air France Cars" for example). The airport contains three terminals: Terminal 1, Terminal 2 (which is huge, it is further subdivided into units ranging from 2A to 2G) and Terminal 3 (formerly T9). Note that Terminal 2G is in a separate building and can only be reached by shuttle / bus every 10-20 min (so plan for that extra trip). The free CDGVAL shuttle links all the terminals together. Not surprisingly, everything you find in the airport will be terribly expensive, especially food. When you arrive, be sure to find out which terminal you will need to take to leave, as you may not have time to play the guesswork. The terminals are allocated according to the companies, but it is better to make sure. Trap: the RER B station named "Charles de Gaulle Airport 1" actually serves terminal 3! However, the free CDGVAL shuttle serves the three terminals without making jealousy. Trains to Paris leave every 7-08 minutes and stop at Gare du Nord, Châtelet-Les Halles, Saint-Michel Notre-Dame, Luxembourg, Port-Royal, Denfert-Rochereau and Cité Universitaire. Tickets for adults cost € 9.5 (05/2013), while for a child aged 4 to 10 the price is € 6.65. The train takes 35 minutes to get to Gare du Nord and 45 minutes to Denfert-Rochereau, making it the fastest way to get to town. You can buy your tickets at a vending machine or at the ticket office. Please note, on some lines, in the evening (from 11 p.m.) work may take place, requiring you to take a bus (the price of the transfer is covered by your ticket) so don't forget to ask at the ticket office if you are arriving late.

ATMs of course accept coins and some credit cards. If you prefer to go to the counter, know that, especially on Sundays and the last and first days of the month, you could wait a very long time ... So don't hesitate to fill up with euros in coins if that is not your thing. usual currency. Trains to Paris usually depart from platforms 11 and 12. Look for the indication "RER (B)" or "All trains go to Paris". Ticket validation: Please note, you must validate your RER ticket when entering and exiting. The fine for not showing the ticket is 40 €. This means that after you put the ticket in the gate, you must collect it and keep it with you until you are in the open.

Otherwise, the Roissybus service (10 €) connects all the terminals directly to the Opéra Garnier in the center of Paris, but it is subject to the vagaries of traffic (traffic jams, rush hours) so allow 60 to 90 minutes even for a good day. It is also possible to take buses 350 or 351 to the city. Three t + tickets are required per person (around € 5.1 / € 5.7 if tickets are purchased on board), making it the cheapest option of all to get to or from Paris. Tickets must be stamped on the bus normally. The Air France Cars offer two stops in Paris (Porte Maillot and Montparnasse) from CDG in a 50-minute ride.

Again, be careful if you choose to get to CDG by bus or coach: the routes leading to the airport are often congested. So, if Air France coaches normally need 50 minutes to get to CDG, the trip can just as easily take 1 hour 30 minutes! The best time for road trips is very early in the morning. If you arrive at CDG airport at night, you will need to take the Noctilien bus into town. The bus stops at the three terminals (at terminal 2F it will be on the second level in the “Departures” section, not easy to find but it does exist), the bus leaves every 30 minutes after 12:30 am. lines you are interested in are N120 and N121 and the ticket costs € 7.

Air France coaches - Orly to Paris Etoile - Roissy to Paris Etoile - Connection from Orly to Roissy by direct bus - Roissy to Gare de Lyon and Montparnasse
Shuttle network - Roissy Airport-Orly Airport-Beauvais Airport-Paris Center-Disneyland Park-Palace of Versailles-Stade de France-Parc Astérix, etc ...
RATP bus 350 - Via Gare de Paris-Est, Gare de Paris-Nord, La Chapelle, Porte de la Chapelle, Gare du Parc des Expositions, Gare Aéroport Charles-de-Gaulle 2 TGV, Gare Aéroport Charles-de-Gaulle 1.
RATP bus 351 - Via Nation station, Porte de Vincennes, Porte de Montreuil, Gallieni, Charles-de-Gaulle Airport 2 TGV station, Charles-de-Gaulle Airport station 1.

Paris-Orly Airport (Orly Airport / Code: ORY) Orly (94) (Located 14 km south of Paris), Logo indicating a telephone number +33 892 56 39 50 - The second Paris airport, located in the southern suburbs. This venerable age airport will make you cringe if you're used to the ultra-modern, ultra-chic (and ultra-recent) airports of the Far East or the Gulf countries, but it continues to ferry a very large number of passengers.

Located about 40 minutes from Paris by OrlyBus, (Denfert-Rochereau metro line (6), (12) -, then follow the arrows) the price is 7 €. There are buses every 10 minutes from Orly Sud (Platform 4) and it stops at Orly Ouest on the way to Paris. Tickets can be purchased at the counter near the baggage claim area or directly at the Platform 4 counter. The ticket must be stamped on the bus. Another option is to take bus 285 which drops you off at Villejuif - Louis Aragon metro station (Line 7) in 15 minutes. Please note, however, that this system is not designed for travelers but rather for everyday users. The ticket costs € 1.9 and the bus leaves every 10 minutes, it stops at level -1 of the airport.

Orly, in the south, served by ORLYVAL, by the "Paris by train" service and by buses.

Orlyval (automatic train connecting Orly to the RER (B)) (RER (B) to Antony, then Orlyval) Logo indicating prices Cost of the journey Paris - Orly: € 9.6 .. - Average journey time between Paris (Châtelet - Les Halles) and Orly: 25 min; between Antony and Orly: 08 min. Two stations served: Orly-Ouest then Orly-Sud.
Train Logo indicating a link to the website (RER (C) to Pont de Rungis then a bus linking the RER station and the West and South terminals in a loop.) Logo indicating prices Cost of the journey Paris - Orly: 6, € 1 (€ 3.6 for the RER C and € 2.5 for the bus) .. - Travel time (minimum) from Austerlitz station with the RER (C) and the ADP bus: 35 min. The RER trains connecting Paris - Pont de Rungis are: In the Orly-Paris direction: GOTA trains (direction Montigny-Beauchamp) and NORA (direction Pontoise); In the Paris-Banlieue direction: ROMI (direction Pont de Rungis-Orly Airport) and MONA (direction Massy Palaiseau) trains. For the more courageous, it is possible to walk to Orly airport, with a map (3 km). It is also possible to take bus 183 towards Orly Sud at the Pont de Rungis stop.

Orlybus 3 Place Denfert-Rochereau (14th) - Connection between Paris (Denfert-Rochereau station) and Paris-Orly - cost: 6.3 € bus 183 (connection between Paris (Porte de Choisy station) and Paris-Orly - cost of journey: a t ticket, i.e. 2 € maximum - duration: approximately 50 min), the T7 tram (it is taken under Orly Sud station and not in front of the station. It connects Athis Mons to the "Louis Aragon" metro station "In Villejuif. At the" Louis Aragon "metro station, it is possible to take the metro (7) to Paris - cost of the trip: a t + ticket, ie 1.7 € maximum - duration: approximately 30 min.)

Paris-Beauvais Airport (Beauvais-Tillé Airport / ICAO Code: LFOB) Airport Road, Tillé (60) (Located 70 km north of Paris), Logo indicating a telephone number +33 892 68 20 66 - This airport, located further north of the city, is more of a regional airport used by some discount companies such as Ryanair and WizzAir. There are shuttles (synchronized with the flights) which will drop you off at Porte Maillot (line (1)) ticket price: € 15 - duration: approximately 1 h 15. The shuttles leave 20 minutes after each landing, and a few hours before each take-off . Other possibilities: bus to Beauvais SNCF station, then TER terminus Gare du Nord-Paris, or private shuttle (quite expensive), or taxi (expensive), or carpooling (cheaper) to Paris. The exact timetables can be found on the Beauvais airport website.

Official shuttle Paris - Beauvais Logo indicating a link to the website - 1h15 journey from the Porte Maillot.

By train
Train stations

Paris is well connected to the rest of Europe by train. Note that there is no "central station" in Paris, six different stations share the traffic depending on the destination and for the most part are quite far from each other.

Gare du Nord 18 Rue de Dunkerque (10e) (Paris 10 (4) (5) (B) (D) Gare du Nord - (E) Magenta), +33 892 35 35 35 - TGV to and from Belgium , the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (Eurostar) and Germany (Thalys), as well as normal trains from the north of France and Europe.

Gare de l'Est Place du 11 novembre 1918 (10th) (Paris 10 (4) (5) (7) Gare de l'Est), +33 892 35 35 35 - ICE / TGV to and from Luxembourg as well as Saarbrücken, Kaiserslautern, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich in Germany.