Paris

An important monument and iconic landmark of the city of Paris, the Eiffel Tower is 324 metres high, weighs 10,100 tonnes and has 1,665 steps and 3 levels. It was built by Gustave Eiffel for the Exposition Universelle of 1889.

The tower sparkles with thousands of lights for five minutes, every hour on the hour, from dusk until 1.00 a.m. The top of the tower can be reached by using either stairs or lifts, which were installed in 1899 and situated below ground level in the pillars on the west and east sides of the tower. 
 

This masterpiece of Gothic architecture was built between the 12th and 13th centuries on the île de la Cité at the request of the bishop Maurice de Sully, and has undergone various restoration and modernisation work over the years. It is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris and one of the best-known landmarks of the capital, as well as being one of the most visited monuments in all France with over thirteen million people passing through its doors each year. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Every evening in September and on Thursdays and Saturdays in October, evening events of sound and images projected on a screen in the nave create a unique atmosphere. Visits limited on Sunday due to religious services.

The Louvre is the world’s most famous museum. From 1515, it was the royal palace of the kings of France until the time of Louis XIV, who in 1793 moved the court to the new palace in Versailles. It then housed the Museum Central des Arts. In 1981, it was entrusted to the Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei who, after twenty years of work and a great deal of investment, improved the presentation of works by creating an underground city with a monumental pyramid of glass as an entrance. Inaugurated in 1989 it was immediately a great success. Many of the world’s greatest masterpieces of ancient and modern art are housed in its numerous departments and vast halls.

Situated in the heart of Paris, along the Seine River, this museum is located inside the old station of Orsay, a building constructed for the Exposition Universelle of 1900.

The initial interior layout of the museum was put in the hands of a team of architects and designers coordinated by Gae Aulenti. Open to the public in 1986, it exhibits the artistic creations of the western world from 1848 to 1914 and houses national collections of paintings, sculpture, art objects, photographs, graphic works and architecture.
 

 

In 1969, the president George Pompidou was involved in building a cultural, multi-disciplinary centre.

The centre, which took the name of the president, was inaugurated in 1977 and immediately proved an enormous success. Alongside the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe, it houses a library, cinemas, a music research centre and bookshops.
 

 

 

 

 

The name of this wonderful garden derives from the tile factory previously found on the site. In 1664, André Le Notre, a landscape gardener, gave this garden its current formal, Parisian style.

It is the oldest garden in Paris and because of its unique beauty and excellent position, just a stone’s throw from the city’s main attractions, it is perfect for tourists as a place for relaxation.

It is richly decorated with wonderful groups of statues and, at the entrance, a big wheel offers one of the most exquisite views over the centre of Paris.

Created in 1775, the park and castle were built in just 64 days because of a bet between Queen Marie Antoinette and her brother-in-law, the Count of Artois.

Giant trees, small bridges, grottos, expanses of water and artificial waterfalls make the park an ideal place for strolling and relaxing.

An interesting attraction is the magnificent rose garden, which has ten thousand rose plants of over 1,000 different types. The park also holds an international competition dedicated to roses, exhibitions and classical music concerts.

The Palace of Versailles is one of the most sumptuous and celebrated in the world thanks to the artists that built it and the person who commissioned it, King Louis XIV. The buildings follow the architectural style of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Palace is one of the most beautiful masterpieces of the seventeenth century and a symbol of French art. One of the most exquisite rooms in the palace is the Hall of Mirrors, which was used as a passageway and for official meetings. The gardens behind the palace are decorated with statues, fountains, water features and flowerbeds. The unique Grand Canal is some 1,670 metres long. At only 17 kilometres from the capital, Versailles can be reached by car, train or bus.