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Sightseeing Overview
The city center is actually surprisingly compact and the Métro system makes getting around fairly easy. A good way for first time arrivals to get an idea of how Paris fits together is to take a cruise on the River Seine or ascend the Eiffel Tower and take in a sweeping view of the city. With so much to see, time management is crucial and many people choose to concentrate on one or two of the arrondissements (districts).

The nostalgic should wander around the mansions of the Marais district, past the Musée Carnavalet, 23 rue de Sévigné,

3rd; Hôtel de Sully, 62 rue St-Antoine, 4th, and Place des Vosges, home to the Maison de Victor Hugo.

Those interested in modern art and design should opt for the Center Georges Pompidou, place Beaubourg, 4th; Jean Nouvel's Institut du Monde Arabe, 1 rue des Fossés-St-Bernard, 5th; or the Grande Arche de la Défense with its high-speed glass lift offering a spectacular view of Paris.

The Grande Arche, which lies along the same geographical axis as Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysées, was built a century and a half later. This incongruity (the modern city juxtaposed with the old) is all part of the charm of Paris.

Paris overflows with museums, ranging from the vast collections of the Louvre to the small and quirky - such as the Musée des Arts Forains, 53 avenue des-Terroires-de-France, 12th, a shrine to fairground art, with something for everyone scattered through the metropolitan area. The Musée du Quai Branly, 37 quai Branly, 7th, was opened to much fanfare in 2006 and has been an instant success.

Repeat visitors to Paris usually end up uncovering something new, such as the rejuvenated Bercy district to the east with its green spaces, popular bars and development buzz or Belleville, with its grungy cosmopolitanism and ethnic restaurants.

Another popular attraction is Paris Plage in summer when the car takes a back seat and the city's citizens relax by the Seine amidst a world of sand and deckchairs.

Tourist Information
Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau
25 rue des Pyramides
Tel: 0892 683 000.
Website: www.paris-touristoffice.com
Opening hours: (Jun-Oct) daily 0900-1900; (Nov-May) Mon-Sat 1100-1900, Sun 1000-1900.

Further tourist offices are located at the Gare de Lyon, 20 boulevard Diderot, 12th (open Mon to Sat 0800-1800), Gare du Nord, 18 rue de Dunkerque, 10th (open 0800-1800), Opera, 11 rue Scribe, 9th (open 0900-1830), Eiffel Tower (open daily 1100-1840 May to Sep).

Passes
The Museum Pass (www.museums-of-paris.com) allows free unlimited access to more than 70 museums and monuments in the Paris region, including the Arc de Triomphe, Musée National du Louvre, Musée d'Orsay and Musée Rodin. The two-, four- or six-day pass is for sale from tourist offices, participating museums and monuments, the main métro stations and FNAC stores. It allows visitors to bypass queues but does not provide free admission to special or temporary exhibitions.

Key Attractions:

Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower)
The Eiffel Tower literally towers over the Champ de Mars in the smart 7th arrondissement. The top (third) floor offers a sweeping panorama of Paris. From directly underneath there is a fascinating view of the delicate ironwork constructed by Gustave Eiffel, who was commissioned to build the tower for the Exposition Universelle in 1889 - the centenary of the French Revolution. The Tour Eiffel is also home to a number of restaurants, which offer views of the city and sky high prices to match.

Champ de Mars, 7th
Tel: (01) 4411 2323.
Website: www.tour-eiffel.fr
Opening hours: Daily 0930-2345 (Jan-mid Jun); daily 0900-0045 (mid Jun-Aug), daily 0930-0045 (Sep-Dec).
Admission charge.

Cathédrale de Notre-Dame (Cathedral of Our Lady)
The stocky Notre-Dame Cathedral, situated on the Ile-de-la-Cité, could not be more different from the filigree Eiffel Tower. Bishop Maurice de Sully began construction on the cathedral in 1163, to outshine the new abbey at St-Denis; work was completed in 1345. The result is a gothic masterpiece, with three stunning rose windows. Visitors should be prepared to climb the 387 spiral steps to the top of the 75m (246ft) north tower. The views over the River Seine and the city center are well worth the effort. There is also a treasury with various liturgical objects on display.

6 Place du Parvis-Notre-Dame, 4th
Tel: (01) 4234 5610 or 4432 1672 (information on tower).
Website: www.cathedraledeparis.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1845, Sat-Sun (0800-1715) (cathedral); Apr, May, Sep daily 1000-1830, Jun-Aug Mon-Fri 1000-1830, Sat-Sun 1000-2300, Oct-Mar daily 1000-1730 (towers).
Free admission (cathedral); charge for towers and treasury.

La Basilique du Sacré-Coeur (The Sacred Heart Basilica)
A long, wide series of steps lead to the snowy-white domed Sacré-Coeur that dominates the arty district of Montmartre. A mishmash of styles, the Catholic church was built between 1870 and 1919, to fulfil a vow made during the Franco-Prussian war. The interior is splendid with neo-Byzantine mosaics and the domed tower offers a spectacular view over Paris. The crypt contains an interesting collection of religious relics and a slide show on the construction of the Basilica. Below the church, a park tumbles down the hillside in a flurry of benches that make an ideal spot for surveying the city skyline.

Parvis du Sacré-Coeur, 18th
Tel: (01) 5341 8900.
Website: www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com
Opening hours: Daily 0600-2300 (Basilica); daily 0930-1830 (crypt and dome).
Free admission (Basilica); charge for dome and crypt.

Musée National du Louvre (Louvre National Museum)
The Louvre first opened to the public in 1793, following the Revolution, as a showcase for the art treasures of the kings of France. The museum is organized into three wings on four floors. The vast permanent collection includes Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Egyptian and East Asian antiquities, French, Spanish, Italian and northern European sculpture and 19th-century objets d'art. The painting collection is the strongest, with French, Italian, Dutch, German, Flemish and Spanish masterpieces from the mid-13th to the mid-19th centuries. Most famed French works include David's Coronation of Napoléon, Ingres' The Turkish Bath, Géricault's depiction of disaster, The Raft of the Medusa and Delacroix's ode to revolution, Liberty Leading the People. The museum's greatest treasure, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, is in a bullet-proof case. There are plans to move it into its own room, but for now it is on display in room 13, on the first floor of the Denon wing. Buying tickets from the official website in advance saves unnecessary time spent queuing.

Cour Napoléon, 1st
Tel: (01) 4020 5050.
Website: www.louvre.fr
Opening hours: daily 0900-1800, Wed and Fri until 2130; closed Tues. Opening hours for temporary exhibitions vary.
Admission charge; free first Sun of each month; advance tickets can be purchased from branches of FNAC and on the Internet; tickets allow same-day re-admission.

Musée Rodin (Rodin Museum)
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) lived and worked in this 18th-century hôtel particulier, now the Rodin Museum, and his sculptures populate the interior and gardens. Indoors, The Kiss portrays eternal passion frozen in white marble, while The Hand of God gives life to creamy white, half-formed figures. Works of Rodin's mistress and pupil, Camille Claudel, and paintings by Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir and Rodin himself are also on display. The gardens are graced by the monumental bronze The Thinker, whose godly physique contrasts sharply with the decrepitude of the writhing figures of The Gates of Hell and the controversial final portrait of Balzac, once described as ‘a block that disgraces its author and French Art'.

77 rue de Varenne, 7th
Tel: (01) 4418 6110.
Website: www.musee-rodin.fr
Opening hours: Museum: Tues-Sun 0930-1745, garden: Tues-Sun 0930-1845 (Apr-Sep); museum: Tues-Sun 0930-1645, garden: Tues-Sun 0930-1700 (Oct-Mar).
Admission charge; free first Sun of each month.

Musée d'Orsay (Museum of Orsay)
The museum's home, an impressively converted railway station by the banks of the Seine, is stunning, but the real strength of this large museum lies in its collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. The collection, covering the decisive 1848-1914 period, is arranged chronologically, beginning on the ground floor, jumping to the third, and then descending to the middle level. Among the most famous works are Manet's Déjeuner sur l'Herbe (Luncheon on the Grass), rejected from the Salon of 1863, five of Monet's paintings of Rouen Cathedral and the realist work L'Origine du Monde (The Origin of the World), by Gustave Courbet, whose graphic depiction of the female sex continues to shock.

Entrances at 1 rue de la Légion d'Honneur and 1 rue de Bellechasse, 7th
Tel: (01) 4049 4814.
Website: www.musee-orsay.fr
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0930-1800, Thurs 0930-2145.
Admission charge; free first Sun of each month.

Musée du Quai Branly
This grand relatively recently opened museum was a welcome to the Parisian cultural scene when it opened its doors during 2006 after much hype. The collections, which include a broad sweep of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, have been lauded by critics and the public alike. Inside there are over 3,500 artifacts. From the main reception a ramp takes visitors off towards the eclectic collections, which include masks in Oceania, costumes from Asia and also African musical instruments and textiles.

17 Quai Branly, 7th
Tel: (01) 5661 7000.
Website: www.quaibranly.fr
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1000-1830, Thurs open to 2130.
Admission charge.

Musée National Picasso (National Picasso Museum)
Paris-based Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) owned most of this collection, one of the largest worldwide, housed in a 17th-century mansion in the Marais. All phases of his art are represented, with preparatory sketches and paintings covering the Blue Period, Rose Period, cubism, classicism, surrealism and sculptures ranging from a huge plaster head to a small cat. Memorable works include the Blue Period self-portrait Paolo as Harlequin, the surreal Nude in an Armchair and poignant paintings of Marie-Thérèse, his lover and muse. Photographs are displayed alongside the works they inspired, and African masks with Picasso's ‘primitive' wood carvings. There is also a glimpse of the artist's personal taste in paintings, with his Matisse and Cézanne paintings displayed alongside his own.

Hôtel Salé, 5 rue de Thorigny, 3rd
Tel: (01) 4271 2521.
Website: www.musee-picasso.fr
Opening hours: Wed, Fri-Mon 0930-1800, Thurs 0930-2000 (summer); Wed, Fri-Mon 0930-1730, Thurs 0930-2000 (winter).
Admission charge; free first Sun of each month.

Center Georges Pompidou (Georges Pompidou Center)
Considered outrageous in 1977, the Pompidou Center, designed by Piano and Rogers, has become part of the Parisian landscape, primary colored tubes and all. The building was revamped and extended a few years ago, to cope with the huge numbers of people visiting its expanding collection of contemporary art and multimedia library.

Place Georges Pompidou, 4th
Tel: (01) 4478 1233.
Website: www.centerpompidou.fr
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1100-2200; late-night openings until 2300 for some exhibits.
Admission charge; free first Sun of each month.

Paris Plage
Since its inception in 2001, Paris Plage has become a highly successful annual event. The idea of shutting off a busy 3.5km (2-mile) section of riverfront expressway in the city center and turning it into a giant leisure oasis is both simple and brilliant, though it has provoked the ire of some of the city's taxi drivers. A flurry of deckchairs and hammocks replace the cars and even an open-air swimming pool, mainly geared towards children, features alongside the stalls selling food, drinks and ice cream. Mist sprays, sand and the sight of relaxing locals and tourists manage to raise a smile from all but the most world-weary of Parisians. Such has been the success of Paris Plage that, even when there is no sand, for the rest of the year sections of the river are now closed frequently at weekends to allow Parisians to cycle and walk along the riverside.

Banks of the Seine between Tuileries Tunnel and the Henri IV bridge
Opening times: Jul-Aug daily.
Free admission.

Further Distractions:

Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Garden)
This garden, part formal, part jardin à l'anglaise, was created for Marie de Médicis (Henri IV's widow), along with the Palais du Luxembourg, which now houses the French Senate. It is a favored spot for a Sunday stroll, game of tennis, chess or boules, pony ride or yacht trip on the lake.

Boulevard St-Michel, rue de Médicis, rue Guynemer, rue d'Assas, rue Auguste-Comte or rue de Vaugirard, 6th
Tel: (01) 4234 2362.
Opening hours: Daily 0715-2130 (Apr-Sep); daily 0800-dusk (Oct-Mar).
Free admission.

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont
This appealing park spreads over 23 hectares (57 acres) between Gare du Nord and Belleville. It was originally commissioned by Napoleon III and mixes grandeur with wildlife. Its walkways are alive with the likes of wagtails, tits, gulls, geese and swans. In the lake pike, tench and roach abound. The park is perfect for escaping the city for a while, strolling around its lofty inclines or even popping on some in-line skates and heading around the skate trail.

Opening hours: Daily dawn-dusk.
Free admission.

La Grande Mosquée de Paris (Paris Grand Mosque)
Built between 1922 and 1926, close to the Jardin des Plantes, this Hispano-Moorish mosque caters for France's Muslim community. There is free access and guided tours to the sunken garden and patios. The prayer room, however, remains closed to the non-Muslim public. There is also an authentic hammam (Turkish bath) with masseurs at hand, as well as a wonderful mosaic courtyard complete with fig trees and a fountain - the perfect setting for enjoying a sweet mint tea served in tiny gilded glasses with some honeyed baklava. In the adjoining restaurant, couscous and other Arabic dishes are served.

1 place du Puits-de-l'Ermite (access via 39 rue Géoffroy-St-Hillaire), 5th
Tel: (01) 4535 9733.
Website: www.mosquee-de-paris.org
Opening hours: Mon, Wed, Thurs and Sat 1000-2100, Fri 1400-2100 (women); Tues 1400-2100, Sun 1000-2100 (men); tours Sat-Thurs 0900-1200 and 1400-1800 (winter), Sat-Thurs 0900-1200 and 1400-2200 (summer); closed Muslim holidays.
Admission charge; free to tearoom.

Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine (Architecture and Heritage Museum)
This museum, which spans from the 11th century through to the future, is devoted to France's architectural heritage. Twice a year architects are invited to transform part of the museum space into a world of their own creation.

Palais de Chaillot, 1 place du Trocadéro, 16th
Tel: (01) 5851 5200.
Website: www.citechaillot.fr
Opening hours: Mon, Wed, Fri 1200-2000; Sat, Sun 1100-1900; Thurs 1200-2200; Tues closed.
Admission charge.

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