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FRANCE - PARIS CITY

The Musée du Louvre, the former home of the kings of France, is located in Paris. For two centuries now this has been one of the largest museums in the world.

Paris is divided into the following sections:

Left Bank (Rive Gauche) - Flowing along with the Seine as it heads toward the sea, its left bank will be found on the left. At Paris, the river flows roughly westwards, cutting the city of Paris into two halves; north and south. Left Bank has come to mean more than simply a geographical region of the city and can now refer to a particular style of life, fashion, or even `Look'. Some of its famous streets are Boulevard Saint Germain des Prés, Saint Michel, and Rue d'Ulm.

Right Bank (Rive Droite) - Opposite the Left Bank, and generally refers to the northern half of the city of Paris. However, like the Left Bank, and due to its association with places such as Place Vendôme, the Right Bank can now be used to refer to a level of elegance and sophistication now found in its more bohemian sister to the south. Its most famous street is undeniably the Champs Elysées, but there are others such as Rue de la Paix, Rue de Rivoli, and Av Montaigne.

Paris is divided up into twenty ``arrondissement'' or districts. The ``First'' is in the center of the city of Paris, and the others are laid out in a clockwise manner about this. As these are such a basic unit to Paris city, they are constantly referred to in guides and literature; almost always using simply their associated number (1er, or 2em etc). The Louvre is in the First, the Arc de Triomphe is in the Eighth. NB: You can determine the arrondissement of an address from its postal code. The last two digits of a Paris address give the arrondissement; 75018 is the eighteenth for example.

The Latin Quarter of Paris is a Left Bank region in the 5th arrondissement so named because it has been the centre of Paris's university life for over seven hundred years.

The Marais is comprised of roughly the 3rd and 4th arrondissements (Right Bank) It is a quartier that has retained many small streets and hints at how Old Paris looked.

Baron Haussman was responsible for the significant Paris urban planning project of 1852 - 1870. The twenty arrondissements date from this time. Haussmann pushed through many of the major boulevards through the old sections of Paris city.

The Metro is the name given to the Paris subway. It is extensive and serves nearly every corner of Paris city. The last trains are around 00h30.

RER - Réseau Express Régional; similar to the Métro except that it also serves the outlying suburbs and regions of Paris. In the center of Paris city, the distance between RER stations is more significant than for the Métro; an advantage if you want to go larger distances quickly - even in the center of Paris.

Bateaux Mouches is the name given to tourist boats which ply the Seine. Literally translated it means the ``fly boats''. The name probably comes from the district of Lyon - ``La mouche'' - the place where such boats were commonplace before they were in Paris. Others claim the name comes from one of the companies (``Bateaux-Mouches'') owning these tourist boats, and named after its owner/founder: Mouche. There are of course other companies proposing boat tours of Paris: ``Vedettes du Pont Neuf'' and ``Bateaux Parisiens Tour Eiffel'' but Bateaux Mouches has come to mean all such tourist boats in general.

The Arc de Triomphe in Paris is most easily (and safely) reached by tunnel from the north side of the Champs Elysées. Commissioned in Paris in 1806 by Napoleon, shortly after his victory at Austerlitz, it was not finished until 1836. There are four huge relief sculptures at the bases of the four pillars. These commemorate The Triumph of 1810 (Cortot); Resistance , and Peace (both by Etex); and The Departure of the Volunteers , more commonly known by the name La Marseillaise (Rude). Engraved around the top of the Arch are the names of major victories won during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. The names of less important victories, as well as those of 558 generals, are to found on the inside walls. Generals whose names are underlined died in action. Beneath the Arch is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and eternal flame commemorating the dead of the two world wars.