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Paris is situated in Northern France on the banks of the River Seine. With a population of over twelve million people, the French capital is at the heart of the Île-de-France region.

Paris earned her name, The City of Light, during The Age of Enlightenment, when many visionary ideas were born. It is a light that has remained undimmed, and which now attracts 42 million visitors a year, making Paris the most visited city in all the world.

Paris is a city easily explored by Metro, taxi, and bicycle, but her charms are best found on foot. Her attractions are never far apart, and in between, well, merely walking her streets is to wander through picture postcards.

The engine room of Paris is La Défense. This modern business district, filled with light and art, is testimony that Paris is designed for living, even when at work.

From the futuristic Grande Arche at La Défense, the six mile-long Historic Axis of Paris leads us back into France's grand past. The Arc de Triomphe, built by Napoleon, rises from the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle and offers commanding views of the 12 grand avenues, which radiate outwards like a star.

From the Arc de Triomphe, The Champs-Élysées continues along the Historic Axis. This grand avenue is where Parisians come to dine, shop, enjoy the theater and to celebrate life.

Gradually opening into formal gardens and majestic buildings, The Champs-Élysées merges into the largest square in Paris, the Place de la Concorde.

Just a short stroll away is the world's greatest treasure-house of art, the Musée du Louvre. Once a 14th Century Palace, today the Louvre is the most visited art gallery in the world.

With over 35,000 artworks, her most famous residents are the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. But be warned, this collection of priceless artworks and antiquities is simply too vast to explore in just one day.

Not far from the Musée du Louvre stands the Centre Pompidou, displaying the largest collection of modern art in Europe. Parisians are still debating whether this radical design is the vision of a madman or a genius!

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