Welcome to Paris.

Ladies and gentlemen,  please fasten your seat belts : we are beginning our descent and within ten minutes we will be landing at the Charles de Gaulle airport .

Perhaps your heart beat a little faster when the hostess made this announcement, because it meant you were arriving in Paris for the first time with a feeling of excitement about what might lie ahead.

The Cite

The Cite, centre of the city's life since the 3rd century, was founded here on what was the largest of the islands in the Seine. It was the first settlement and first religious centre, and here were erected the Cathedral and the Palais de Justice. Numerous bridges link it to the banks of the Seine, along which run the picturesque "quais". One of the most animated and colourful of the quays is the Quai de Montebello, extending between the bridges called Pont de I'Archeveche and Pont au Double: it is full of life and its parapets are lined with the typical "bouquinistes", the sellers of rare and strange books and prints old and new.

Grand Louvre

The origin of the Louvre goes back to the end of the 12th century, when Philippe Auguste, before leaving for the Third Crusade, had a fortress built near the river to defend Paris from the incursions of the Saxons ...