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The Arc de Triomphe:
The Arc de Triomphe
is the triumphal arch that honours those who fought for France and located in the centre
of the Place Charles de Gaulle at one end of the most famous avenue in the world, the Avenue des
Champs-Elysees, it is also home to the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War
I. If you like heights, you can climb the stairs of this Paris monument to enjoy
fantastic panoramic views of the city right down to The Louvre museum.
The Louvre:
Now The Musee du Louvre (The Louvre) is
probably the most famous museum
in Paris, if not in the world, and houses one of the worlds best and most visited
collections of fine art, which includes the famous masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci - the
Mona Lisa.
From fortress to palace, this magnificent building that dates back to the 12th century is
a work of art in itself and now has an additional work of art because the latest addition
is the glass pyramid, which has become the main entrance and although hated by some, it
has also become a sign that Paris stays with the
times and the future.
The Note Dame Cathedral:
Notre Dame de Paris
is 'the' famous cathedral that is located on Ile de la Cit?, which is the small island in
the middle of the River Seine
and the historical centre of Paris where originally most of Paris was situated.
The square in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral became a focal centre of the French
resistance against the Nazi occupation and if you look carefully at the walls of the
square, you will find plaques commemorating the brave Resistance fighters during World War
II, plus in the square is a plaque put in place by Andr? Michelin, and it is from this
point that all distances in France are measured as this is classed as point zero.
The Cite des Sciences
The La Cit? des
Sciences et de l'Industrie is one of the world's largest and most visited science and
technology museums and although it is classed as a museum, it is more of an extremely up
to date information centre and the decommissioned submarine, the Argonaute,
is positioned opposite.
Take a look at the G?ode, which is one of the worlds largest geodesic domes that stands
36m high and inside the G?ode is an Omnimax movie theatre with a 1000 square metre screen
that was the first in France and one of only around 160 in the world, plus another part of
the Cite des Sciences is called The Explora that covers virtually everything from
microbiology to outer space. How would you like to pilot a plane, travel through the
human body or visit the Ariane rocket? Well, in this section you can, through
virtual reality and even get to experience weightlessness!
As you can no doubt imagine, Paris is a wonderful city to explore and whether it be a romantic break or a two-week excursion there is
something for everyone to enjoy.
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