Paris, France

        Well informed, eloquent and oh-so-romantic, the ‘City of Light’ is a philosopher, a poet, a crooner. As it always has been, Paris is a million different things to a million different people. Paris has all but exhausted the superlatives that can reasonably be applied to any city. Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower – at sunrise, at sunset, at night – have been described countless times, as have the Seine and the subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences between the Left and Right Banks. But what writers have been unable to capture is the grandness and even the magic.

Paris is one of the worlds most popular holiday destinations, and counts more than 30 million visitors every year.

The city with its metropolitan area has almost 12 million inhabitants, and is known as the capital of France. The “city of light” is another lovely expression for Paris. It comes from the historical 

fact of the early electrical street light, compared to other European cities.

The French metropolis is situated next to a river called “Seine”, which is also one of the most important tourist attractions.

It’s told the name of Paris comes from a Gaulish tribe who were called “Parisii”.

The area around Paris has a long human history. The first archaeological signs of permanent habitation date from around 4200 BC. It shows that this location was always a very good place to be.

The most successful economic parts of Paris can be found in the western and southern suburbs. In those places it was possible to change from traditional manufacturing into high value-added services and high-tech manufacturing. Their salaries are one of the highest in Europe. But there is also a lot of unemployment and poverty in Paris.

The climate of Paris can be described as “oceanic”. It’s affected by the North Atlantic Current, and does not experience much of extremely high or low temperatures.

In the middle of the 19th century Paris began to change its face from a labyrinth of narrow streets and half-timber houses, into a modern city with wide avenues lined with neo-classical stone buildings.

The tourist attractions of Paris are just overwhelming. Important museums, beautiful parks and castles, historical buildings, world famous art galleries, traditonal French restaurants and coffee houses. There is so much to see and explore in France, that it’s almost impossible to be bored.

The most popular time visiting Paris is the Easter week. The whole year through there are not such crowds of tourists as in that certain week. So if you enjoy a rather calm and relaxing holiday in Paris, you should not come through Easter time.