Paris is the capital and largest city of France. Located on the river Seine in the country's north, it is a major
cultural and political centre of Europe and the world's most visited city.
Its eponym, "the City of Lights" (la Ville Lumière),
dates from 1828 when it became the
first city in Europe to light its main boulevards with gas street
lamps, specifically the Champs-Élysées. The city of Paris is
also widely referred to as the "most romantic city in the
world."
As a cultural and political centre for Europe since the early Middle Ages, Paris
preserves many vestiges of its past. While hosting numerous art
galleries, museums and theatres, it has grown into a
significant centre of international trade with ever-growing modern
business districts, including La Défense, the de facto city centre built
for the purpose. In addition to the head offices of nearly half of
all France's companies and the offices of many major international
firms, Paris hosts the headquarters of many international trade and
social organisations, including the OECD
and UNESCO.
The city of Paris, within its administrative limits, has an
estimated 2004 population of 2,144,700, but, over the last century,
the city has grown well beyond its administrative boundaries.
Consequently, the population of Paris urban area (the contiguous built-up area)
was estimated at 9.9 million in 2005, and the population of Paris
metropolitan
area (also including satellite cities) was estimated at 11.6
million people in 2006.
The Île-de-France région, of which Paris is the capital,
produces over a quarter of France's wealth, with a GDP of nearly €450 billion.
Because of its cultural, financial, business, political, and touristic
activities, Paris today is one of the world's major destinations.
Along with New
York, London and Tokyo, it is often listed as one of
the four major global
cities.
Place de la Concorde in 1885. The
Palais Bourbon can be seen in the
background, beyond the
Seine
river
The Place de la Concorde
was designed by Jacques Ange
Gabriel in 1755 as a
moat-skirted octagon between
the Champs-Élysées to the west and the Tuileries Gardens
to the east. Filled with statues and fountains, the area was named
Place Louis XV to honor the then king. The Place
was showcasing an equestrian statue of the king, which had been
commissioned in 1748 by the city
of Paris, sculpted mostly by Edmé Bouchardon, and completed by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle after the
death of the former.
At the north end, two magnificent identical stone buildings were
constructed. Divided by the rue Royale, these
structures are among the best examples of that period's
architecture and remain there to this day. (more...)
View from the stair above the second level of the Eiffel
Tower
Did you know that it isn't the wind that is the greatest and
most constant mover of the Eiffel Tower, but the sun?
Metal expands when heated, and on clear days the sun makes the
iron girders exposed directly to its glare grow enough to make the
tower lean 6-18 cm away from it. The tower of course returns to its
neutral vertical state after sunset.
The wind has never made the tower oscillate more than 18 cm, and
this during a 169.2 km/h gale measured during the storm which has
swept across Central Europe on 26
December 1999.
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