France

Arguably one of the most romantic cities in the world and easily one of the most picturesque, the lure of Paris has been a constant force for centuries and it never fails to delight. First-time visitors will no doubt want to head for the main landmarks such as the Eifel Tower, the Louvre and the Arc du Triomphe. But beyond the obvious hot spots, you’ll discover a city with an ambience and ‘café culture’ like no other, a selection of some of the finest bars and Michelin-starred restaurants along with the most stylish and iconic fashion houses in Europe.

Before the 20th century

Paris was founded towards the end of the 3rd century BC on what is now the Île de la Cité by a tribe of Celtic Gauls known as the Parisii. Centuries of conflict between the Gauls and Romans ended in 52 BC, when Julius Caesar's legions took control of the territory. Christianity was introduced in the 2nd century AD, and the Roman party was finally crashed in the 5th century by the arrival of the Franks. In 508 AD, Frankish king Clovis I united Gaul as a kingdom and made Paris his capital, naming it after the original Parisii tribe.

Paris prospered during the Middle Ages: In the 12th century, construction began on the cathedral of Notre Dame (work continued for nearly 200 years), while the Marais area north of the Seine was drained and settled to become what's known today as the Right Bank. The Sorbonne opened its doors in 1253, the beautiful Sainte Chapelle was consecrated in 1248 and the Louvre got its start as a riverside fortress around 1200.

Scandinavian Vikings (also known as Norsemen, or Normans) began raiding France's western coast in the 9th century; after three centuries of conflict, they started to push toward Paris. These conflicts gave birth to the Hundred Years War between Norman England and Paris' Capetian dynasty, eventually resulting in the French defeat at Agincourt in 1415 and English control of Paris in 1420. In 1429, a 17-year-old stripling called Jeanne d'Arc re-rallied the French troops to defeat the English at Orléans, and, with the exception of Calais, the English were expelled from France in 1453.

The Renaissance helped Paris get back on its feet at the end of the 1400s, and many of the city's signature buildings and monuments sprang up during the period. By the late 16th century Paris was again up in arms, this time in the name of religion. Clashes between the Huguenot Protestants and Catholic groups sank to their darkest levels in 1572 with the St Bartholomew's Day massacre of 3000 Huguenots in town to celebrate the wedding of Henri of Navarre (later, King Henri IV).

Louis XIV, known as le Roi Soleil (the Sun King), ascended to the throne in 1643 at the tender age of five and held the crown until 1715. During his reign, he nearly bankrupted the national treasury with battling and building. His most tangible legacy is the palace at Versailles, 23km (15mi) south-west of Paris. The excesses of Louis XVI and his capricious queen, Marie-Antoinette, led to an uprising of Parisians on 14 July 1789 and the storming of the Bastille prison - kick-starting the French Revolution.

The populist ideals of the revolution's early stages quickly gave way to a Reign of Terror, wherein even a few of the original 'patriots' got uncomfortably cosy with Madame la Guillotine. The unstable post-revolution government was consolidated in 1799 under a young Corsican general, Napoleon Bonaparte, who adopted the title First Consul. In 1804, the Pope crowned him Emperor of the French, and Napoleon proceeded to sweep most of Europe under his wing. Napoleon's hunger for conquest led to his defeat, first in Russia in 1812 and later at Belgium's Waterloo in 1815. His legacy in modern France includes the national legal code, which bears his name, and monuments such as the massive neoclassical Arc de Triomphe.

Following Napoleon's exile, France faltered under a string of mostly inept rulers until a coup d'état in 1851 brought a new emperor, Napoleon III, to power. In 17 years, he oversaw the construction of a flashy new Paris, with wide boulevards, sculptured parks and - not insignificantly - a modern sewer system. Like his namesake uncle, however, this Napoleon and his penchant for pugnacity led to a costly and eventually unsuccessful war, this time with the Prussians in 1870. When news of their emperor's capture by the enemy reached Paris the masses took to the streets, demanding that a republic be created. Despite its bloody beginnings, the Third Republic ushered in the glittering halcyon years of the belle époque.

Modern history

The belle époque was famed for its Art Nouveau architecture and a barrage of advances in the arts and sciences. By the 1930s, Paris had become a worldwide centre for the artistic avant-garde and had entrenched its reputation among freethinking intellectuals. The flowering of that era was cut short by the Nazi occupation of 1940, and Paris remained under Germany's thumb until 25 August 1944. (The Allied forces that retook the city were spearheaded by Free French units in order to give the French the honour of liberating their capital.) After the war, Paris regained its position as a creative hotbed and nurtured a revitalised liberalism that reached a crescendo in the student-led 'Spring Uprising' of 1968. The Sorbonne was occupied, barricades were erected in the Latin Quarter, and some 9 million people nationwide were inspired to join in a paralysing general strike, drawing attention to their increasing dissatisfaction with the rigidity of French institutions.

During the 1980s, President François Mitterand initiated the futuristic grands projets, a series of costly building projects that garnered widespread approval even when the results were popular failures. Responses to the flashier examples, like the Centre Pompidou and the glass pyramids in the Louvre, have ranged from appalled 'mon Dieux' to absolute doting rapture; if nothing else, the projets invigorated dialogue about the Parisian aesthetic.

In the late 1990s, the city seized the international spotlight with two front-page events: the rumour-plagued auto-accident death of Princess Di in 1997 and France's first-ever World Cup victory in July 1998.

Meanwhile, the political party behind Jacques Chirac (France's president since mid-1995) lost the parliamentary elections in 1997 to a coalition of Socialists, Communists and Greens headed by then Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. In the 2002 presidential elections, far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen was highly successful in the first round of the elections due to a low voter turnout. A subsequent strong show of support for Chirac - and a powerful slap in the face for Le Pen - gave Chirac a landslide victory, knocking Jospin out of the race in the process.

Recent history

In 2001 Paris elected its first openly gay mayor, Bertrand Delanoë. He continues to enjoy widespread popularity, particularly for his efforts to make Paris more liveable by promoting bicycles and buses and to create a more approachable and responsible city administration.

In October 2005, the deaths of two teenagers who were accidentally electrocuted while allegedly hiding from police sparked riots that quickly spread across other regions of Paris, and then across France.

Further country-wide demonstrations in 2006 were a response to government attempts to shake up the rigidly protected labour market. The action forced a policy backdown, but left the issue of unemployment as intractable as ever.

In 2007 France voted in Nicolas Sarkozy as president, the same Sarkozy whose dismissal of the 2005 Paris rioters as hoodlums and rabble had only poured fuel on the fire scorching across the country.

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Those languid Parisians are now real fitness freaks (although they still manage to balance things out with a fine respect for indulgence). Gyms and fitness clubs are a penny a barrel, the parks are rife with cardio bunnies and adventure sports are trés chic.

The Paris basin lies midway between Brittany and Alsace, and is affected by the climates of both. The Île de France region records the nation's lowest annual precipitation, but rainfall patterns are erratic; you're just as likely to be caught in a heavy spring shower or an autumn downpour as in a sudden summer cloudburst. Paris' average yearly temperature is 12°C (54°F) (3°C/37°F in January, 19°C/66°F in July), but the mercury sometimes drops below zero in winter and can climb to the mid-30s (high-80s/low-90s°F) or higher in the middle of summer.

Average weather

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Transport

Getting there and away

Paris is a major international hub served by three airports and six long-distance train stations. The train system is most impressive, and will whip you quickly to most places in France; there are TGV services to Amsterdam and Brussels and the Eurostar to London. Buses are fine for travel between Paris and other countries, but for the rest of France they're not so hot.

Getting around

The most satisfying way to get around Paris is on foot - just watch out for the pedestrian crossings, which cars tend not to respect - or on its efficient public transport system which incorporates the Métro, the RER (regional express trains), trams, buses and night buses . The métro fluvial ('metro boat') known as the Voguéo (www.vogueo.fr) also operates along the Seine. Cycling is also now a viable option thanks to the success of the Vélib' (www.velib.paris.fr), a self-service bike hiring system.

Health & Legal Requirements

Dangers and annoyances

In general, Paris is a safe city and random street assaults are rare. Pickpockets prey on busy places; always stay alert to the possibility of someone surreptitiously reaching for your pockets or bags. A scam to look out for is when someone pretends to 'find' a gold ring on the ground (by dropping it on the ground) and picks it up to offer it to you. This could be a diversionary tactic for pickpocketing, or an opening to try to get money from you. It's especially prevalent around the Seine/ Concorde/Tuileries area. Many locals find the park above the Forum des Halles dodgy, especially at night.

Paris has a high incidence of beggars; if someone approaches you and you're not willing/able to give them money, simply say 'désolé' (a compassionate form of 'sorry').

The metro is safe to use until it closes, including for women travelling alone, but stations best avoided late at night include the long passageways of Châtelet- Les Halles and Montparnasse Bienvenüe, as well as Château Rouge, Gare du Nord, Strasbourg St-Denis, Réaumur-Sébastopol and Stalingrad. Bornes 'alarme (alarm boxes) are located in the centre of each metro/RER platform and in some station corridors.