The Opera Garnier was the 'piece de resistance' of Napoleon III and Baron Haussman. Its opulence, inside and out, its mixture of architectural styles, its red and gold decor some may think a little flamboyant, but for all that, it is magnificent. It was once the world's largest theater and is famed for its 6-ton chandelier and Chagall painted ceiling depicting Parisian scenes and images from opera. Backstage is the Foyer de la Danse so often painted by Degas and beneath the cellars there lies an artificial lake, providing water for the city's fire brigade, that was the fictional grotto of Lerous' Phantom of the Opera. The Opera Garnier mainly stages ballets now days, operas which have moved to the Opera Bastille.

The Champs Elysee was originally an extension of the Tuileries gardens laid out in the 17th century by Le Notre. During the Second Empire, from 1852, it became a focus for fashionable society and theatre, for military parades and royal processions. It is on a direct line from the Louvre, through the Tuileries Gardens, past the Place de Concorde, up through gardens bordered by trees and azaleas. From the Rond-Point the Champs Elysee runs uphill to the Arc de Triomphe. Here along its wide granite pavements there are many fast food eateries, shopping arcades and cinemas but it is still considered the most beautiful avenue in the world.

Commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 as a memorial for the French Army but was not completed until 1836. It is 165 feet high and one can visit the observation deck at the summit of the arc from where there is a brilliant view of Paris. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with its eternal flame, rekindled every evening at 6:30 PM, lies under the Arc. It is at the centre of 12 avenues and is known as the Etoile (star).

The grandest and most infamous square in Paris. It is situated at a crossroads, the National Assembly to the south facing its mirror image a neo-Greek Temple, the Madeline church, to the north and the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees to the west facing the Tuilleries Gardens and the Louvre to the east. It was constructed between 1754 and 1763 to hold a statue of Louis XV and was then called Place Louis XV. It then became the Place de Revolution and the site of the guillotine which beheaded nearly 3000 people including Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, Danton and Robespierre. After the Reign of Terror it was renamed Place de la Concorde, then after several name changes, it once again became the Place de la Concorde. The statue of Louis XV, removed during the Revolution, was replaced by the over 3000 year old Obelisk of Luxor, given by the viceroy of Egypt to Louis Phillippe in 1883.

The worldwide symbol of Paris. It was built for the World Fair of 1889, held to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. Named after its designer, Gustave Eiffel, it stands 1050ft high and held the record as the world's tallest structure until 1930. There are three viewing platforms you can reach by elevator (or you can walk to the first two levels) and from the top you'll find absolutely breathtaking views. The restaurant at the top of the Eiffel Tower, the 'Jules Verne', is an expensive but memorable treat, though one has to book well in advance. On the stage below with the same view and less expensive is the 'Altitude 95', which has a Belle Epoque setting.

The group of buildings 'Hotel des Invalids' was ordered by Louis XIV the ('Sun King') to house the king's old soldiers. A year later he commissioned the Eglise du Dome, a magnificent Baroque church with its beautiful gold-leafed dome, which holds the impressive tomb of Napoleon. Napoleon was brought here from his grave in St. Helena where he was exiled, to fulfill his last wish to be buried 'on the banks of the Seine among the people of France whom I have loved so much. In the complex is the Army Museum with the largest collection of militia in the world. Leading from the impressive forecourt of the Invalids with its captured canons runs the tree-lined Esplanade des Invalides to the grand Pont Alexandre III a gift from Czar Alexander to commemorate the 1892 French-Russian alliance.