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Cité de la Musique
The City of Music, on the southern edge of Parc de la Villette, is a striking triangular-shaped concert hall whose brief is to bring nonelitist music from around the world to Paris' multiethnic listeners.
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Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie
High-tech exhibits abound at the enormous City of Science and Industry, situated in the Parc de la Villette. Some attractions are free, while others, such as the iconic silver sphere Géode, screening 180-degree films, and the Cité des Enfants ('Children's City'; lots of robots) incur fees. Orient yourself with a free Keys to the Cité map from the main entrance.
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Conciergerie
The Conciergerie was built as a luxurious royal palace in the 14th century for the concierge of the Palais de la Cité, but later lost favour with the kings of France and was turned into a prison and torture chamber. The huge Gothic Salle des Gens d'Armes (Cavalrymen's Hall) is a fine example of the Rayonnant style, and the largest surviving such hall in Europe.
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Crypte Archéologique
The Archaeological Crypt is under the square in front of Notre Dame. The 117m long and 28m wide area displays in situ the remains of structures built on this site during the Gallo-Roman period (including actual rooms), a 4th-century enclosure wall, the foundations of the medieval foundlings hospice and a few of the sewers sunk by Haussman.
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Dalí Espace
Catalan surrealist Dalí lived in Montmartre (at one point becoming its 'Emperor' at the invitation of self-titled Empress Lucie Valore, though their affair was short-lived). Dalí's illustrations, sculptures, engravings and furniture, such as his 'lips' sofa, are displayed against the dramatic black-painted walls of this museum. It also mounts temporary exhibitions such as 'Dalí and Fashion'.
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Église Notre Dame de L'espérance
If you're in the area (or feeling a bit guilty about that late night) head for the wonderful Church of Our Lady of Hope designed by Bruno Legrand in 1997. Startling both for its modern design and size (it stands 20m tall and is 11m wide), the interior is filled with all sorts of interesting elements and features.
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Église Notre Dame de la Pentecôte
If the hub and the bub and the crowds of 'suits' get you down, head for the futuristic Our Lady of the Pentecost Catholic Church next to the CNIT building that opened in 2001. The interior is sublime; check out the flame-shaped pulpit, the image of the Virgin Mary that looks uncannily like the Buddha and the individual chairs that unfold to create benches.
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Église St-Étienne du Mont
The lovely Church of Mount St Stephen, built between 1492 and 1655, contains Paris' only surviving rood screen (1535) separating the chancel from the nave; the rest were removed during the late Renaissance because they prevented the faithful assembled in the nave from seeing the priest celebrate Mass.
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Église St-Eustache
This majestic church, one of the most beautiful in Paris, is just north of the gardens next to the Forum des Halles. Constructed between 1532 and 1640, St-Eustache is primarily Gothic, though a neoclassical façade was added on the western side in the mid-18th century. Inside, there are some exceptional Flamboyant Gothic arches holding up the ceiling of the chancel, though most of the ornamentation is Renaissance and classical.
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Église St-Germain des Prés
Its spire rising above St-Germain des Prés, this charming Romanesque church is Paris' oldest. Built in the 11th century on the site of an abbey, it was the city's main centre of Catholic worship until it was eclipsed by Notre Dame. It's the (rumoured) resting place of its namesake, Saint Germain (AD 496-576), the first bishop of Paris.
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Église St-Germain l'Auxerrois
Built between the 13th and 16th centuries in a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance styles, this once royal parish church stands on a site, at the eastern end of the Louvre, that has been used for Christian worship since about AD 500. Restored by the Gothic Revivalist architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in the mid-19th century, it boasts some fine stained glass.
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Église St-Sulpice
Until recently, Église St-Sulpice's few visitors were fans of artist Eugène Delacroix, who painted the frescoes in the Chapelle des Stes-Agnes. Then Dan Brown set a murderous scene of The Da Vinci Code here, pivoting around the Rose Line (to the right of the middle of the nave). And yep, it's been mobbed with tourists ever since.
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Eiffel Tower
Built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World Fair), held to commemorate the centennial of the Revolution, the Tour Eiffel was the world's tallest structure at 320m (1050ft) until Manhattan's Chrysler Building was completed. Initially opposed by the city's artistic and literary elite the tower was almost torn down in 1909.
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Flame of Liberty Memorial
In August 1997 in the underpass parallel to the Seine, Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car accident, with her partner Dodi Fayed, and their chauffeur. The bronze Flame of Liberty became something of a memorial to Diana and was decorated with flowers, photographs, graffiti and personal notes for almost five years.
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Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain
Designed by architect de jour Jean Nouvel, this stunning space is worth checking out for the building alone, but it also hosts temporary exhibits spanning all facets of contemporary art from the 1980s on, including paintings, photography, video and fashion.
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Fondation Dubuffet
Situated in a lovely 19th-century hôtel particulier accessible at the end of a courtyard, the foundation houses and administers the collection of Jean Dubuffet (1901-85), chief of the Art Brut school, a term he himself coined to describe all works of artistic expression not officially recognised. Much of his work is incredibly modern and expressive.
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Forum des Halles
Les Halles, the city's main wholesale food market, occupied the area just south of the Église St-Eustache from the early 12th century until 1969, when it was moved lox, stock and lettuce leaf to the southern suburb of Rungis near Orly. In its place, this unspeakably ugly, four-level underground shopping centre was constructed in the glass-and-chrome style of the early 1970s.
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Galerie-Musée Baccarat
That's gratitude for you… For decades the glittering Baccarat Gallery-Museum displayed its 1000 stunning pieces of crystal, many of them custom-made for princes and dictators of desperately poor excolonies, at the CIAT (Centre International des Arts de la Table) building, a fine example of Napoleon III-era industrial architecture in the gritty but gracious 10e arrondissement. And then the Noailles stately home became available in the uppity 16e, interior designer Philippe Starck was called in and the museum was at home precisely where you'd expect it to be. Shame… Rue de Paradis (Paradise St) will never be the same. There is an excellent restaurant called the Crystal Room attached now, though.
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Gare Montparnasse
This sprawling train station has several unusual attractions on - of all places - its rooftop. The unique Jardin de l'Atlantique, whose 3.5 hectares of landscaped terraces veil the top of the station, offers a bit of greenery and tranquillity in the heart of a very busy district. Don't miss the futuristic Observatoire Météorologique 'sculpture', in the centre of the garden, which measures precipitation, temperature and wind speed.
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Grand Palais
The 'Great Palace', erected for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, houses the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais beneath its huge Art Nouveau glass roof. Special exhibitions, among the biggest the city stages, last three or four months. You'll understand just how popular most of the exhibitions here are - and the importance of booking in advance - when you see the queues (especially at the weekend) looping halfway round the building.
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Grande Arche de la Défense
La Défense's biggest draw card is the remarkable, cubelike Grande Arche (Great Arch). Designed by Danish architect Johan-Otto von Sprekelsen and housing government and business offices, it is made of white Carrara marble, grey granite and glass, and measures 110m exactly along each side.
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Hôtel de Sully
Housed in a 17th-century mansion, the Jeu de Palme - Site Sully is an annexe of the national photography centre, and focuses on monograph and thematic photography exhibitions. In the same building, framed by two Renaissance courtyards, is the headquarters of the Monuments Nationaux (www.monum.fr), which has reams of info about France's national monuments.
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Hôtel de Ville
Paris' beautiful neo-Renaissance town hall, completed in 1882, is adorned with 108 statues of illustrious Parisians. Regular temporary exhibitions are held here, usually revolving around a Paris-based theme, such as the photography of Robert Doisneau (who snapped his world-famous black-and-white Kiss at the Hôtel de Ville here in 1950). In winter, an ice-skating rink sets up outside.
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Hôtel des Invalides
The Hôtel des Invalides was built in the 1670s to provide housing for 4000 invalides (disabled veterans). On July 14, 1789, the Paris mob forced its way into the building and, after fierce fighting, seized 28000 rifles before heading on to the Bastille prison.
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Institut de France
The French Institute, created in 1795, brought together five of France's academies of arts and sciences. The most famous of these is the Académie Française (French Academy), founded in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu. Its 40 members, known as the Immortels (Immortals), have the Herculean (some say impossible) task of safeguarding the purity of the French language.
