| The first to fourth arrondissements form the | | | | The third arrondissement contains the northern |
| heart of Paris on the Seine River's right bank and | | | | sector of the medieval Marais district; the fourth |
| include the two Parisian islands. Les Halles was the | | | | arrondissement contains the livelier southern part. |
| city's central market, covered in 1183. Read Zola's | | | | The Marais was marshland first cleared in the |
| 1873 novel The Belly of Paris for a timeless | | | | Twelfth Century. In the Sixteenth Century the |
| picture of this unique setting unfortunately | | | | aristocracy built beautiful residences there. The |
| demolished in 1971 and replaced by a huge | | | | Marais took a real hit when the court moved to |
| underground modern shopping center. | | | | Versailles. But this area was not highly affected |
| Chatelet-Les-Halles is the world's largest | | | | by Baron Haussmann's urban redevelopment. You |
| underground transportation station. It serves | | | | should see the Carnavalet Museum, devoted to |
| three quarters of a million passengers daily. The | | | | the history of Paris. Paris's oldest square, the |
| Louvre Museum annually greets over eight million | | | | Place des Vosges, was built by Henri IV as the |
| tourists, the most of any art museum in the | | | | Place Royale. |
| word. Besides Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo it | | | | The Ile de la Cite (Cite Island) was already |
| contains another four hundred thousand objects. | | | | inhabited in the First Century B.C. by a Gallic tribe |
| Be sure to see the Tuileries Garden and the | | | | known as the Parisii who gave their name to the |
| Comedie-Francaise. Nearby is the Hotel Ritz, the | | | | city. Georges Pompidou Centre built in the |
| last stop for Dodi Al-Fayed and Princess Diana | | | | nineteen seventies near the Halles Market and the |
| before their tragic 1997 demise. | | | | Marais contains a library, the National Modern Art |
| The second arrondissement is home to Paris's | | | | Museum with works by Kandinsky, Matisse, Miro, |
| remaining glazed commercial arcades, Parisian | | | | Picasso, and much more. You either love the |
| adaptations of Oriental bazaars and souks that | | | | building or you hate it because of its very distinct |
| form a miniature city free from noise, traffic, and | | | | (ugly) architecture with pipes on the outside. |
| inclement weather in which window-shopping | | | | Charles de Gaulle spoke from City Hall on August |
| developed into yet another Parisian art form. | | | | 25, 1944 when Paris was liberated. The rue des |
| They evolved (degenerated) into the suburban | | | | Francs-Bourgeois with its many fashion stores is |
| shopping center. Visit at least one arcade to get a | | | | one of the rare Paris streets open on Sunday. |
| taste of Paris in the days of old. | | | | Even if you don't regularly tour churches see the |
| The Grand Boulevards form a long arc running | | | | French Gothic Notre Dame de Paris on the Ile de |
| west to east from the Church of the Madeleine | | | | la Cite, one of the world's most beautiful churches. |
| to the Bastille. Once the hangout for Paris's upper | | | | Construction took almost two centuries, and |
| crust they still form a distinctive, often lively part | | | | frankly was worth it. During the French |
| of the city. The actual street name changes from | | | | Revolution, many of its treasures were either |
| Boulevard Madeleine, to five other names and | | | | destroyed or plundered. Central Paris is home to |
| finally to Boulevard St. Denis. Going east the | | | | several historic churches, but if you ask me none |
| boulevards traditionally get poorer and arguably | | | | of them are in the same league as Notre Dame |
| more interesting. | | | | de Paris. |