EIFFEL TOWER

The Eiffel Tower, undoubtedly the Paris landmark and must-see monument, is 324 metres high and weighs a total of 10,000 tons. Built for the World Fair in 1889 the tower took two years, two months and five days to complete. You can take the stairs or the lift up. There are souvenir shops and the Altitude 95 restaurant with its decor reminiscent of an airship on the first level, while the second level offers an opportunity to enjoy a gastronomic menu at the smart Jules Verne restaurant, 125 metres above ground level. Once you get to the third and final platform, you’ll be up there among the clouds with an amazing 360-degree view of the city.

SACRE COEUR OF MONTMARTRE

Crowning the Butte Montmartre, this church was built from 1875 onwards as an act of penance after France was defeated by the Prussians in 1870. Built in a Romano-Byzantine style, the building was consecrated in 1919 and given the name “basilica,” thereby making it a shrine. Before entering the Sacré-Cœur, enjoy the unrestricted view of Paris from the square in front of the basilica. Even better, go up to the dome gallery, which offers a spectacular view extending over a 50-km radius! Among the noteworthy elements of the basilica are the 18,835 kg “Savoyarde” bell, three metres in diameter - the biggest church bell in France. The mosaic ceiling in the apse and the big church organs are other impressive features of the interior.

LOUVRE MUSEUM

Formerly the residence of the Kings of France, the Louvre has, for two centuries, been one of the world’s greatest museums. Its collections are divided into 8 departments: Oriental, Egyptian, Greek, Etrucscan and Roman Antiquities, Paintings, Sculptures, Art items, Islamic Art, and graphic art from the Middle Ages until 1848. Opened since April 2000, the "Pavillon des Sessions" displays some one hundred and twenty sculptures dedicated to the arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, complementing the collections at the Musée du quai Branly which opened in 2006 (www.quaibranly.fr). Cyber Louvre: multimedia place. Free access to 10 computers to view the Louvre website as well as those of other French and foreign museums. The Louvre in a few figures: 35,000 works spread over 60,600 sq m of rooms dedicated to permanent collections, 2,410 windows, 3,000 locks, and 10,000 steps. The rooms in the Islamic Arts department are closed from January 2008. New areas will open into the Cour Visconti around 2010.

QUAI BRANLY MUSEUM

Dedicated to the arts and civilisations of Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas, the museum boasts some 300,000 exhibits including sculptures, fabrics, statues and jewellery, sourced for the most part from the former collections of the Musée de l’Homme and the Musée National des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie.
Designed by Jean Nouvel, the architect of the Institut du Monde Arabe and the Cartier Foundation, the building with its silk-screened glass wall extends over 39,000 sq.m.
It includes a lush 18,000 sq.m. garden and a 10,000 sq. m. exhibition area, with the permanent collections housed in a 6,500 sq.m. space. Visitors enter the museum along a 200 metre-long wooden footbridge set on piles.
The luxuriant garden is planted with 178 trees including rambler rose, sugar maple, wisteria and magnolia, while more than 15,000 plants of 150 species cover a vertical surface of 800 sq.m. that constitutes the façade.
Open to a wide public in search of further knowledge, the museum’s multimedia library offers free access to 25,000 works.

GREVIN

If you’ve always wanted to see Madonna, Pablo Picasso, Spiderman, French pop star Lorie, Louis Armstrong, Albert Einstein or Louis XIV, go along to the Musée Grévin and say hello to their waxworks... Spread out over six different halls — the “Palais des Mirages” (Hall of Mirrors), “Clichés du XXe siècle” (20th-century photographs), the “Histoire de France”, the “Théâtre du Tout Paris”, the “Paris Grévin Magazine” and the “Collection Grévin” — are life-size waxworks of the stars of showbiz and people in the news, past and present. The collection is updated regularly: French actor Gérard Jugnot and humorist and impersonator Laurent Gerra are the two latest additions. Make it a family trip with the children: they’ll enjoy spotting celebrities and being let into the secret of how the waxworks are made.