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Key Attractions

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Tour Eiffel: The Eiffel Tower literally towers over the Champ de Mars in the smart seventh arrondissement. The top (third) floor offers a sweeping panorama of Paris. From directly underneath there is a fascinating view of the delicate ironwork of Gustave Eiffel, commissioned to build the tower for the Exposition Universelle in 1889, the Revolution's centenary.

Champ de Mars, 7th
Tel: (01) 44 11 23 45 or (01) 44 11 23 23 (recorded information). Fax: (01) 44 11 23 22.
Web site: www.tour-eiffel.fr
Transport: Métro Bir-Hakeim/RER Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel
Opening hours: 1 Sep-10 Jun 0930-2300; 11 Jun-31 Aug 0900-0000 daily.
Admission: By lift - 1st storey FFr21; 2nd storey FFr43; 3rd storey FFr60. By stairs - 1st and 2nd storeys only FFr15. Concessions available.

Cathédrale de Notre-Dame: The stocky Notre-Dame Cathedral, on the Ile-de-la-Cité, could not be more different from the filigree Eiffel Tower. Bishop Maurice de Sully began construction in 1163 to outshine the new abbey at St-Denis; work was completed in 1345. The result is a Gothic masterpiece, with three stunning rose windows.

Place du Parvis-Notre-Dame, 4th
Tel: (01) 42 34 56 10 or 44 32 16 70 (towers).
Transport: Métro Cité; RER St-Michel-Notre-Dame.
Opening hours: Cathedral 0800-1845 daily (closed Sat 1230-1400). Towers (entrance at north tower) 1000-1815 daily.
Admission: Cathedral free; towers FFr35 (concessions available).

Sacré-Coeur: A long, wide series of steps lead to the snowy-white, domed Sacré-Coeur, which dominates Montmartre. A mishmash of styles, the Catholic church was built between 1870-1919 to atone for the 'sins' of the Commune. The interior is bright with neo-Byzantine mosaics and the domed tower offers a spectacular Paris view.

Parvis du Sacré-Coeur, 18th
Tel: (01) 53 41 89 00.
Transport: Métro Abbesses or Anvers.
Opening hours: Crypt and dome Oct-Mar 0900-1800 daily; Apr-Sep 0900-1900 daily.
Admission: FFr25 (concessions available).

Musée National du Louvre: The Louvre first opened to the public in 1793 following the Revolution, a showcase of the art treasures of the kings of France. The museum is organised into three wings on four floors: Richelieu (along rue Rivoli), Sully (around cour Carrée) and Denon (along the Seine). The vast permanent collection includes Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Egyptian and oriental antiquities, French and Italian and northern European sculpture and nineteenth-century objets d'art. The painting collection is the strongest, with French, Italian, Dutch, German, Flemish and Spanish chefs d'oeuvres right up to the mid-nineteenth century. Most famed French works include David's Coronation of Napoléon, Ingres' The Turkish Bath, Géricault's depiction of disaster Raft of the Medusa and Delacroix's ode to revolution Liberty Leading the People. The Mona Lisa, in a bulletproof case, will be given its own room by 2001/2.

Excavations have exposed traces of the medieval Louvre, now on display along with the history of the Louvre under the cour Carrée in the entresol level in the Sully wing.

Pyramide-Cour Napoléon, 1st
Tel: (01) 40 20 50 50. Fax: (01) 40 20 54 42.
E-mail: info@louvre.fr
Web site: www.louvre.fr
Transport: Métro Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre.
Opening hours: Permanent exhibitions 0900-1800 Mon, Wed-Sun (open until 2145 Mon (selected rooms only) and Wed).
Temporary exhibitions, medieval Louvre and bookshop 1000-2145 Mon and Wed-Sun.
Admission: Permanent exhibitions FFr45 (until 1500); FFr26 (after 1500 and Sun); free under 18s and first Sun of month. Admission to temporary exhibitions varies. Advance tickets can be bought by telephone (tel: (01) 49 87 54 54), from branches of FNAC, and on the internet. Tickets allow same-day readmission.

Musée Rodin : Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) lived and worked in this eighteenth-century hôtel particulier. Now the Rodin Museum, his sculptures populate the interior and the gardens. Indoors, The Kiss portrays eternal passion frozen in white marble while The Hand of God gives life to creamy white, half-formed figures. Works of Rodin's mistress and pupil Camille Claudel, and paintings by Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir and Rodin himself, are also on display. The gardens are graced by the monumental bronze The Thinker, whose godly physique contrasts sharply with the decrepitude of the writhing figures of The Gates of Hell, and the controversial final portrait of Balzac, once described as 'a block that disgraces its author and French Art'.

77 rue de Varenne, 7th
Tel: (01) 44 18 61 10. Fax: (01) 45 51 17 52.
Web site: www.musee-rodin.fr
Transport: Métro Varenne.
Opening hours: 0930-1700/1745 Tues-Sun.
Admission: FFr28; FFr18 for 18s-25s and all on Sun; FFr5 garden only.

Musée d'Orsay: The strength of this large museum, housed in a former train station by the Seine, lies in its collection of Impressionist and Post Impressionist art. The collection, covering the decisive 1848-1914 period, is arranged chronologically, beginning on the ground floor, jumping to the third, then descending to the middle level. Among the most famous works are Manet's Déjeuner sur l'Herbe, rejected from the Salon of 1863, five of Monet's paintings of Rouen cathedral, and the recently acquired realist work, L'Origine du Monde by Gustave Courbet, whose graphic depiction of the female sex continues to shock.

1 rue de la Legion d'Honneur, 7th
Tel: (01) 40 49 48 14 or (01) 45 49 11 11 (recorded information).
Web site: www.musee-orsay.fr
Transport: Métro Solférino; RER Musée d'Orsay.
Opening hours: 1000-1800 Tues-Sat (until 2145 Thurs); 0900-1800 Sun.
Admission: FFr40; FFr30 18-25s and all on Sun; free under 18s

.Musée National Picasso: Paris-based Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) owned most of this collection, the largest worldwide, housed in a seventeenth-century mansion in the Marais. All phases of his art are represented, with preparatory sketches and paintings covering the blue period, rose period, Cubism, Classicism, Surrealism, and sculptures ranging from a huge plaster head to a small cat. Memorable works include the blue period self-portrait Paolo as Harlequin, the surreal Nude in an Armchair and poignant paintings of Marie-Thérèse. Photographs are displayed alongside the works they inspired and African masks with Picasso's 'primitive' wood carvings. There is also a glimpse of the artist's personal taste in paintings, with his Matisse and Cézanne paintings displayed.

Hôtel Salé, 5 rue de Thorigny, 3rd
Tel: (01) 42 71 25 21. Fax: (01) 48 04 75 46.
Transport: Métro Chemin Vert or St-Paul.
Opening hours: 0930-1800 Mon, Wed-Sun (until 2000 Thurs).
Admission: FFr30; FFr20 18-25s or all on Sun (FFr38 and FFr28 during exhibitions); free under-18s.

Centre Georges Pompidou: Considered outrageous in 1977, the Pompidou Centre, designed by Piano and Rogers, has become part of the Parisian landscape, primary coloured tubes and all. Although only just over twenty, the building is already being revamped and extended to cope with the huge numbers visiting its expanding collection of contemporary art and its multimedia library. The renovation period which began in October 1997 is due to reach completion for the eve of the Millennium, although this deadline may prove unreachable. While the permanent exhibition is closed, temporary exhibitions continue to take place in the Galerie Sud and in the Atelier Brancusi and selections from the permanent collection are on show in various Paris museums.

rue Beaubourg, 4th
Tel: (01) 44 78 12 33.
E-mail: info@cnac-gp.fr
web site: www.centrepompidou.fr
Transport: Métro Hôtel de Ville or Rambuteau; RER Châtelet-Les Halles.
Opening hours: Temporary exhibitions 1200-2200 Mon and Wed-Fri; 1000-2200 Sat and Sun. Permanent exhibitions reopen 1 Jan 2000.
Admission: Permanent exhibitions are free; temporary exhibitions vary.