ATTRACTIONS
Musée du Louvre This enormous building, constructed around 1200 as a fortress and rebuilt in the mid-16th century for use as a royal palace, began its career as a public museum in 1793. As part of Mitterand's grands projets in the 1980s, the Louvre was revamped with the addition of a 21m (67ft) glass pyramid entrance. Initially deemed a failure, the new design has since won over those who regard consistency as inexcusably boring. Vast scrums of people puff and pant through the rooms full of paintings, sculptures and antiquities, including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and Winged Victory (which looks like it's been dropped and put back together). If the clamour becomes unbearable, your best bet is to pick a period or section of the Louvre and pretend that the rest is somewhere across town.
Notre Dame The city's cathedral ranks as one of the greatest achievements of Gothic architecture. Notre Dame was begun in 1163 and completed around 1345; the massive interior can accommodate over 6000 worshippers. Although Notre Dame is regarded as a sublime architectural achievement, there are all sorts of minor anomalies as the French love nothing better than to mess with things. These include a trio of main entrances that are each shaped differently, and which are accompanied by statues that were once coloured to make them more effective as Bible lessons for the hoi polloi. The interior is dominated by spectacular and enormous rose windows, and a 7800-pipe organ that was recently restored but has not been working properly since. From the base of the north tower, visitors with ramrod straight spines can climb to the top of the west façade and decide how much aesthetic pleasure they derive from looking out at the cathedral's many gargoyles - alternatively they can just enjoy the view of a decent swathe of Paris. Under the square in front of the cathedral, an archaeological crypt displays in situ the remains of structures from the Gallo-Roman and later periods.
Versailles (Main Palace) Another major attraction to Paris, lies a short train-ride away. Versailles is where the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919. The most famous room on the interior is the Hall of Mirrors which faces out to the gardens. This room is a huge corridor with mirrors and gold statutes on both sides, crystal chandeliers, and price-less artwork covering the ceiling. Versailles and the surrounding area was the living quarters for 20,000 people brought by Louis XIV. The royal apartments consist of a series of public apartments, called the drawing rooms, and the private apartments where the household actually lived. Each of the rooms are named after the Gods (Mercury, Apollo, etc.). The Mercury drawing room is the most famous since the Silver Throne once sat here. Today, the room contains a tapestry of Louis XIV and an automation clock which was given to Louis XIV in 1706, that still functions today.
Napoleon's Tomb and Hotel des Invalides The Hotel des Invalidades was built by Louis XIV to house wounded soldiers. It is an older example of a retirement home. Today it still houses a few wounded soldiers, we believe it is 2 or 3. However, what makes the Hotel very famous is Napoleon's tomb. In the back of the Hotel is a cathedral which houses the sarcophagus of Napoleon and some other famous people, including some family members of Napoleon and a great leader from World War I.

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