Many people claim that Paris, the capital of France, is the most beautiful city in the world. The city lies on the Seine River about ninety miles southeast of the river's mouth on the English Channel and has a population of 2,175,200 inhabitants. It was founded about 250 B.C. by Celtic tribesmen as a fishing village. The nightly illuminations of the historic monuments have given birth to the name la ville lumière (city of light), and this elegant light creates a beautiful atmosphere which, combined with the wide avenues and the long, winding riverfront of the Seine River, contributes to the city's reputation for beauty. Also, the gracious old building all have a height limit of seven stories, and this gives the city skyline a harmonious appearance.

The famous Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris is built on an island in the middle of the city, called Ile de la Cité, and serves as a visual and cultural focal point of the city. Then the boulevards connect the city's many squares (which are actually round) that are the sites of neighborhood landmarks and crazy traffic competitions.

The métro system (subway) is efficient, carries over one million passengers every day and makes it easy for both Parisians and tourists to get all around the city and visit, for example, the three main museums of Paris. These are the Louvre-the largest museum in the world, the Musée d'Orsay and the Centre Georges Pompidou (for contemporary art). One of the main attractions in the Louvre is Leonardo Da Vinci's painting of the Mona Lisa, which the French call La Joconde.

In Paris, the Tuileries Gardens near the Louvre and the Luxembourg Gardens near the Sorbonne (the main university in Paris) are both examples of the French geometrical style of garden (jardin à la francaise). This kind of garden includes ponds, fountains and statues and was started by the landscape architect André Le Nôtre.