Paris - A Closer Look at the Culture, Local Art & History

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+33 (national), (0) 1 (city)

25, rue des Pyramides, 75001 Paris +33 (0) 892 68 3000,

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Image aware and culture mad, Paris is a vast street theatre where appearance counts. Join in the performance – pose at a terrasse café, stalk the wide Haussmannian boulevards, shop 'til you drop, and soak up the culture, from the Louvre to the Pompidou Centre.

Paris is the city of a thousand walks. Plan your route from the top of the Eiffel Tower, saunter along the Seine past the golden-domed Invalides, the art galleries of Saint-Germain des Prés and the swooping arches of Notre-Dame to drink mint tea at the Paris Mosque. Relax on the steps of Montmartre's Sacré-Coeur church then explore the surrounding cobbled lanes.

In Paris' re-vamped industrial quarters, Parc de la Villette has wide, angular lawns littered with modern sculptures, fountains, a vast interactive science museum, a 3D Imax cinéma and an avant-garde circus. Visitors come in summer for the open-air cinema festival.

Parc de la Villette 75019 (By Métro: Porte de Pantin or Porte de la Villette.), tel: +33 (0) 1 40 03 75 75, Open Daily, 24 hours. Park free; charge for museums and attractions.

In the heart of the Marais close to the place des Vosges is the intriguing Musée Carnavalet, keeper of Paris' collective memory. The museum is in fact composed of two buildings, the Hôtel Carnavalet and the Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau, joined by a passage on the first floor.

23 rue de Sévigné 75003 (By Métro: Saint-Paul or Chemin Vert By Bus: 29, 69, 76, 96.), tel: +33 (0) 1 44 59 58 58. Open Tue-Sun 10am-6pm. Museum free; Various rates for exhibitions.

Architect Jean Nouvel's ultra-modern Branly Museum, near the Eiffel Tower, showcases collections of anthropological and ethnological artefacts, and primitive art from Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas.

37 Quai Branly 75007, +33 (0) 1 56 61 70 00. Open Daily; not Mon.

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs sets out "to find the beautiful in the useful" with its display of ceramics, glass and contemporary design by the likes of glass maker extraordinaire Lalique and radical architect Le Corbusier. A total of 15,000 works run the gamut of French good taste from Gothic to Louis XVI, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and contemporary design at this new museum, open since September 2006.

107-111 Rue de Rivoli 75001 (By Metro: Palais-Royal), tel: +33 (0) 1 44 55 57 50. Open Daily; not Mon. €8; concessions €6.50.

In a stunning 1930s-era palace, opposite the Eiffel Tower, the Palais de Tokyo is a cutting-edge contemporary art museum. It houses an ever-changing succession of avant-garde and wacky installations that help visitors break away from traditional perceptions of art.

Open Daily; not Mon. €6; 19-26s €4.50; under-18s free. +33 (0) 1 47 23 38 86.

As well as being the main religious meeting point for Paris' Muslim community, the Mosquee de Paris (Paris Mosque) is also open to visitors, who invariably return for the fresh sweet mint tea served in the mosaic tea room. It is composed of various courtyards and buildings, encompassing a main prayer room and minaret, Islamic school and library, as well as a hammam and the Arabic tea room.

2 Place Puits de l'Hermite 75005, (By Metro: Place Monge) tel: +33 (0) 1 45 35 97 33. Open Daily; not Fri.