Located on the River Seine at the heart of the Île-de-France region, Paris is the capital of France.

An important settlement for more than two millennia, Paris is today one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. There are numerous iconic landmarks among its many attractions, along with world-famous institutions and popular parks.

About its monuments, first we cannot forget Place de la Bastille, a district of great historical significance, not only for Paris, but for the whole of France and the Champs-Élysées, a seventeenth century garden-promenade turned avenue connecting the Concorde and Arc de Triomphe. The Champs-Élysées is one of the many tourist attractions and a major shopping street of Paris. This avenue has been called la plus belle avenue du monde ("the most beautiful avenue in the world").

Among all the Paris monuments, let me remember:

Place de la Concorde, at the foot of the Champs-Élysées, built as the "Place Louis XV", site of the infamous guillotine. The Egyptian obelisk is Paris' "oldest monument". On this place, on either side of the Rue Royale there are two identical stone buildings: the eastern one houses the French Naval Ministry, the western the luxurious Hôtel de Crillon. Nearby Place Vendôme is famous for its fashionable and deluxe hotels (Hotel Ritz and Hôtel de Vendôme) and its jewellers. Many famous fashion designers have had their salons in the square.

Les Halles, formerly Paris' central meat and produce market, since the late 1970s a major shopping centre around an important metro connection station (Châtelet-Les Halles, the biggest in Europe). The past Les Halles was destroyed in 1971 and replaced by the Forum des Halles. The central market of Paris, the biggest wholesale food market in the world, was transferred to Rungis, in the southern suburbs.

Montmartre, a historic area on the Butte, home to the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur. Montmartre has always had a history with artists and has many studios and cafés of many great artists in that area.

Montparnasse, a historic Left Bank area famous for artists studios, music halls, and café life.

L'Opéra, the area around the Opéra Garnier is a home to the capital's densest concentration of both department stores and offices. A few examples are the Printemps and Galeries Lafayette grands magasins (department stores), and the Paris headquarters of financial giants such as Crédit Lyonnais and American Express.

Quartier Latin, a twelfth century scholastic centre formerly stretching between the Left Bank's Place Maubert and the Sorbonne campus. It is known for its lively atmosphere and many bistros. With various higher education establishments, such as the École Normale Supérieure, ParisTech and the Jussieu university campus make it a major educational centre in Paris, which also contributes to its atmosphere.

Finally, the Louvre Museum, the world's most visited art museum! The collection's nearly 35,000 pieces are displayed over 60,000 square metres. The museum lies between the River Seine and the Rue de Rivoli on the Right Bank in the 1st arrondissement neighborhood. A central landmark in Paris, the Louvre is slightly askew of the axe historique (historical axis), a roughly eight-kilometre (five-mile) architectural line bisecting the city. The museum, which contains some of the world's most celebrated artworks, is divided among eight curatorial departments. The exhibits represent nearly every artistic genre and provenance including works of Egyptian, Oriental, and Islamic origin. The collections of French paintings and sculptures are among the world's most notable, as are a large number of other pieces, including Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, and Madonna of the Rocks; Jacques Louis David's Oath of the Horatii; Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People; and Alexandros of Antioch's Venus de Milo.

Take a look at these photos to fall in love with this incredible city!