The capital of France, know as the “City of Lights,” sits on the banks of the river Seine. In the heart of the city is a small island on the river where the famous church Notre Dame stands. Walking down the river you’ll find stalls and stalls of booksellers doing business out of green-painted sidewalk stands. Soon you come to the intersection of Saint-Michel, where busy cafes are filled with espresso sipping Parisians who sit underneath old style French buildings topped with classical metal roofs. This intersection is a main hub to the city with Parisians, tourists, and vagrants either hurrying somewhere, standing still to get the perfect photo, or just waiting for someone’s spare change.

When you continue down the road, you come to the Avenue des Champs-Elysees with its grand promenade and stately structures. Eventually you find the Arc de Triomphe which was built to commemorate French victories on the battlefields of Europe. Down the way a bit more and just out of the center is Paris’s ultra modern business district, La Defense, with towering buildings of modern french architecture. The centerpiece of this district, the Grand Arche, is a gigantic square glass arch that must have been built to commemorate French victory on the financial battlefields.