Paris welcomes the maximum number of tourists in the world, after Bangkok.A visit to Paris is always on top of the list for ardent travellers. Paris has so much to offer that it is only natural that visiting Paris becomes a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many around the world.The French capital has always been a favourite travel destination. From food to culture, Paris facts will cover almost everything that the city has in store for its visitors. Paris is currently home to over two million residents. The Greater Paris Region comprises the capital city and its suburbs. The Greater Paris Region, in turn, falls within the Ile de France region.Keep on reading for more awesome Paris facts!Paris: The City Of LightsYou may have heard that major cities across the planet have special nicknames. These nicknames highlight one or more attributes that the city is identified with.Italy’s capital, Rome, has been known down the ages as the Eternal City. Prague, the iconic capital city of the Czech Republic, is called the City 100 Spires.In a similar vein, France’s capital, Paris, also has a unique nickname. It is called La Ville Lumiere or the City of Lights. Although the exact reason as to why Paris is called by that nickname is now lost in the sands of time, there are some suggested theories about this place.Seeing as Paris has always been the city where a large number of writers, activists, artists, painters, scholars, and intellectuals from different fields, have gathered from time to time to exchange their ideas with one another, one theory suggests that it is due to this aspect of Paris, that is has been given that name.Paris was very much at the forefront of the Enlightenment Movement of the 17th century.The Enlightenment Movement was a time when thinkers and philosophers were questioning established norms and beliefs and putting forth rational ideas. The nickname, hence, was symbolic.Another probability behind Paris getting its nickname comes from the fact that it was one of the first cities in the world that got electric street lighting in 1878. These arc-shaped street lights that were powered by electricity were called Yablochkov candles.Paris has a handful of other nicknames as well. We also call it the City of Love and the City of Art. Paris is famous for being the Fashion Capital of the world.Paris is often seen as a city of love and romance. There is a bridge in the city, named the Pont des Arts, where only a few years ago you could find millions on Love Locks. They were installed on the railings of the bridge by lovers from around the world. Since the locks were causing structural damage to the bridge, they were ultimately removed to save the structure.Paris boasts of having some of the most beautiful gardens and parks in France. Close to the Musee du Louvre lies the Tuileries Garden.The Luxembourg Garden or the Jardin du Luxembourg is another popular garden that is part of the palace of the same name.One of the most famous sites of Paris has to be the Place de la Concorde. It is located in the 8th district of the city, to the east of the Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe.The historic square of Place de la Concorde witnessed the execution of the King of France Louis XVI during the revolution years. This is also the location of the Luxor Obelisk.Famous People From ParisMany famous people were born in the city of Paris. Some of them had to leave after some time, while others spent a substantial part of their lives in this beautiful European city.Many of you must have heard about the enormously popular fictional character Harry Potter. He is a young wizard who was brought to life by British author J.K. Rowling in a series of books. Later, the story was adapted for a movie franchise. One of the most important characters from the books, Hermione Granger, was portrayed in a total of eight movies by actress and activist Emma Watson. Emma Watson was born in Paris in 1989.Julie Delpy is a French actress who was born and raised in the French capital. If you come across Richard Linklater’s ‘Before Trilogy’, you will find this actress playing the part of Celine in the three-part movie series.In the world of football/soccer, the name Kylian Mbappe is a force to reckon with. The French World Cup winner of 2018 was born in Paris in 1998. He currently plays for the Paris-based team Paris Saint-Germain and is one of their most valuable players.The renowned artist, Claude Monet, was Parisian by birth. He is one of the founders of an art movement known as Impressionism. Some of his most celebrated works are on display in the Musee D’Orsay.One of the biggest musicians of France, Johnny Hallyday, was born in Paris in 1943. He went on to revolutionize the French music industry by introducing rock and roll to France. He was popularly called the Elvis Presley of France.The oxygen that we breathe was first identified by the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier. He was from Paris and had lived through the revolution that consumed France in 1789. Lavoisier is also famously called the Father of Modern Chemistry.The national singer of France, Edith Piaf, was born in Paris. Nicknamed The Little Sparrow, Edith Piaf went on to sing a host of memorable songs which are still popular across the country. Her song ‘Hymne a l’amour’ is one of the most performed songs in music history.Tourist Attractions In ParisThere are so many interesting facts about Paris. It is the capital of the largest country by area in western Europe, France.On the global scale, Paris sits in the second position of the most-visited cities of the world. Only Bangkok remains ahead of it, according to the latest data. Other great tourist-friendly cities like London, Singapore, and New York, are placed behind the French capital.There is a medical term associated with Paris. It is known as the Paris Syndrome. This affects mostly people who come from foreign countries having an image of Paris that is too good to be true. So, when they find that all that they had read or heard about the city is only partially true, they face utter disappointment.Paris Syndrome gives birth to dizziness, hallucinations, excessive sweating. It has been reported that tourists from Japan get afflicted by the Paris Syndrome the most.The city had a different name when the Romans were ruling this part of the world. After the Roman conquest, they named the city Lutetia Parisiorum. It evolved into Parisius and finally into Paris circa 987 AD.One thing that is certain if you visit Paris is that you will not go hungry. There are over 40,000 restaurants in Paris. They include cafes and bistros and offer a wide range of cuisines, but mainly French and Italian.In the area around central Paris, there are more than 12,000 eateries. More than 100 out of these are Michelin-starred restaurants.Paris is behind Tokyo in having the most Michelin-accredited restaurants in the world.Paris is famous for being the home to the world’s biggest wholesale food market. The Rungis International Market covers almost 500 acres of land, where more than 20,000 customers come to buy essential food items daily.The popular cocktail Bloody Mary traces its origin to a bar in Paris. There are two stories related to its birth. The second and the more famous origin story involves one of the greatest short story writers of the twentieth century, Ernest Hemingway. During a visit to the city, Hemingway is said to have gone to the Ritz Hotel to get a drink. There, the author asked for something that did not have a strong alcoholic scent. On being served a drink, Hemingway tasted it and famously exclaimed, “Bloody Mary!".Do you remember reading the popular story ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’? It is an all-time classic story written by French author Victor Hugo. Notre Dame is an 800-year-old church in Paris. The Notre Dame Cathedral is the most-visited monument of Paris. It attracts more than 12 million admirers every year.One of the intriguing Paris facts would be the bells of the Cathedral Notre Dame and their names. The largest of the ten bells at the church is named Emmanuel. History suggests that King Louis XIV had requested the church establishment to name the bell according to his wishes. What is even more interesting is that the rest of the nine bells also have names.When you visit the Notre Dame Cathedral, you will find a compass on the ground right outside the church premises. This compass, called Point Zero, is identified as the center of the city of Paris. All distances are inwards, and outwards of Paris are measured from this point.Closely tugging in at a second-place is Disneyland Paris. This is the second-most visited site in Paris after Notre Dame Cathedral. The world-famous theme park was opened to the public in 1992 and had since then attracted millions to its shores. Every year, it gets around 11 million visitors.Another landmark in Paris that is of national importance is the Arc de Triomphe. This iconic monument had taken roughly 30 years to construct. The arched gateway was conceived during Emperor Napoleon’s reign in 1806 to celebrate his many victories across Europe. However, Napoleon was unable to see its completion after being deposed in 1816. Luckily, future rulers did not abandon the project, and it was finished in 1836.There are around 37 bridges over the River Seine that connect various parts of Paris.What is one of the fascinating facts about Paris is that the oldest bridge on this river is named Pont Neuf, which translates to New Bridge! It was first opened for public use in the 1500s and linked the 6th district or arrondissement of Paris to the Ile de la Cite, which is the main island on the River Seine.The Pont Neuf is a protected heritage bridge and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Paris is home to some of the world-famous cabaret clubs on the planet. Although the oldest one was founded by none other than Napoleon and is called Paradis Latin, the one which stands out is Moulin Rouge. This club is an integral part of Parisian art and culture.If you take the Pont Neuf from the city side, you will reach the riverine island of Ile de la Cite. It is here that one gets to see one of the former residences of the French Royal Family. Named the Conciergerie, it was used by the mutineers during the French Revolution to keep prisoners.Among the prisoners that were held here, the most notable figure was the queen herself, Marie Antoinette. Presently, this 10th-century building is a functioning museum, where visitors could see the room where Marie Antoinette was kept before her execution.A visit to Paris is never complete without making time for the most visited museum in the world, the Louvre. The Musee du Louvre or Louvre Museum has the world’s largest art gallery on display.One of the most famous paintings of all time, the Mona Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci, can be seen here. The Mona Lisa gets the maximum number of visitors in the Louvre Museum. The museum authorities have kept the Mona Lisa in a separate room to accommodate the record-breaking footfalls every year.The Musee D’Orsay is one of the largest museums of Paris and houses works of major French artists, painters, and sculptors.One of the spookiest Paris facts lies beneath the grounds of the city. Here, beginning in the 1800s, the civic bodies started using tunnels to place the remains of the dead. This was done to lessen the burden that befell the cemeteries of the city. Over time, these tunnels filled with millions of dead bodies. Known as the Paris Catacombs, these tunnels run for miles underneath the city.These days, tourists are given access to only a portion of the Paris Catacombs.When we look at spooky Paris facts, we can never overlook the mystery surrounding Paris apartments. Most of these were built in the early part of the 20th century and have been renovated time and time over.A 2010 investigation found that there exist several Paris apartments where rent is paid in the name of persons who have either died or disappeared.The Paris Metro system is the second busiest in the world after Moscow. It provides a commute for four million people daily.Paris Metro covers an area of 136 mi or 219 km and has 304 stations and 16 lines.Some famous luminaries have been buried in Paris. The Pere Lachaise Cemetery in the 20th district of Paris gets more than 3.5 million visitors each year, easily making it the most popular cemetery in the world.Rock and roll star Jim Morrison, author Oscar Wilde, singer Edith Piaf, musician Frederic Chopin, have their graves at Pere Lachaise.In a move to retain some of the old world charms, the French Army has kept the tradition of rearing and training of carrier pigeons alive in Paris.Carrier pigeons were once used actively, even until World War II. Nowadays, the French Army takes great care to keep this old communication system alive and running.Eiffel Tower FactsA tour of the city of Paris is never complete without a visit to the Eiffel Tower. This iconic tower has gone on to become one of the most famous landmarks not just in France but on the whole planet.The Eiffel Tower or La Tour Eiffel in French is more than 1000 ft or 305m in height and made of metal.It was named after its chief engineer, Gustav Eiffel.The tower’s construction was begun in 1887 and was completed in two years. It is now 132 years old.Recent estimates value it at roughly 435 billion Euros, making it the most valuable structure in all of Europe.Paris facts tell us that from 1889 until 1930, the Eiffel Tower was the world’s tallest manufactured structure.It lost its first position to the Chrysler Building of New York City in 1930, which in turn lost out to the Empire State Building in 1931, also in New York City.This would come as a big, big surprise to many, but as a matter of fact, the Eiffel Tower was originally planned as a temporary structure. When it was unveiled in the year 1889, before the onset of the World’s Fair Exhibition, the promoters of the fair had planned to remove it after 20 years.If someone wants to reach the very top of the Eiffel Tower, they have to fulfill the herculean task of climbing a total of 1665 stairs!But that is only one of the options. The other way would be to walk up to the second floor, covering 674 stairs, and then take the elevator to get a comfortable ride to the top floor.The most visited part of the tower is on the second floor, where the visitors would be able to get panoramic views of the city of Paris.Tourists generally take about half an hour to go up to the second floor.If you get hungry after all the climbing and sightseeing, you could head into the restaurants that are present on the first and the second floors of this tower. This includes a champagne bar!The lighting system on The Eiffel Tower is under copyright protection. It is illegal to take photos of the tower at night and for commercial purposes.The tower is essentially an art installation. So, it was under copyright protection for a considerable amount of time. The tower’s copyright expired a long time ago, but it is a different case altogether with the lighting installation. The next time you think of using an image of an illuminated Eiffel Tower for use in a commercial project, think again!A structure as huge as the Eiffel Tower is still painted by hand! It takes around 60 tons of paint to give the famous tower a fresh new coat.Until this day, the tower has been given a makeover on 19 instances. A variety of colors have been used for this purpose, ranging from chestnut to reddish-brown and yellow.The standard color of brown is being used continuously to cover the tower since the ’60s.It has been reported that before the Paris Olympics 2024, the Parisian authorities would paint the tower with golden paint.During World War II, France was under the occupation of Nazi Germany. When the allied forces were liberating France, the retreating German troops were given direct orders by German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to destroy all the important landmarks and monuments of Paris. The list of targets included the Eiffel Tower!Fortunately, as fate would have it, the German officer-in-charge of the troops stationed in Paris, General von Choltitz, refused to obey the directive.It is said that von Choltitz was in love with the city, and therefore did not want to see it turn into ruins. Rather than detonating bombs placed throughout the city, he chose to surrender to the advancing allied troops.The Eiffel Tower is, remarkably, visited by more than 25,000 people every single day!
Paris welcomes the maximum number of tourists in the world, after Bangkok.
