Must-see in Paris: a first-timer's guide

A brief history Paris began as Lutetia, a Gallo-Roman town on an island in the Seine, and became the capital of the Frankish kings and then of a centralised France. The Revolution of 1789, Haussmann's boulevards in the 1850s and the world fairs that produced the Eiffel Tower gave the city its present shape. Occupied but largely undamaged in 1944, it remains a capital of art, food and protest. 10 must-see attractions 1. Eiffel Tower — Gustave Eiffel's 1889 iron tower, best at dusk when it sparkles on the hour. 2. Louvre — the world's most visited museum, from Mesopotamia to the Mona Lisa. 3. Notre-Dame de Paris — the gothic cathedral on the Ile de la Cite, reopened after its restoration. 4. Musee d'Orsay — impressionists in a converted Beaux-Arts railway station. 5. Sainte-Chapelle — a chapel of 15 towering stained-glass windows; go on a bright morning. 6. Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur — hilltop basilica, cobbled lanes and the widest view over the city. 7. Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe — the ceremonial avenue and its rooftop terrace. 8. Musee Rodin — The Thinker and The Kiss in a mansion garden. 9. Le Marais — medieval streets, falafel queues, galleries and the Place des Vosges. 10. Pere Lachaise Cemetery — a leafy city of tombs, from Chopin to Jim Morrison. Tip: book timed tickets online for the Louvre and the tower; queues eat whole mornings.