Orsay, one of Paris's most famous museums, is the connecting link between the Louvre and the Museum of Modern Art in the Georges Pompidou Center. The museum is located in the building of a former railway station and is dedicated to the fine arts of the period between 1848 and 1914. Owing to the unique collection of Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, Van Gogh, and Toulouse-Lautrec, Orsay is often called "the museum of the impressionists".

GEORGES POMPIDOU NATIONAL ART AND CULTURE CENTER

The museum is located in a 17th-century mansion in the Marais district. The collection encompasses all the periods of Picasso's creative work and contains hundreds of paintings, ceramics, drawings, prints, manuscripts, and sculptures.

In a splendid 18th-century mansion, and on the grounds of its garden, a collection of the works of the celebrated French sculptor Rodin and his student Camille Claudel is assembled. Here is displayed a collection of paintings by Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, and Carrere from Rodin's personal collection, and there are also photographs from his archive.

In the 17th century, during the days of Louis XIV, a beautiful palace was built on the bank of the Seine for the invalids and veterans of the Sun King's wars. A part of this architectural complex was devoted to the Army Museum, where an impressive collection of arms, armor, uniforms, and war relics was gathered. In the 19th century its cathedral accepted under its gilded dome the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte and became the museum-tomb of the great commander.

PARIS OPERA GARNIER

In this interactive town visitors can take part in the various exhibits and actions devoted to science and technology. Located here are one of the largest geodesic domes in the world, the first Omnifax movie theater with a screen area of 1000 square meters, a simulator with the equipment used for training pilots, a planetarium, a modern park with original and children's playgrounds, and a real submarine.

During the French Revolution, the church of Sainte-Genevieve was given a new purpose - to become a necropolis for France's outstanding figures. Here rest more than 70 of the great people of France, among them Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Andre Malraux, and Marie Curie.

The Museum of Medieval Arts is a shining example of the flaming Gothic style of the 15th century, having assembled a rich collection of sculptures, furniture, jeweler's ornaments, ceramics, and Gobelin tapestries. Next to the museum are the ruins of the ancient thermae, or baths, constructed during the times of the Roman Empire.

More than 2000 erotic exhibits are displayed on seven floors: rare cult objects, intricate instruments of pleasure, Japanese erotic prints, old films and postcards, and reproductions of comic pictures. Entrance is forbidden to minors.

The museum offers around 1000 exhibits: musical instruments, paintings, and sculptures from different countries of the world, produced between the 16th and 20th centuries. Each desiring visitor can hear recordings of the sounds of various instruments and different musical themes and tunes.

THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY OF PARIS

In the Wax Museum, great historical figures from the Middle Ages to our days are represented. Characters who have exerted important influence on the motion of history join here with representatives of le beau monde, the stars of show business, and sex symbols.

In 1804 the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte occurred here. After the French Revolution the church fell into decay, but V. Hugo's novel The Cathedral of the Parisian Mother of God aroused public interest in this 12th-century monument, and its restoration began. Owing to this recently carried out work, this unique masterpiece of world history appears before us in all her glory.

This building of darkened glass, intended for offices, was built in 1972, and at that time was Europe's highest construction. In just 38 seconds, Europe's fastest elevator will take you to a height of 196 meters the 56th floor, a grandiose panorama of Paris.

This symbol of the victories of the French army was conceived by Napoleon Bonaparte. Under the arch's span burns the eternal flame to the memory of the Unknown Soldier, who fell in the First World War. Having risen to the observation platform, from the height of a bird's flight, a magnificent vista of the city will open before you.

La Grande Arche de la Defense was called upon to complete the famous view of Paris, which rises from the Louvre, the Place de la Concorde, and the Champs-Elysees. In the recess of this grandiose arch one can easily locate the Cathedral of Notre Dame. La Defense is named for the statue, La Defense de Paris, which was built in 1883 to commemorate the soldiers who had defended Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. Danish architect Johann Otto von Spreckelsen designed it to be a 20th century version of the Arc de Triomphe.The Arche is almost a perfect cube, width: 108m, height: 110m, depth: 112m, 35 floors.

The only park of attractions that transmits real Gallic humor and taste to sharp entertainments. The park's attractions will raise the adrenaline of even the most severe amateurs of the extreme.

- Paris and the Three Musketeers,
- Hemingway in Paris,
- Around the secret places of The Da Vinci Code,
- Thruth and fiction in famous literary works,
- Parisian life of the greatets and powriters.

- The French Monarchy from 17th to the 19th centuries - royal places: Place des Vosges, Place Dauphine, Place des Victoires, Place de la Concorde, and Place Vendome,
- Napoleon Bonaparte - The Great Son of France,
- The criminal history of Paris: crime and punishment.

- Architectural Paris: Romanesque, Gothic, renaissance, Baroque, Classicism, Eclecticism, Modern, Constructivism, Minimalism...,
- Remembrance of the Great people of France: The Graves of famous people and the prominet tombstones in the Cemetieries of Pere-Lachaise, Montmartre, and Montparnasse,
- Paris of the Impressionists,
- The gardens and parks of Paris,
- The history of the monuments of Paris,
- The cafes and restaurants of Paris,
- The witnesses to great events,
- Paris of the Bohemians and youth,
- Paris: A cosmopolitan city: Russian Paris, Judaism in Paris, the Chinese Quarter,
- Medieval fortresses and royal residences,
- The empire of death in the Parisian Catacombs, where the Cemetery of the Innocent was transferred,
- Medieval Paris,
- A boat outing on the Seine,
- Flea markets,
- Antique shops,
- Adults-only Paris,
- The capital of fashion,
- Medieval fortresses and royal residences,
- The empire of death in the Parisian Catacombs, where the Cemetery of the Innocent was transferred,
- Gastronomical Paris.

The Chateau of Fontainebleau is the largest of the French royal chateaux. The chateau as it is today, is the work of many monarchs, building on a structure of Francois I. Fontainebleau introduced to France the Italian Mannerist style in interior decoration. The French Mannerist style of interior decoration of the 16th century is known as the "Fontainebleau style": it combined sculpture, metalwork, painting, stucco and woodwork. Broadly speaking, at Fontainebleau the Renaissance was introduced to France.Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte began to transform the Chateau de Fontainebleau into a symbol of his grandeur. At Fontainebleau Napoleon bade farewell to his Old Guard and went into exile in 1814

Vaux le Vicomte is one of the beautiful chateaux in France It was built in 1658-61 for Nicholas Fouquet, the finance minister of Louis XIII. The powerful King Louis XIV is kindly invited at Vaux le Vicomte. In those days, the King is living in Paris at Le Louvre palace. When discovering the beauty of the castle, the Sun King is driving mad, so he orders Fouquet's arrestation and banishment. Then he engages Le Brun and Le Notre, designers of Vaux le Vicomte decoration and gardens. Their mission was to imagine the most beautiful castle than ever possible. So was created Versailles.

Bought by Josephine Bonaparte in 1799, Malmaison was the home of the First Consul Napoleon and his wife from 1800 to 1802. After her divorce from the Emperor, Josephine retired to Malmaison. Malmaison became a museum in 1906, and is devoted to Napoleonic history.

Zola moved into his Medan house in 1878 . Over the years, as the writer's success grew, the building was to slowly change its appearance, gaining two towers, including the Tour Germinal, named after Zola's mining novel. Previously an orphanage and nurses' home, the villa became the Emile Zola Museum in 1985 - a fitting tribute to a man whose influence on world literature is felt to this day.

The unique opportunity to complete your journey across all of France in several hours. This largest park of miniatures in Europe will show you 150 landscapes, 140 of France's most beautiful buildings and monuments , 60,000 personages, 20,000 miniatures trees, more than 100 boats.

The Basilica of Saint Denis is the famous burial site of the French monarchs. Almost all the kings of France were buried here. The Church of St. Denis is known as the cradle of Gothic art. The basilica is located in Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris.

Journey in Thoiry - the exceptional opportunity, having traveled through the zoo-reserve by vehicle, to meet wild animals: bears, giraffes, lions, antelopes, and ostriches.

PICARDY

Chantilly is considered the pearl of France's cultural history and is famous for its palace apartments and museum of the fine arts of the Prince de Conde. Here are displayed masterpieces by Raphael, Delacroix, Gericault, Watteau, Van Dyck, and Ingres. In the park various styles are combined: the flower beds of the classical French, the romantic lines of the English landscapes, the diminutiveness of the East. In Chantilly's Grand Stables one can find "The Museum of the Living Horse" with its riding school, where riding demonstrations are conducted and the art of horse training is studied.

The city of Senlis preserves numerous testimonies to the rich history of France. Here the ruins of a Roman gladiatorial arena join with one of France's oldest Gothic cathedrals, and picturesque medieval streets become unique natural scenery. More than 100 films were shot in Senlis.

This palace, built in the 18th century on the foundation of an old royal castle, was one of the royal residences. Here Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette met for the first time, and, 40 years later, Napoleon Bonaparte met Marie Louise. Compiegne is a museum of the palace life of the periods of Louis XV and Napoleon III. Here one can also find the Museum of the Second Empire, one of the most magnificent epochs of the French monarchy, and the Museum of Transport and Tourism, with its impressive collection of transportation means from antiquity to the beginning of the 20th century.

This majestic castle-fortress of the 14th and 15th centuries, built according to all the rules of medieval military architecture, once belonged to the royal family. In the 17th century, on the orders of Louis XIV, the fortress was demolished, but in the middle of the 19th century it was reconstructed. From that time this feudal fortress, which rises majestically above a lake, has been one of France's most beautiful castle-forts.

The history of the city goes back to the middle of the first millennium. Medieval quarters, picturesque quays, and bridges revive the epoch when Chartres was a large cultural center and a rich city of artisans. Her majestic Cathedral is renowned world-over for its stained glass windows. Chartres became the center of Western European religious life and a place of pilgrimage.

Champagne - the world-famous region that gave its name to the most celebratory drink. The cities of Reims and Epernay hospitably invite you to visit Champagne houses for wine tasting and a journey through the history and the technology of the production of champagne. Reims Cathedral, one of the most majestic Gothic constructions of medieval architecture, is ranked by UNESCO among the treasure-houses of cultural world heritage. Thirty-two French kings were crowned here.

"The Palace of Ladies", is one of the most beautiful castles of the Loire River Valley. It is interesting because of its history and architecture, collection of furniture, and paintings by celebrated masters. King Francois I was fascinated with the castle, and later it was presented by Henri II to one of the most beautiful and clever women of the French court, Diane de Poitiers. After Henri II's death, Diane left the castle on the orders of the queen. Chenonceau became witness to the wild feasts of Catherine de' Medici and her voluptuous court. In the 18th century Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau came to the castle.

The Masterpiece of the Renaissance - built in the 16th century by Francois I, it was the symbol of France's political ambitions. This monumental castle is called "the stone symphony". 1800 workers toiled nearly thirty years for its construction. The castle contains 440 rooms, 365 fireplaces, 83 staircases, and is surrounded by an enormous park with an area of 5500 hectares, which has become a national hunting preserve.

In the beginning of the 16th century in Blois, one of the most interesting castles in the Loire Valley became a royal residence. The castle's architecture serves as a real panorama of French architectural styles: from Gothic to Renaissance and Classicism. The interior of Francois I's apartments are richly decorated with furniture, Gobelin tapestries, portraits, and marble busts. The Chateau de Blois was a witness to court life and the dramatic events of history.

Villandry is renowned for its beautiful gardens. From preserved 16th-century documents, the great expert and connoisseur of horticulture, the Spanish doctor Joachim Carvallo, created a marvelous park here in the beginning of the 20th century. Here two park traditions were merged: the Renaissance, and the medieval-cloister tradition of a garden of curative grasses. This park complex, unique in Europe, includes a "water" and a "musical" garden, heraldic and vegetable gardens, "gardens of love", and a garden of medicinal grasses with aromatic grasses.

This city, constructed in the beginning of the 12th century, owes its name to the monk-traveler who, in search of heaven, landed on the Emerald Coast in the 7th century. Seafarers, natives of Saint-Malo, and corsairs brought fame to the city, having transformed the city into a large seaport. Powerful fortress walls and narrow streets enchant the traveler by the virtue of their preserved history.

One of the most beautiful cities of Brittany. The fortress wall surrounding the old city, ancient churches, and picturesque narrow streets that go down to the port, preserve for us the original atmosphere of the medieval northern city, which has become one of France's most visited cities.

The house museum of Claude Monet at Giverny wallows in a sea of color. The fine garden became one of the master's great masterpieces, a painting created in nature itself. From early spring until late autumn, the garden's flowering season, Giverny becomes a place of pilgrimage for art lovers. The house, the garden, and the master's workshop will reveal to you the secret of Impressionism: a love of the beauty of nature, color, and lighting. Claude Monet's outstanding collection of 231 Japanese engravings is displayed in his house museum.

In the Place du Vieux Marche (Old Market Square), where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake, a 16th-century church with stained glass windows was erected. V. Hugo called Rouen the city "of the hundred bells". Rouen is considered the cradle of French Gothic style. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame (Rouen Cathedral), which inspired the impressionist Claude Monet, is one of the most vivid examples of French architecture. In the old quarter are preserved the frame houses typical of Rouen, winding bystreets, churches, and the famous 16th-century clock, which returns us to that age when one needed only one indicator to keep time.

The center of the city is located along the embankment of an old gulf. Buildings from the 16th and 17th centuries, faced according to Norman traditions in black shale, and a picturesque gulf with many yachts remind us of the times when French seafarers set out from here for Canada, in order to settle Quebec. After the Hundred Years' War, builders and architects were in great demand, and the carpenters of Honfleur, in order to thank the Lord for their liberation from the English, decided to build a church from wood themselves. Since that time the city is famous in France for its large wooden church of Saint Catherine. Honfleur inspired many impressionists.

Fecamp was the center of religious pilgrimage. We owe the emergence of the famous elixir "Benedictine" to monks. The Benedictine Palace and museum with its rich collection of paintings, sculpture, miniatures, and ancient customary objects relate to us the history of the creation of this liqueur. The museum visit concludes with a tasting of the medicinal "Benedictine".

The hill of Mont Saint-Michel, the granite islet, is called the miracle of light. On its peak rises an abbey, the first buildings of which was erected in the 8th century, and along the slope of the mountain began to grow the city. According to legend, it was precisely here that the Archangel Michael fought Satan in the form of a dragon. Mont Saint-Michel is one of the pilgrimage centers of Europe. The medieval city's narrow bystreets will lead us to the fortress wall, where it is possible to see the bewitching scene of the strongest rising tides and ebb-tides in Europe. Mont Saint-Michel towers above the ocean's boundless expanses at the time of the rising tide, and during the ebb-tide the ocean recedes by 14 meters, and the monastery finds itself on dry land.

The alleys along the streets of Dijon will present tourists unforgettable meetings with the city's rich history. In the 14th and 15th centuries this ancient town became a splendid center of art and architecture. The center of the city can be called an historical preserve. Today it is a large university city, and in its bright cultural life history, art, and the present intertwine.

This city will present you with a journey into the past. In the 15th century, during the Hundred Years' War, when famine and the plague arrived in Burgundy, the wealthy noble Nicolas Roland and his wife decided to build the Hotel-Dieu, a shelter for beggars and paupers. This shelter, which looks more like a palace, amazes with the festive beauty of its many-colored roofs. Beaune is, of course, the capital of Burgundy wine. Located in the former palace of the Dukes of Burgundy is the Museum of Burgundy Wine, which relates the history of the wine and French wine-making traditions.