Atmospheric Paris is said to inspire five million moments of romance a day, the result of its appreciation for the beauty of a moment. Its tumultuous past includes hosting the violence of the French Revolution, and enduring German occupation during the Second World War. Known as the City of Light, evening brings out Paris' best features, with lamps lining the grand Champs-Elysees, leading to the city's most venerated monument, the Arc de Triomphe.

The Musee de Louvre was once a fortress, and is where da Vinci's priceless Mona Lisa is protectively housed. The Eiffel Tower's ingenious design paved the way for modern skyscrapers, and the city's bohemian Montmartre district, topped by the Basilique Sacre Cœur, epitomizes avant-garde. Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France inside the Gothic Notre Dame Cathedral, the first to employ flying buttresses. Roman settlers made their way along the Seine's Left Bank, stopping at what is now the provocative Latin Quarter, and ancient ruins remain. Pure Paris, Pigalle is stimulating, provocative and sexy, the birthplace of the cabaret.