Paris

Location:

Paris is the Capital of France, located in the Ile-de-France region.

Presentation:

"Modern" Paris is the result of a vast mid-19th-century urban remodelling. For centuries it had been a labyrinth of narrow streets and half-timber houses, but beginning in 1852, the Baron Haussmann's vast urbanisation levelled entire quarters to make way for wide avenues lined with neo-classical stone buildings of bourgeoise standing; most of this 'new' Paris is the Paris we see today.

Paris had always been a destination for traders, students and those on religious pilgrimages, but its 'tourism' in the proper sense of the term began on a large scale only with the appearance of rail travel, namely from state organisation of France's rail network from 1848. One of Paris' first 'mass' attractions drawing international interest were, from 1855, the above-mentioned Expositions Universelles that would bring Paris many new monuments, namely the Eiffel tower from 1889. These, in addition to the Capital's 2nd Empire embellishments, did much to make the city itself the attraction it is today.

The Louvre is one of the largest and most famous museums, housing many works of art, including the Mona Lisa (La Joconde) and the Venus de Milo statue. Works by Pablo Picasso and Rodin are found in Musée Picasso and Musée Rodin respectively, while the artistic community of Montparnasse is chronicled at the Musée du Montparnasse. Starkly apparent with its service-pipe exterior, the Centre Georges Pompidou, also known as Beaubourg, houses the Musée National d'Art Moderne. Lastly, art and artifacts from the Middle Ages and Impressionist eras are kept in Musée Cluny and Musée d'Orsay .

Economy:

  • Population: 2,153,600 inhabitants
  • Density: 20,433 inhabitants/sq km
  • With a 2005 GDP of €478.7 billion, the Paris Area has one of the highest GDPs in Europe, making it an engine of the global economy: if it were a country, it would rank as the sixteenth largest economy in the world.
  • The Paris Region is thus 's premier centre of economic activity: while its population accounted for 18.7% of the total population of metropolitan in 2005, its GDP was about 28.5% that of metropolitan .
  • In recent decades, the Paris economy has been shifting towards high value-added service industries (finance, IT services, etc.) and high-tech manufacturing (electronics, optics, aerospace, etc.).
  • Paris' administrative borders have little consequences on the limits of its economic activity: although most workers commute from the suburbs to work in the city, many commute from the city to work in the suburbs. At the 1999 census, 47.5% of the 5,089,170 people in employment in the Paris metropolitan area (including commuter belt) worked in the city of Paris and the Hauts-de-Seine département, while only 31.5% worked exclusively in Paris.
  • Paris is the most popular tourist destination in the world, with over 30 million foreign visitors per year. There are numerous iconic landmarks among its many attractions, along with world famous institutions and popular parks.
  • Paris property market is the top performing investment market in Europe. Those who buy properties in Paris, not only get strong yield, but also exposure to the continuing high capital appreciation of properties.

Grandes écoles

The Paris region hosts France's highest concentration of the prestigious grandes écoles, which are specialised centres of higher education outside the public university structure. The prestigious public universities are usually considered grands établissements.


Most of the grandes écoles were relocated to the suburbs of Paris in the 1960s and 1970s, in new campuses much larger than the old campuses within the crowded city of Paris, though the École Normale Supérieure has remained on rue d'Ulm in the Ve arrondissement.

The Paris area has a high number of engineering schools, led by the prestigious Paris Institute of Technology (ParisTech) which comprises several colleges such as École Polytechnique, École des Mines, Télécom Paris, and École des Ponts et Chaussées. There are also many business schools, including ESSCA, HEC, ESSEC, INSEAD, and ESCP-EAP European School of Management.

Although the elite administrative school ENA has been relocated to Strasbourg, the political science school Sciences-Po is still located in Paris' Left bank VIIe arrondissement.


Easy Access:

- By plane: Direct flight from Dublin/Cork to Paris (1h10/1h40)
- By train: Six major railway stations, Gare du Nord, Gare Montparnasse, Gare de l'Est, Gare de Lyon, Gare d'Austerlitz, and Gare Saint-Lazare connect this train network to the world famous and highly efficient Métro network, with 380 stations connected by 221.6km of rails.
- By car: Motorways: A86, A104, N104, N184
- Bus bus/metro/tram: The Métro is one of Paris' most important methods of transportation. The system comprises 16 lines, identified by numbers from 1 to 14.
There are two tramway lines in the suburbs: Line T1 runs from Saint-Denis to Noisy-le-Sec, line T2 runs from La Défense to Issy. A third line T-3, between Pont du Garigliano and Porte d'Ivry, along the southern inner orbital road opened for use on December 15, 2006.

 

 

 

 
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