False msafiri Roissy- Charles- de- Gaulle Airport is 23km northeast of the city centre. Although several bus services link the airport to central Paris, an easier option is take the RER train line B which connects with the Gare du Nord, Les Halles and St Michel. Allow at least 30 minutes and around € 45 if travelling by taxi to the city centre. The main Office de Tourisme de Paris ( open 10am- 7pm Monday- Saturday and 11am- 7pm Sunday) is located near the Pyramide metro station. If Paris were a country, it would rank as the fourteenth largest economy in the world. Paris is the world’s most- visited city, with over 30 million tourist arrivals every year – almost three times the city’s own population. Its most popular attraction is Disneyland Paris ( around 15 million visitors annually), followed by the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral. Paris owes much of its unique style to the visionary planner Baron Haussmann, who in the mid- nineteenth century laid out 135km of new roads, including many of the city’s most famous avenues and boulevards, knocking down large parts of the old medieval city in the process. According to urban legend, I. M. Pei’s famous Louvre pyramid is said to contain exactly 666 panes of glass – the number of the devil. In fact, it contains 673. The Louvre is just one of the city’s 150- plus museums and galleries, which also include world- renowned attractions such as the Musée d’Orsay and the ultra- modern Pompidou Centre. The city is home to the world’s most famous cemetery, Père Lachaise, the final resting place of luminaries ranging from Molière to Jim Morrison. Paris has ten 3- Star Michelin restaurants – that’s ten times as many as London. The easiest and cheapest way to get around the city is on the famous Paris Métro, which boasts sixteen lines, 213km of track and 298 stations ( including the world’s largest underground station, Châtelet- Les Halles). Single tickets start at just over a euro. Parisians have a worldwide reputation for snootiness. In a recent international poll, Paris was ranked the world’s third most attractive city, but came only 52nd out of 60 for friendliness! habariinspiration With Kenya Airways resuming flights to Paris this summer, msafiri presents some essential facts about the French capital PARIS touchdown 20 USEFUL INFORMATION Kenya Airways operates three flights a week from Nairobi to Paris, which has excellent connections to America and other European destinations. See page 147 for details Constructed using over 18,000 metal parts and 2.5 million rivets, the Eiffel Tower weighs 10,100 tonnes – that’s like 2020 African elephants standing on top of each other. It’s also clocked up over 220 million visitors since it opened in 1889. 01 02 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 CDG CONNECTIONS 03 FROM TOP: Parisian landmarks include the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Pompidou Centre and Notre Dame Cathedral

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