Even the first night you’ll discover why the city is known as "the city of lights". The capital of France consists out of 20 districts or how the French call it "arronsissements". Each one with its own style, character and special decoration. These arrondissements all have beautiful palaces, parks, cathedrals and gardens.

The story goes that the cities name is subdued from the great Prince Paris, the king of Troy’s son who fell desperately in love with Helen. The actual fact however is that the name Paris is derived from ‘parisii’, this is the name of a tribe who settled in the region around the 2nd century before Christ.

A lot of people believe the city of lights owns her name due to the millions of bulbs creating this romantic ambiance by night. Fact is that these lights stand symbol for the many illustrious residents, for example the artists, writers, and other intellectuals, all of them visit, or live in this city to find inspiration for their ‘masterpieces’.

In the area of fashion Paris is ‘the place to be’. In Paris new trends are created almost every day and Paris’s runways display the latest fashion from great names like: Dior, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Lacroix.

Also the French kitchen is famous all around the world, sometimes named ‘the gourmet mecca’ in Paris it is impossible not to find a restaurant to your liking.

Shopping in Paris

If you love shopping you’ll adore Paris. During your study, internship or practical work experience you’ll find the greatest stores, brands, centers, malls and shopping streets in Paris. Not to mention all the attractive boutiques spread throughout all the nostalgic streets. Truly trend-setting fashion is seen in the shops on Rue Etienne Marcel and Place des Victoires bordering the 1st and 2nd arrondissements. Some of the more familiar names of Haute Couture and jewelry include: Cartier (8th), Celine (8th), Chanel (1st & 8th), Chaumet, Christian Dior (8th), Christian Lacroix (8th), Piaget, Yves Saint Laurent (16th), and Van Cleef & Arpels (8th). All these names represent a level of quality and style which made them famous all over the world. Whilst you stay in Paris whether you are studying or doing an internship you are bound to find many shops that you can visit on weekends and on your day off to relax.

Parks and sights in Paris

Le Bois de Boulogne
The most famous and biggest park of the city is "Le Bois" and was designed in the 1850 by Baron Haussmann who based his design on London’s Hyde park. It used to be a royal forest and hunting ground, but now the 2.200 acres park is the favourite place to runners, rowers, strollers, bicyclists, picnickers and lovers.

Eiffeltower
If you don’t feel like going out of town there are a lot of other options to visit in Paris. The Eiffel tower for example, with its 300 meters (320.75m including antenna), and the gigantic weight of 7000 tons it has been the worlds tallest building until 1930. It is a great experience not only being on top of the tower but also looking at it from a terrace or just when you are lying in the grass resting from a harsh day of work during your study or internship in France. The Eiffel Tower was originally built for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889 commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution.

The tower was opened by the  Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII of England. There were 700 proposals submitted during a design competition, Gustave Eiffel's  design was chosen after a lot of resistance from well-know designers at the time. The building of the tower took 2 years, using a stunning  2.5 million rivets, 15.000 pieces of iron, 40 tons of paint and 300 steel workers. The tower sways of at most 12cm in hard winds and the height of the tower varies up to 15 cm. depending the temperature and it takes exactly 1652 steps to get to the top.

In 1909 it was saved from destruction because of its antenna which was then used for telegraphy and nowadays for radio and TV.

The tower has always attracted the attention of people with rather extreme thoughts. It has been scaled by a mountaineer in 1954, parachuted off of by two Englishmen in 1984 and there has been a journalist in 1923 who drove down from the first floor on a bike. The stories varies a bit on the point where he drove of, either the stairs or the interior of one of the slopes.

Arc De Triomph
Another option to visit during your internship or practical work experience in Paris is the Arc de Triomph, given the order to build in 1806 by Napoleon it took the builders until 1836 tot finish it. Its four pillars contain four huge relief sculptures at the base. These sculptures all represent a different subject, The Triumph of 1810 by Cortot, Resistance, and Peace both made by Etex and The Departure of the Volunteers which is better known as La Marseillaise made by Rude.