Attractions

The Musée d'Orsay, situated on the Left Bank of the Seine in Paris, France, is a museum that occupies the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station constructed from 1898 to 1900. This museum primarily features French art from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It boasts the world's most extensive collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces, showcasing works by renowned painters like Berthe Morisot, Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin, and van Gogh. Prior to its opening in 1986, many of these pieces were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume. With its vast collection and size, it ranks among the largest art museums in Europe.
Although the museum had a significant increase in visitors from 1.4 million in 2021 to 3.2 million in 2022, it was still behind its pre-COVID-19 pandemic numbers of 3.6 million visitors in 2019. In 2020, it ranked fifteenth on the list of the most-visited art museums.

The Luxembourg Garden, also known as Jardin du Luxembourg in French and colloquially referred to as Jardin du Sénat or Senate Garden, is situated in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. The garden's origins date back to 1612 when Marie de' Medici, the widow of King Henry IV, built the Luxembourg Palace as her new residence. Today, the garden is owned by the French Senate, which uses the Palace as its meeting place. Spanning 23 hectares (56.8 acres), the garden is famous for its lush lawns, tree-lined walkways, tennis courts, colorful flowerbeds, and octagonal Grand Bassin that features model sailboats. Additionally, the garden boasts the picturesque Medici Fountain, constructed in 1620. The name Luxembourg is derived from the Latin Mons Lucotitius, which refers to the hill on which the garden is situated.

The de la Concorde Square is the central square of Paris, a prominent monument of urban planning from the era of Neoclassicism. Located on the right bank of the Seine, in the city center between the Champs-Élysées (to the west) and the Tuileries Garden (to the east), it is the second largest square in France (after the des Quinconces Square in Bordeaux). Originally named after King Louis XV, it was renamed the de la Révolution Square after the overthrow of the monarchy, where public executions were carried out using the guillotine. Notable figures executed here include Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and Maximilien Robespierre. The square was given its current name in 1795 as a symbol of reconciliation between classes following the end of the revolutionary terror. In 1937, the square's ensemble was listed as a historical monument in France.
At the center of the square stands the 23-meter Luxor Obelisk, gifted to France in 1831 by the Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali. The obelisk, around 3300 years old, is adorned with hieroglyphs that describe the reigns of Pharaohs Ramesses II and Ramesses III.

Located in the seventh arrondissement of Paris, France, the Champ de Mars is a vast public greenspace situated between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park's name is derived from the Campus Martius ("Mars Field") in Rome, which honors the Roman god of war, as the lawns in this area were once used for military training and marching by the French military.
The Champ de Mars can be easily accessed through several Métro stations, including La Motte-Picquet–Grenelle, École Militaire, and Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel, as well as a disused station, also named Champ de Mars, which is located nearby.

The Pont Alexandre III is a picturesque deck arch bridge that crosses over the Seine River in Paris, linking the Champs-Élysées neighborhood with the Invalides and Eiffel Tower areas. Considered by many as the most intricate and lavish bridge in the city, it has earned the distinction of being recognized as a French monument historique since 1975.

The Sainte-Chapelle, a royal chapel on the Île de la Cité in Paris, is a Gothic masterpiece from the Rayonnant era, commissioned by King Louis IX in 1238 to house his Passion relics, including Christ's Crown of Thorns. Surviving the 2019 Notre-Dame fire, it's one of the oldest buildings of the Capetian royal palace, notable for its 13th-century stained glass. Despite damage during the French Revolution and later restoration, it now operates as a museum under the French Centre of National Monuments and is considered one of the most beautiful small-sized Gothic churches.

La Bonne Mère, also known to locals as Notre-Dame de la Garde, is a Catholic basilica situated in Marseille, France, and is considered the city's most iconic landmark. At a height of 149 meters (489 feet), it sits on the highest natural point in Marseille, a limestone outcropping on the south side of the Old Port of Marseille. The basilica is a popular pilgrimage site, particularly on Assumption Day, and was once the most visited location in Marseille.
Construction of the basilica began in 1853 and took over 40 years to complete. Originally an enlargement of a medieval chapel, Father Bernard, the chaplain, requested a new structure, and architect Henri-Jacques Espérandieu designed the plans. The basilica consists of a lower church or crypt in the Romanesque style, carved from the rock, and an upper church of Neo-Byzantine style adorned with mosaics. A 41-meter (135-foot) square bell tower supports a monumental 11.2-meter (37-foot) statue of the Madonna and Child, made of copper gilded with gold leaf.
The basilica was consecrated on 5 June 1864, while still unfinished. An extensive restoration took place from 2001 to 2008, which included repairing mosaics damaged by candle smoke, green limestone that had corroded due to pollution from Gonfolina, and stonework that had been hit by bullets during the Liberation of France. Michel Patrizio, a Marseille artist, oversaw the restoration of the mosaics, and his workmen were trained in Friuli, north of Venice, Italy. The tiles were supplied by the workshop in Venice that had made the original mosaics.

The National Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations is situated in Marseille, France. It was opened on June 7, 2013, as a component of Marseille-Provence 2013, a year when Marseille was chosen as the European Capital of Culture. The museum was honored with the Council of Europe Museum Prize in 2015.

The Palais Longchamp is a monument located in Marseille, France. It was built in the late 19th century to commemorate the construction of the Canal de Marseille, which brought water to the city from the River Durance. The monument was designed by the architect Henry Esperandieu and was inaugurated in 1869.

The Marseille Cathedral, situated in Marseille, is a significant national monument of France and a Roman Catholic cathedral. Since 1896, it has held the status of a minor basilica. The Archdiocese of Marseille is headquartered here, having previously been known as the Diocese of Marseille until its promotion in 1948.