Knopf Guide: Paris (Knopf City Guides)

"Combines the beauty of a coffee-table tome with the hard facts and compact size of a traditional guidebook." -- Vogue

A city of incomparable beauty, culture and history, Paris has enchanted writers from Balzac to Hemingway and artists from Monet to Picasso. Paris is the place travelers return to year after year -- to revisit favorite cafes, museums, parks  and palaces, to take in the art and architecture, fragrance and couture, music and cuisine. Discover the "city of lights."

Sample the sights and sounds of Paris, from the gloriously restored Marais district to historic Left Bank streets with their irresistible antique shops. Visit the places you have always heard about: the Pantheon, burial site of Voltaire, Hugo and Rousseau; Notre-Dame, masterpiece of Gothic architecture and haunt of the fictional Quasimoto; the Paris Opera, with its glittering chandeliers and resplendent ceiling painted by Chagall. Go underground and explore the famous catacombs or venture out to the celebrated sites nearby, including Versailles, Vaux-le-Viocomte and Chantilly. Discover the romance of Paris with detailed itineraries to guide you through one of Europe's most beloved cities.

These striking new guides to seven major destinations are so appealing that you won't be able to put them down--even after you've stopped traveling. Slender and light, they fit into your purse or pocket. The traveler gets a rich flavor of a city through 600 vibrant color photographs while being guided through the 400 best hotels, restaurants, shops, and cultural sights.

Each guide is divided into nine sections: Everything You Need to Know takes you into a given city and explains local transportation once you are there; Where to Stay lists 80 hotels with a wide range in price; Where to Eat includes everything from diners to four-star restaurants; After Dark shows you the clubs, discos, theaters, and concert halls; What to See guides the traveler from museums to cultural monuments and other places of interest; Further Afield provides 36 excursions just outside the city to historic houses, botanical gardens, zoos, or museums; and Where to Shop features 80 different boutiques, department stores, and markets. At the back are subway and bus routes and 10 double-page spreads of city Maps. Also included is the Business Reference Guide, with information for the business traveler on the city's stock exchange, major banks, business newspapers, television and radio stations, as well as a schedule of conventions.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS
The guide to PARIS features such exquisite museums as the Gustave Moreau and the most interesting restaurants, including Taillevent and La Coupole.