First goes Paris Métro (or Métropolitain) which was first open back in 1900. A first train had only three wooden cars and 3 years after opening the great catastrophe happened – the fire which had suddenly begun in the metro carried 84 people lives away. Instead of stopping the driver kept the train moving until it was back in the tunnel, and only then he stopped for help at the first station. That only strengthened the fire and became a reason of sad consequences.

One of the Paris Métro symbols is the original art nouveau entrances (glass and cast-iron canopies) made according to the project of famous architecture Hector Guimard, and 83 of them still survive.

Today Paris is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow . But underground Paris is much more than just 199 km of metro lines. Besides that Paris catacombs and city canalization attract people from all over the world. Is there any need in saying that all these tree underground systems repeatedly cross each other?

Paris catacombs is another important part of the city inner world. Catacombs is nothing but 300 km of subterranean tunnels and caverns organized in the end of 18 th century which became a museum in 1867. Tourists can see only a little part of the labyrinth which entrance starts with the words: « Stop! Here is the empire of death». After that goes 1,5 km of tunnels packed with femurs, fragments of backbones, skulls, edges and smaller parts of a human skeleton. During the French revolution Paris cemetery didn’t have enough place for dead bodies anymore and it was decided to create three new large-scale suburban cemeteries and to put all existing within the city limits – under the ground. And since 1786 till 1860 about 6 million of skeletons were moved down.

But Paris from the inside is not only about metro and catacombs. Can you believe that twenty metres below the Paris pavements is truly another world? And this mysterious world is inhabited by vagabonds, drug dealers and even underground movie freaks.

A special «sport police» group observes the situation under the city ground. And that is also «the place of glory» for urban explorers so popular in Paris . Group of people comes together not for some special scientific searches but for «living in digging» – meaning these people spend all their free time discovering unusual, mystic and even frightening things under the ground. Thus, back in 2004 a group of urban explorers found a real underground movie theatre organized by «movie philes» or a sect as it got known later. This cinema was going 18 metres under had an amphitheatre shape with terraces cut into the rock and chairs, and a huge screen with professional projectors. Next to the movie theatre there was a bar and the whole place had electricity – later on the police was wondering how the electricity cables could get in there without anybody knowing. The next day when the officers came back to lift the cinema equipment upward they found absolutely nothing but a little note on the floor saying «Do not try to find us».

The famous photographer Patrick Alk, the author of the book « Discovering the Paris underground», commented this weird case on the radio saying: «There is about a dozen more of such movie theaters under the ground. Does it make any difference if the police just found one of them? You guys can’t even imagine what’s going on underneath there». And it looks like we really don’t.

Suicide has always been a great problem not only in Europe but all over the world. What makes people kill themselves? Hardly any of us can answer this question because even the age, social status or sex do not define a reason for committing a suicide. Every year about 1,000,000 suicides happen worldwide and Europe, east and west, has 163,000 of those. Most people decide to end their lives at home or work and some of them chose a special place to visit before death.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Europe has the world’s highest suicide rate and if it used to be the over-75 age group, today the cases are rising among young people. Women attempt suicide 3 times more than men, though men 3 times more actually commit it. It is known that women are more likely to chose “romantic” ways of killing themselves like poisoning or jumping off high buildings and bridges while men use much more violent methods such as gunshot to head and mouth or crush injury. All the scientists and researchers firmly insist that Europe needs to lose its shameful record of 17.5 suicides per 100,000 population. Talking about most suicidal countries the UK, Sweden, Germany, France, Hungary and Belgium are on top-10.

Today not only the number but also the types of suicides change. Now you can meet a lot of people coming from different countries to big cities and famous places of interest to end their lives jumping off the cliff, a bridge or a tower. This kind of people is now called “tourists-suicides” and the popular places where the case takes place – “suicide sites”. These destinations have a certain reputation and some magic aura that attracts people who decided to die. Psychologists say those who attempt suicide in a well-known place try to draw other people’s attention they needed while being alive.

Among such suicide sites – Clifton Bridge and Humber Bridge located in the UK, Göltzschtalbrücke – the railway bridge in Germany, Cliffs of Moher – the spectacular seaside cliffs located in Ireland, Nusle Bridge (or Nuselsky Most) in Prague, and of course Eiffel Tower in Paris.

A lot of people kill themselves in Paris, and jumping off the “Iron Lady” (which is 1,063 feet high) is the third most popular method of suicide after poisoning and hanging in France. Actually only about 68% of the suicides are known by the Official Statistic in Paris region and 26% of them for Paris city, and after AIDS, suicide is the second cause of death here.

The first suicide at the Eiffel Tower was committed by a 23-year-old man who hanged himself from one of the beams on July, 15th 1898. The most recent case of suicide, according the media, happened on June, 26th this year. A young woman threw herself from half way up the Eiffel Tower, crashing onto a restaurant patio on the first floor of the Paris monument. For 120 years since the monument construction about 400 people killed themselves here, of which two survived the 171 feet drop from the first floor, one was blown onto a rafter by the wind and one young woman landed on the roof of a car. The interesting fact that later on after recovering from her injuries this woman married the owner of the car.

Several years ago 6 feet high barriers have been constructed on the tower perimeter in order to lessen the number of incidents. And now, as the Police Préfecture says, suicide attempts became really rare. Though there are still a lot of people who desire to jump off a famous Paris site. At least 4-5 cases of suicide a year happen here. That is the reason why the Eiffel Tower is named one of the most popular suicide sites in Europe. Though it would better be just a nice place to visit…

Are you ready to dip into the incredible world of sweets? Follow us.

Start. Let’s start with the special French dessert which you can hardly find anywhere in other countries.

Step 1. Search for best macarons

What is macarons? Sounds like macaroni, doesn’t it? Though it has nothing in common with noodles or pasta it is not any less popular or any less delicious. Macarons are sandwich-like pastries made with two thin cookies and a cream or ganache between the cookies. It has different flavours and you can pick up the one which is your favourite.

Lenôtre is one of the most famous places in Paris where you can find macarons, its boutiques scattered around Paris and offer not only unusual sweet sandwiches but many other delicacies. One of the boutiques is situated in the 36, avenue La Motte Picquet.

Another nice place which was founded back in 1802 is called Dalloyau and it offers not only delicious but also very light macarons of raspberry, lemon or champagne tastes. You just go in 2, place Edmond Rostand direction and there is it – best macarons treasure.

Step 2. Search for best candies

L’Etoile d’Or is a little candy shop in the rue Fontaine. Once having been here you will come back again and again because this place has all the candies you can only dream about. Chocolate bars and bites, the calissons, the bonbons, the almonds, the pralines, the nougatine, specialties from all around Paris, jams, tea, biscuits, and what not you can find in this candy fairy tale.

But even more attention deserves the store’s owner – Denise Acabo. The emotional and fast speaking woman in the 50 th looks like a schoolgirl standing there at the register having a school blouse with a tie and a blue skirt on. This woman who can tells you 1000 stories a minute is famous all over Paris and many people come to this wonderful store just to hear her sweet: «C’est pour toi?» (Is it all for you?) while you grab tons of candies.

Step 3. Search for best ice-cream

One of the best places to get a really good ice-cream is Berthillon. Are you a glace chocolat fan? You are welcome. Want a chocolat amer? No problems! And their Caramel-Buerre-Salé is better than any caramel ice-cream ever. Fruit sorbets, scoop ice-creams, cream and waffles – there is no need to list them all. Just visit Berthillon in the 31, rue Saint Louis en L’lle, and you’ll see it with your own eyes.

Step 4. Search for best marshmallows

While Americans love fried marshmallows, Russians hardly know what marshmallow is, French invented thousands of different kinds of these yummy stuff. Marshmallows has always been the favourite snack for Parisians – first made with mallow it was thought to be good for health, then made of gelatin it was taken for pleasure. You can find marshmallows everywhere you go – in bakery and pastry stores, supermarkets and cafes. But the biggest variety of marshmallows is offered by Pain de Sucre in the Marais (14, rue Rambuteau). Chocolate coved, with coconut, whiskey, fruit flavours – you can find here the marshmallow for your own taste.

Step 5. Search for best chocolate

Pierre Marcolini is known over the world for his chocolate. Not to only Belgium but France , too, can enjoy this dark sea of pleasure. Situated in the 89, Rue de Seine in Paris this place offers you rich and thick chocolate. Be careful – don’t miss your taxi back to the hotel while being captured by this incredible dessert!

Attention: if you try the Chocolate-Covered Marshmallows here you can even forget your own name! Just dip the marshmallow into the hot chocolate and try it. Isn’t it really something awesome?

Finish. Full and happy we are ready for a little break. Take pictures of these wonderful cafes and restaurants. Don’t forget about sweets and candies themselves. And… Go ahead tasting new and more delicious things!

Paris is a circle of boulevards, spiral of districts, rays of avenues and elegant squiggles of bunders on the map. There are many borders: administrative, topographic, symbolic. Topographic borders align with a ring of so-called “boulevards of marshals” (boulevards des marechaux) that have names of Napoleon’s military commanders – Ney, Davout, McDonald, Masséna. Around this ring that passes through the line of municipal frontiers of XIX century; almost joining to it, boulevards peripheriques by-passing highway is situated. The Seine is flowing from east to west smoothly bending that is thruway, symbolic border and the symbol by itself: the ship is represented on the emblem of Paris. The Cité island (Ile de la Cité) divides cradle of Paris into two branches. There is smaller island near it that is called the Île Saint-Louis, one of the most romantic old places in the city. Tourists that come to the main and the most Parisian cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris, prevail on the Cité. They walk and taste famous local ice-cream Bertillon on Saint-Louis. Two banks of the river are different: the Left bank (Rive gauche) is quite differs from the Right bank (Rive droite). The spirit of the Left bank is defined by Notre Dame School. School became Sorbonne; Latin district appeared around Sorbonne – students, youth, artists, musicians, professors, poets. Traditionally Latin bank considered being artistic and bohemian, and Right bank is administrative and business.

Still, there is nothing permanent. Borders wash out, shift, correct. Center of live in turn moves from one side of the Seine to another. Notorious bohemia of the Left bank has bourgeoisified, prices for estate has grown here and poor, young and talented people started to move in to the Right bank. That’s why the Left bank of Seine goes to sleep at half past ten now and you have to search for night life on the other bank. Mediaeval Le Marais was taken fancy to Parisian gays, once gloomy square of the Bastille (place de la Bastille) was taken fancy to bikers and drug dealers.

For sure, districts around the Bastille or Oberkampf street that were new-fashion not long ago losing charm of novelty now, and do not obtain anything instead, and in some time the Left bank will become fashionable again, but now it is more interesting to live on the Right bank.

Administratively Paris divided into 20 districts (arrondissements) that pass by spiral from the center to suburbs. The first ring is historical center, from the 1 st to the 6 th district where the most part of museums, monuments and old buildings is located. It is prestigious and expensive to live here. The next ring appeared in XIX century as the result of town-planning works of Baron Haussmann. Eastern districts are simpler, poorer and democratic; there are many workers and immigrants. Aristocracy is always resided on the west in 16th and 17th districts. Finally, neighboring villages, that became city districts and saved their tint and individuality more than others, got into the northern part of the city; these are Montmartre, Belleville and Menilmontant.

Paris is not big and very compact city. It is pleasant to walk there. To move away from big avenues, boulevards, to walk through alleys without any purpose, to go into open houses, to sit in squares, to have a cup of coffee on porches, to be found now in Chinese 13th district, then in Vietnamese 20th, to visit American church on the Orcay embankment, to look through Russian books in Shakespeare& Со, to drink some tea in mosque that is in the 5th district. At the same time to feel as a native and as a tourist, as a local and as a foreigner. In brief, to experience feeling of the city that as Sacha Guitry, actor and director, said: “Parisian is not that man that was born in Paris, but that was born here again”.

Every sixth habitant of Paris is a foreigner. Only more than 300 thousands of them settled on legal bases within peripherique (ring road). It is almost impossible to count illegal immigrants and those, who were able to get rid of foreign status. Africans, Chinese, Russians, Japanese, Greeks, Armenians, Portuguese, British, Indians and Brazilians were living and are living here.

Arab mosque, Russian Orthodox Church, Japanese pagoda, Irish pub and Chinese supermarket are neighboring with frontispieces of Paris designed by Haussmann. Charles Aznavour’s family is from Armenia. The best caviar in the city is in Petrossian shops. Beginning with 1920 th Polish bookshop opened on the Boulevard Saint-Germain. Parisian Greeks feed tourists and students with shawarma in the Saint-Séverin Quarter. Parisian Portuguese guard porches as concierges. But for the first time they appeared long ago: the best friend of Rabelais and Montaigne was Antonio Gouveia vice-chancellor of Saint-Barb College. Latin American cabaret and clubs are always full of people. At different times from Romania to Paris have moved countess Anna de Noailles, writer Mircea Eliade, sculptor Brîncusi who is now called Brâncusi after the mode of France . Russian writer Andreï Makine has got prestigious Goncourt Reward (Prix Goncourt). Czech Milan Kundera writes novels in French. Everything has mixed and became Parisian.

Americans Left bank. Hemingway, Dos Passos, Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Man Ray, Henry Miller, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Jim Morrison. American bookshops Shakespeare & Co on bunder opposite Notre Dame and Village Voice in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. American church on Orce bunder. Old bar Harry’s New York where as to city legend “Bloody Mary” cocktail was invented.

Arabs The most numerous foreign commune in Paris ; the main part of 11 th , 18 th , 19 th , 20 th districts’ population. Restaurants with North African couscous and Lebanese meze. Markets and rag fair on boulevard de la Chapelle, next to Tati shop. Smiling Zidane on huge posters. Tea-house and hammam near the Great Mosque. Concerts of North African music rai. Institute of Arabian world of Jean Nouvel.

Africans Quarter La Goutte d’Or (18 th district). Market of African goods on Dejean street . African galleries, hairdressing saloons. The Musée Dapper. Halls dedicated to black Africa in the Museum of Man (Musée de l’Homme). Images d’ailleurs cinema on la Klee street . It is polite to say “black” (noir) instead of “negro” (nègre).

Jewish eastern European Jews Ashkenazi in Marais quarter. North African Jews Sephardim in Belleville and Sentier districts. Scripturists in black coats, broadbrims and with paces. Synagogue on Pape street . The Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme. Kosher restaurants and grocery shops on Rozier street .

Hindu Markets of spices, restaurants and shops in the beginning of Faubourg-Saint-Denis street and near the Northern railway station. Indian figurines, sari, traditional ornamentals, rice in deposits, spices, the latest novelties of Bollywood and cassettes with Indian music in the Passage Brady. Concerts and performances in Mandapa Center . Temple of Ganesha in La Chapelle quarter.

Chinese Big Parisian Chinatown in 13 th district and Chinese quarter in Belleville. Asian supermarket Thang Frères. Chinese antiques in gallery-pagoda on Courcelles street. Ieoh Ming Pei ’s Pyramid in Louvre. Colonial China Club with billiard and smoking hall. Menu with 500 dishes in New Nioulaville restaurant.

Creoles French overseas territories and departments (dom/tom). Cheerful music, bright dresses, crazy dances, funny and touching accent, Big opened smile. Annual Tropical carnival (the beginning of July, 12 th district). Radio station Media Tropical (92,6 fm). Art galleries on Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Shops with traditional textiles and dresses in Château-Rouge district.

Russians Auteuil , Passy, 17 th district. Saint-Alexandre-Nevski Cathedral on Daru street . Cabins built at the opening of World Fair in 1867. Russian Orthodox cemetery in the suburbs of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois. Wooden church of Seraphim of Sarov on Lecourbe street . "Russian thought" newspaper. Ukrainian borsch and potato pies in canteen under the Conservatory of Sergei Rachmaninoff .

Japanese Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garcons, Kenzo. Japanese restaurants on Sainte-Anne street and around Opéra Garnier. Old Japanese pagoda – cinema La Pagode. Packs of yellow blonds that buy all in a row in Collete. Crowds of old fellow tourists with serial number on the cap and camera on the neck.

Ask 100 different people what reminds them of Paris and you will definitely hear – Eiffel Tower. We all know that this «Iron Lady» has always been the symbol of Paris. We also know why – this huge 1,063 ft high tower (which is equal to 81-level building) can be seen from almost any point of the city and the city, too, is spread before the eyes from the top of Eiffel Tower. More than 200,000,000 people have visited the tower since its construction in 1889, making it the most visited paid monument in the world, and on March, 31st this year this incredible structure has turned 120 years old.

But ask yourself what interesting facts you know about Eiffel Tower and it will make you thoughtful for a while.

To begin with this tower should not have even be there back in 1889. When French engineer Gustave Eiffel first decided to raise this structure in 1887 he met with much criticism from the public. Most famous cultural workers of that time even signed the document which said: «And during next years we shall see, stretching over the entire city, still thrilling with the genius of so many centuries, we shall see stretching out like a black blot the odious shadow of the odious column built up of riveted iron plates.»

One of the biggest Eiffel Tower «haters» – novelist Guy de Maupassant – even used to have lunch in the Tower’s restaurant – that was the only place in Paris where he couldn’t see this «disgusting» structure, he explained.

But time passed and Eiffel Tower instead of being the object of irritation soon became an object of admiration.

Later on during the Second World War just before Hitler came to Paris in 1940 frenchmen injured the lift drive which couldn’t be fixed because of the war. So Nazi solders were not able to climb on the top of the tower and raise their banner there. From that moment people began to say that Hitler conquered France but didn’t manage to conquer Eiffel Tower.

«Iron Lady» can also count about a dozen of interesting and unbelievable facts in its history.

Thus on February 4th 1912 an Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt jumped from the first level of Eiffel Tower having self-made wings on his back and died of a sudden heart attack on his way down.

In 1925 a conman named Victor Lustig managed to «sell» the great tower for scrap metal twice. He persuaded two different powerful men to take part in financial support of the structure which was supposedly exposed to danger from the government.

From 1925 to 1935 illuminated signs of Citroën decorated three of the tower’s four sides. That became the highest advertising space in the word at that time.

In January of 1956 a sudden fire destroyed the top of the structure which was later reconstructed.

On July, 22nd 2003 the top of the tower was on fire again. The fire could be put down only by night.

In winter of 2004 the first floor of an «Iron Lady» was re-equiped into an ice skating rink. This was some sort of an advertising of Paris as 2012 winter Olympiad candidate.

Till now Eiffel Tower remained the same as it was 120 years ago due to 57 tones of paint used every 7 years to protect it from rust.

This huge tower doesn’t suffer from the wind too much. Even the strongest storm can give it only a 3,5 in. sway. And the sun can make the top of the tower shift away up to 7 in.

The last suicide was committed from the tower in April 2008.

Today Eiffel Tower is used for TV and radio transmission, and cellular communication. It is not only the symbol of Paris now, but mostly its heart and fountain of life. Life full of chances and wonderful adventures. And a lot of people all over the world dream of coming to Paris just to see this perfect creation.