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”.