orn on the Île de la Cité, where the Parisii settled before the Romans arrived, Paris grew in rings around the Seine. Much of the city you walk today dates from the Second Empire: from 1853 to 1870, Prefect Haussmann cut the grand boulevards, lined them with stone buildings and laid out the parks.
A city of revolutions, world’s fairs and avant-gardes, Paris saw Impressionism emerge, hosted Hemingway in Saint-Germain and Picasso in Montmartre. It is still a capital of neighbourhoods: markets, café terraces and small squares where everyone has their routine.