The following Paris incidences may arouse the interest of any person immensely, who is keenly willing to know some exclusive facts about the French city Paris:
- The popular notion about the name of Paris is that it is derived from the name of Prince Paris, the son of the King of Troy, who fell in love with the beautiful Helen and carried her to his home. Rather, the city was named after Parisii, a Gaul tribe who inhabited the Ile de la Cite region from 250 B.C. to 200 B.C. According to another view, the name 'Paris' may also be derived from the word Paname meaning 'enormous', since the slang nickname of 'Paname' is 'Paris'.
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- Paris is commonly known as the City of Light not because of the bright illuminations emitted by the Eiffel Tower each evening, but for the intellectual people inhabiting the city. It is these groups of intellectual, whose contributions in diverse spheres like art, literature, sculpture, architecture, culture, economy, politics and so on have made Paris a world-famous cultural center.
- The erection of Eiffel Tower in 1889 by architect Gustave Eiffel was meant for the Paris Exhibition organized in the city that very year. Yet, this unique construction was supposed to remain a popular tourist attraction merely for 20 years, after which it would be transformed into a superior radio tower having long-range, under military control.
- As far as the orientation of Paris is concerned, the city is divulged into two segments, namely the Right Bank and the Left Bank by the Seine River. The right bank of Paris is drained by Droite River,
- while River Gauche flows through the left bank of the city. Paris is almost at an equal distance of 10 to 11 kilometers (6 to 7 miles) from both the banks. So it does not take more than two hours to walk across the capital city from either of the river banks.
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Interesting Facts about Paris |
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