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Joined together in death as in life, even though they never lived together, their joint grave is a remarkably simple affair. Both of these philosophers were born, lived and died in Paris (see Top 10 Foreign Writers who Lived in Paris).

Opened in 1927, this former coal depot was transformed by artists into a lavish, Art Deco brasserie. It attracted such luminaries as Louis Aragon and François Sagan.

Designed in the style of a Greek temple in 1764, this prominent church in Paris’s financial district, on the edge of the Opéra Quarter, is one of the city’s most distinctive sights, spectacularly surrounded by 52 Corinthian columns. The church was consecrated to Mary Magdalene in 1845. The bronze doors, which include bas-reliefs depicting the Ten Commandments, and the Last Judgment on the south pediment are exterior highlights, while the ornate marble and gold interior has many fine statues, including François Rude’s Baptism of Christ . Organ recitals are often held in the church.

This café has been patronized by the likes of Henry Miller Apollinaire and Jacques Prévert.

Paris’s world-famous university was founded in 1253 and was originally intended as a theology college for poor students but it soon became the country’s main centre for theological studies. It was named after Robert de Sorbon, confessor to Louis IX. Philosophers Thomas Aquinas (c.1226–74) and Roger Bacon (1214–92) taught here; Italian poet Dante (1265–1321), St Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556), the founder of the Jesuits, and church reformer John Calvin (1509–64) are among its impressive list of alumni. Its tradition for conservatism led to its closure during the Revolution (it was re-opened by Napoleon in 1806) and to the student riots of 1968 (see Top 10 Events in the French Revolution).

The city’s great university had humble beginnings in 1253 as a college for 16 poor students to study theology, but France’s first printing house was also established here in 1469. After suppression during the Revolution it became the University of Paris.

The “Defender of Time”, Paris’s modern public clock, stands appropriately in the Quartier de l’Horloge (Clock Quarter) shopping area. This fantasy mechanical sculpture of brass and steel by Jacques Monastier is 4 m (13 ft) high and weighs one tonne. When the clock strikes the hour, the warrior fends off a savage bird, crab or dragon (representing air, water and earth) with his sword, with accompanying sound effects. At noon, 6pm and 10pm he vanquishes all three, to the crowd’s delight.

Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) chronicled Paris life masterfully in his 80-volume La comédie humaine series, and this 1853 novel is certainly among the finest. Balzac’s house at 47 rue Raynouard in the 16th arrondissement , where he lived from 1840–47, is open to the public (see Maison de Balzac).

Camus, de Beauvoir and James Joyce are among the many writers who once took their daily coffee here.