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Citizens march on Versailles and the royal family returns to Paris as prisoners in the Tuileries Palace (see Jardin des Tuileries).

Designed by Charles Garnier for Napoleon III, Paris’ opulent opera house resembles a giant wedding cake. Begun in 1862, it took 13 years to complete and comprises a range of styles from Classical to Baroque, incorporating stone friezes and columns, statues, multicoloured marbles and a green, copper cupola. The ornate interior has a Grand Staircase, mosaic domed ceiling over the Grand Foyer and an auditorium with a ceiling by Marc Chagall. There’s even an underground lake beneath the building – the inspiration for Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera (see Entertainment Venues).

The Dublin-born author and wit died in 1900, after speaking his alleged last words in his Paris hotel room: “Either that wallpaper goes, or I do.” His tomb is unmissable, with a huge monument by Jacob Epstein.

Picasso (1881–1973) painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in 1907 while living at the Bateau-Lavoir. It is regarded as the painting which inspired the Cubism movement, which he launched with fellow residents Georges Braque and Juan Gris.

The palace gardens are scattered with walkways, landscaped topiary, fountains, pools, statues and the Orangery, where exotic plants were kept in the winter. The magnificent Fountain of Neptune is to the north of the North Wing.

The fall of his empire scuppered Napoleon’s plans for an opulent palace for his son on Chaillot hill, but the site was later used for the original Trocadéro palace, built for the Universal Exhibition of 1878. It was replaced by the present Neo-Classical building with its huge colonnaded wings for another exhibition in 1937. The two pavilions house three museums. The broad terrace between the wings is the domain of souvenir sellers and skate-boarders by day, while at night it is crowded with busloads of tour groups stopping off for the splendid view of the Eiffel Tower across the Seine. Two bronzes, Apollo by Henri Bouchard and Hercules by Pommier, stand to the front of the terrace. Beneath the terrace is the 1,200-seat Théâtre National de Chaillot.

The enormous building that now houses the French law courts and judiciary dates back to Roman times and was the royal palace until the 14th century, when Charles V moved the court to the Marais. During the Revolution, thousands were sentenced to death in the Première Chambre Civile, allegedly the former bedroom of Louis IX.

Stretching across the west end of the Ile de la Cité from north to south, the Palais de Justice, along with the Conciergerie, was once part of the Palais de la Cité, seat of Roman rule and the home of the French kings until 1358. It took its present name during the Revolution and the buildings now contain the city’s law courts. You can watch the courts in session from Monday to Friday and wander through the public areas, with their many ornate features. The Cour du Mai (May Courtyard) is the area through which prisoners passed during the Revolution on their way to execution.

Set in a wing of the Grand Palais, this museum showcasing scientific discovery was created by a physicist for the World’s Fair of 1937. The exhibits focus on invention and innovation in various scientific areas, from biology to chemistry, to astronomy and physics, including good interactive exhibits and demonstrations. The planetarium gives realistic views of space using fibre optics, while the Planète Terre (Planet Earth) rooms examine global warming and the sun.