Paris food is known throughout the world for its unparalleled quality and taste. The wide variety of food in Paris is sure to overwhelm every food lover with delight. Paris is a heavenly destination for gourmets as the city offers a wide selection of culinary delights. The popular Paris cuisine ranges from fresh bread to delicious cheese and from creamy chocolates to pastries and much more. Those who wish to taste the best wine and food in the world must visit Paris. It is also the perfect place where food lovers can enjoy all forms of Indian, Middle Eastern, Asian and other international cuisine. It is said that the Parisians are very serious regarding their meals and are also very enthusiastic about their food. The residents of Paris normally have lunch at noon, and generally eat dinner late at around 8 PM. For breakfast, the inhabitants of the city usually have a bagel, fruit and coffee.

Paris is located in the north-bending arc of the river Seine and includes two islands, the Île Saint-Louis and the larger Île de la Cité, which form the oldest part of the city. Overall, the city is relatively flat, and the lowest point is 35 m (115 ft) above sea level. Paris has several prominent hills, of which the highest is Montmartre at 130 m (427 ft).[55]

Paris, excluding the outlying parks of Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, covers an oval measuring 86.928 km2 (34 sq mi) in area.[citation needed] The city's last major annexation of outlying territories in 1860 not only gave it its modern form but created the twenty clockwise-spiralling arrondissements (municipal boroughs). From the 1860 area of 78 km2 (30 sq mi), the city limits were expanded marginally to 86.9 km2 (34 sq mi) in the 1920s. In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes forest parks were officially annexed to the city, bringing its area to the present 105.39 km2 (41 sq mi).

GEOGRAPHY*

The name Paris derives from that of its inhabitants, the Gaulish tribe known as the Parisii. The city was called Lutetia (more fully, Lutetia Parisiorum, "Lutetia of the Parisii"), during the Roman era of the 1st to the 6th century, but during the reign of Julian the Apostate, (360-363) the city was renamed Paris.[49] It is considered that the name of the Parisii tribe comes from the Celtic Gallic word parisio meaning "the working people" or "the craftsmen."[50] Since the mid-19th century, Paris has been known as Paname[51] ([panam]) in the Parisian slang called argot (Ltspkr.pngMoi j'suis d'Paname, i.e. "I'm from Paname"). The singer Renaud repopularized the term amongst the young generation[51] with his 1976 album Amoureux de Paname ("In love with Paname"). Paris has many nicknames, but its most famous is "La Ville-Lumière" ("The City of Light" or "The Illuminated City"),[52] a name it owes first to its fame as a centre of education and ideas during the Age of Enlightenment, and later to its early adoption of street lighting.[53] Paris' inhabitants are known in English as "Parisians" and in French as Parisiens ([paʁizjɛ̃] ( listen)). Parisians are often pejoratively called Parigots ([paʁiɡo] ( listen)), a term first used in 1900[54] by those living outside the Paris region, but now the term may be considered endearing by Parisians themselves. See Wiktionary for the name of Paris in various languages other than English and French. [edit]

The name "France" itself comes from Latin Francia, which literally means "land of the Franks," or "country of the Franks".[24] There are various theories as to the origin of the name of the Franks. One is that it is derived from the Proto-Germanic word frankon which translates as javelin or lance as the throwing axe of the Franks was known as a francisca.[25] Another proposed etymology is that in an ancient Germanic language, Frank means free as opposed to slave. This usage still survives in the name of the national currency prior to the adoption of the euro, the franc.