reasons that this place is called the city of lights. You got it... we're in Paris.

Thanks for joining us.

As we return for another visit to Paris, we're enjoying an intimate look at Europe's grandest

city. One of the great things about Paris is how, amidst all its grandeur, the little

joys of life are still embraced.

We'll feel the pulse of Paris... from village-like neighborhoods to a magnificent pipe organ

loft. We'll visit a megalomaniac's tomb, tour the world's biggest art gallery, and celebrate

the mother of all revolutions with a big patriotic Bastille Day bang.

Paris was born-over 2000 years ago-on this island in the River Seine. And many of its

highlights can be seen from popular sightseeing boats. There's the Notre Dame...and the Louvre

museum. And of course the Eiffel Tower, built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the

French Revolution. Paris glitters with history. Even the bridges-bestowed on the city by kings

and emperors-tell a story.

Beyond its glorious monuments and buildings, Paris is a city simply in love with life.

Delightful parks let commoners luxuriate like aristocrats. Here in Luxembourg Gardens there's

a tranquility, and refined orderliness-enjoyed by young and old. The gardens are impeccably

tended. And for generations, children have launched dreams on this pond.

To establish a foothold in Paris, I like to choose a neighborhood and make it home. Strolling

market streets like this, Paris has a small town charm. For those learning the fine art

of living Parisian-style, market streets like rue Cler are ideal.

With the help of my local friend Delphine Prigent, each shop provides an insight into

Parisian life. Delphine's planning a dinner party and she's taking us along.

Rick: Shopping on a street like this is just a delight, isn't it?

Delphine: It's very nice. We are very lucky to be able to walk on the street and have

all this very different shops which are very good for shopping.

Rick: Because in America there's one-stop shopping. We go to one big place.

Delphine: We have one street shopping here. Rick: One street shopping, it's like a market

street. Delphine: It's a market street, it is...I

think for the first course it would be nice to put some shrimps and mayonnaise. And so

you see you have different types of shrimps. You have like different colors, different

sizes as well. So I think we'll go for the moyenne, for the medium ones, which is very

flavorful. Rick: It looks very fresh.

Delphine: So we'll have some meat tonight, as a main course. And we knew the neighborhood

butcher. You know my mom used to come here. Rick: So you can trust the quality.

Delphine: You can trust the quality. You know that they give you advice as well. So I'm

going to have roti beuf and I'm going to ask the man for tips. [Conversation in French with butcher]

Rick: So what did he say? Delphine: He said like 25 minutes and for

six people 1,200 grams. Rick: 1,200 grams. For six. Big people!

Delphine: The dinner without the cheese course is not complete. So we have to go and pick

some cheese. Before dessert, after main course and we'll have some, an assortment of different

cheeses. Rick: So you create a variety.

Delphine: Yes. I create a small plate with different cheese. So we'll have some, this

one looks good, some good cheese and some bleu, some camembert and some hard cheese.

Rick: Good socially, I think. Delphine: It is very good because you have

more wine. Rick: More wine, more cheese, more wine, more

cheese. Delphine: So once we know what we are eating

we are going to choose the wine. Rick: Beautiful shop.

Delphine: Yes, it's really nice. Bonjour, bonjour. We are going to talk with the expert

and we are going to tell him what I'm going to have for dinner and he's going to pick

the wines for us.

In France with so many wines to choose from expert advice is welcome. He recommends a

white for the shrimp, a full bodied red from the Rhone valley for the beef and another

white, this time from the Loire Valley, for the cheese plate.

In France any good meal comes with fresh bread. And that requires a visit to the local boulangerie.

Delphine: So we'll have some bread for dinner. No meal without today's bread.

Rick: Today's bread. No bread, no party! Delphine: No fresh, no party! So we'll have

some baguettes and we will have some special bread as well, for the cheese.

Rick: Oh, so a variety of bread with the cheese course. Okay.

And the final touch? Flowers for the table

Delphine: It's very bright. And they're going to be beautiful on my table. It's great.

We're hopping the metro to visit another neighborhood. Paris has the most extensive subway system

on the Continent and it's clearly the fastest and most economic way to get around town.

Trains come frequently and the system is easy to use.

The Marais is another distinct Parisian neighborhood. I'm always impressed by how you can just sit

and savor Parisian street scenes like this. Once a mucky slum...Marais means swamp...

it was gentrified in the 17th century by King Henry IV.

With Henry's vision, Place des Vosges became the centerpiece of the finest neighborhood

in town. Stroll along its elegant, gallery lined arcade. The park-like square is a reminder

that Paris is not just a collection of world class museums. For millions of people, it's

home-a place to meet a lover, enjoy a relaxed retirement, or raise a family.

In the 18th century as Paris' high society moved elsewhere, immigrating Jews gradually

settled in the Marias. In the historic heart of this neighborhood you'll find Paris' Jewish

Quarter-with kosher eateries and falafel joints that draw an enthusiastic crowd.

Strolling its characteristic lanes, pause and observe. It's a celebration of cultural

diversity.

The Marais is also the city's gay district-much enjoyed for its lively cafes and clubs. And-straight

or gay-trendy Marais boutiques make for fun window shopping.

Paris' original neighborhood, the Ille de la Cite is well worth exploring. A church

has stood on this island since ancient times. But, the iconic Gothic cathedral we see today-dedicated

to Notre Dame or our lady- is "only" 700 years old.

You can brave the line for a look at its interior and climb to the top of its belltower. But

the church I like to visit in Paris, especially on Sunday mornings is St. Sulpice-to enjoy

its magnificent pipe organ-arguably the greatest in Europe.

For organ lovers, a visit here is a pilgrimage. After Mass, enthusiasts from around the world

scamper like 16th notes up the spiral stairs into a world of 7000 pipes.

Before electricity, it took three men, working out on these 18th century stairmasters, to

fill the bellows, which powered the organ. The current organist, Daniel Roth, carries

on the tradition of welcoming guests into the loft to see the organ in action.

As his apprentices pull and push the many stops that engage the symphony of pipes, a

commotion of music lovers crowd around a tower of keyboards and watch the master at work.

St. Sulpice has a rich history with a line of 12 world-class organists going back over

300 years. Like kings or presidents, the lineage is charted on the wall. And overseeing all

this: Johann Sebastian Bach.

This sacred music continues to fill the spiritual sails of St. Sulpice as it has for centuries.

The good life in Paris-music, culture, an appreciation of its rich heritage and fine

architecture-is easy to take for granted. But today's freedoms and a government that

seems passionate about its people's needs didn't come to France without a struggle.

And the pinnacle of that struggle-an epic event that reverberates in the spirit of its

people to this day-was the French Revolution.

The symbolic launch pad of the French Revolution was a notorious prison called the Bastille

which stood on this square. In 1789 angry Parisians stormed it, released its prisoners,

and tore it down. It's one of Europe's great non-sights. There's nothing left to see.

While Parisian back lanes feel peaceful and content today, during times of revolution

they hid hotbeds of discontent. Before French political leaders learned the wisdom of subsidizing

the cost of baguettes, hungry peasant mobs would set up barricades in narrow lanes like

these.

Generals, like Napoleon, were fond of quieting the streets by loading chains and nails into

cannon and giving the malcontents what they called "a whiff of grapeshot."

Later, the government commissioned Baron Haussmann to modernize the city. He ripped up most of

medieval Paris and created the city's grand boulevards.

Great city planning... but really it was great military planning. Heavy artillery and grand

armies work better with long broad streets as battlefields. Paris was made easier to

rule...and more elegant.

Today, like a citywide game of "connect the dots," wide Parisian boulevards lead to famous

landmarks: like the Pantheon...the old opera...the Arc de Triomphe... and the Hotel des Invalides.

Built by Louis XIV in the 1600s as a veterans' hospital, this massive building now houses

Europe's greatest military museum. And, at its center, under a grand dome-which glitters

with 26 pounds of thinly pounded gold leaf-lies the tomb of Napoleon.

It's hard to imagine a building dedicated to a mortal that's more impressive. Gazing

at Napoleon's tomb, I love to ponder the story of the charismatic leader who took France

from revolutionary chaos to near total dominance of Europe and then, catastrophically, to near

ruins.

Just a humble kid from Corsica, Napoleon Bonaparte went to military school here in Paris. He

rose quickly through the ranks during the tumultuous years of the Revolution. By 1799

he was the ruler of France. After that, within five years, France had conquered most of Europe

and Napoleon declared himself emperor of it all.

As the head of France's grand million-man army, he blitzed Europe. His personal charisma

on the battlefield was said to be worth 10,000 additional men.

Imagine Napoleon the emperor-all of Europe at his feet. The laurel wreath, the robes,

and the Roman eagles proclaim him equal to Caesar.

As Emperor he worked feverishly to implement the ideals of the revolution into a well-designed

and modern society. Probably no single individual destroyed so much and yet built so much. To

this day, the French remember Napoleon for his legacy: infrastructure, education system,

and legal code.

But, ultimately, his megalomania got the best of him. Napoleon invaded Russia with the greatest

army ever assembled and returned to Paris with a frostbitten fraction of what he started

with. Two years later, the Russians marched into Paris, and Napoleon was deposed.

After a brief exile on the isle of Elba, in 1815 Napoleon skipped parole and returned

to France, where he bared his breast and declared, "Strike me down or follow me!" For 100 days,

the people of France followed him until finally, in Belgium, Napoleon was defeated once and

for all by the British at Waterloo. Exiled again, Napoleon spent his final years on a

remote island in the South Atlantic until he died in 1821.

The Arch de Triomphe was finished just in time for the funeral procession that welcomed

Napoleon's body home from exile in 1840. The arch is a memorial to France's many military

campaigns, and is particularly stirring on national holidays when it flies the French

flag.

It crowns the city's main drag. Europe's grandest boulevard is the Champs-Elysees. Built for

the queen in the 1600s, it originated as a carriageway leading away from the palace gardens

The population of France is becoming increasingly diverse and this is particularly true here

in its cosmopolitan capital. The largest immigrant group is from its former colonies in Africa,

especially Muslims from North Africa.

Paris' mosque is a reminder that, even though its colonial empire is long gone, cultural

connections remain strong. The challenge for both France and its immigrants is to assimilate

comfortably into an ever more multi-ethnic society. Welcoming visitors, the mosque's

tranquil courtyard provides a calm and meditative oasis in the midst of the hubub of Paris.

The adjacent Cafe de la Mosque provides an alternative to French cuisine. Parisians and

North Africans alike enjoy couscous, tagine, and a characteristic glass of sweet mint chai

with the ambiance of a Moroccan teahouse.

Nearby, stands the home of the Arab World Institute, a partnership between France and

22 Arab countries. With a museum, art galleries, and library, its mission is to build understanding

between the Arab world and France. And from its rooftop terrace, the rest of the city

beckons.

The Palais du Louvre was once the palace of the ultimate king and the biggest building

in the entire world. Today the vast horseshoe-shaped palace, built in stages over eight centuries

with its striking 20th century Pyramid entry, houses the world's grandest collection of

art treasures.

These people are waiting not to get into the Louvre, but to buy a ticket to get into the

Louvre. With a city museum pass, I save money and, more importantly, lots of time. Anyone

with this pass can walk right in.

[55]Once inside, take a moment to enjoy the modern pyramid entry-a work of art in itself.

It leads to three wings. We'll limit our visit to the Denon wing. The huge Louvre collection

covers art history from ancient times to about 1850. It can be overwhelming. A key to enjoying

your visit: don't even try to cover it all. Enjoy an excuse to return.

Remember to look up for a sense of how, long before it was a museum, this was Europe's

ultimate palace and home of its mightiest kings. In fact, the collection includes royal

French regalia-such as the crown of Louis XV and the crown Napoleon wore on his coronation.

This museum is one of the world's oldest-opened to the public during the French Revolution

in 1793. I guess it just makes sense. You behead the king, inherit his palace and a

vast royal collection of art, open the doors, and Voilà-a people's museum.

The statue of Winged Victory seems to declare that the Louvre's ancient collection is Europe's

finest. Two centuries before Christ, this wind-whipped masterpiece of Hellenistic Greek

art stood on a bluff celebrating a great naval victory.

[] And just past her, stands an entourage of twisting and striding statues, each modeling