Created at the initiative of French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, its mission is to expose a wide public - in particular, children and teenagers - to the sciences and technologies, as well as to raise public awareness of important societal issues related to science, research and industry.

The Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie is located in the Parc de la Villette near the Porte de la Villette Metro station in Paris's 19th arrondissement.

The Cite des Sciences is at the heart of France's system to promote science and technology: the Centres de Culture Scientifique, Technique et Industrielle ("Centres of Scientific, Technical and Industrial Culture"). Along with the Cite de la Musique and the Conservatoire de Paris, the Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie is part of the Parc de la Villette.

The word Montmartre means "Mount of the Martyrs"; according to tradition, it was on this hill that Saint Denis (Paris's first bishop) and his companions were martyred in the late 3rd century. Numerous saints have visited this hill, including Saint Germain, Saint Clotilde, Saint Bernard, Saint Joan of Arc, Saint Vincent de Paul and, of course, Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Francis Xavier who, along with their companions, founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order) in 1534.

A large Benedictine abbey occupied the entire hill up until the French Revolution, during which the nuns were guillotined and the abbey destroyed.

Following the defeat of Napoleon III at Sedan and the siege of Paris, it was decided to build the current basilica on this site. At the suggestion of Alexandre Legentil and Hubert Rohaut, two wealthy burghers, Monseigneur Guibert, then Archbishop of Paris, obtained the French National Assembly's approval in 1873 for the building of the church. Its design was entrusted to the architect Paul Abadie. Its construction was financed by the collection of often modest donations from all over France, with the donors' names being engraved in the basilica's stone.

The Centre, which opened its doors to the public in 1977, was born by the desire of French President Georges Pompidou to create in the heart of Paris a unique cultural institution entirely dedicated to modern and contemporary art, where the fine arts would rub shoulders with books, design, music and cinema.

In 2006, the Centre Pompidou welcomed 6.6 million visitors, making it France's third most visited landmark, after the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. Home to one of the two most important modern and contemporary art collections in the world, along with New York's Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Pompidou also houses temporary exhibitions, theatres, a cinema and Europe's largest public library.

The Musee d'Orsay is a national museum located on the Left Bank of the Seine River. Its collection includes works from the decorative arts, as well as photographic and architectural works.

The museum's collection includes the masterpieces Olympia by Manet, the Little Dancer of Fourteen Years by Degas and The Origin of the World by Courbet, as well as Impressionist paintings.

Temporary exhibitions periodically shed light on the works of a particular artist or highlight a movement, merchant or historical subject.