Essential Guide to Paris Neighborhoods ('Arrondissements')
Parisian Neighborhoods
Paris owes both its development and much of its visual appeal to
the Seine River, which weaves through its heart. Each bank of
the Seine has its own personality; the Rive Droite (Right Bank),
with its spacious boulevards and formal buildings, generally has
a more sober and genteel feeling than the more carefree and
bohemian Rive Gauche (Left Bank) to the south. The historical
and geographical heart of the city is Notre-Dame Cathedral on
the Ile de la Cit