Right Bank

The Right Bank (Rive Droite) is opposite the Left Bank, and generally is the northern half of the city of Paris, France. It is so called because the northern half of Paris is on the right bank of the Seine as the river flows out to sea.

Like the Left Bank, and due to its association with places such as Place Vendôme, the Right Bank can now be used to refer to a level of elegance and sophistication now found in its more bohemian sister to the south. Its most famous street is undeniably the Champs Elysees, but there are others such as Rue de la Paix, Rue de Rivoli, and Avenue Montaigne.

Arrondissement - Paris is divided up into twenty arrondissements or districts. The "First" is in the center of the city, and the others are laid out in a clockwise manner about this. As these are such a basic unit to the city, they are constantly referred to in guides and literature; almost always using simply their associated number (1er, or 2ème etc). The Louvre is in the First, the Arc de Triomphe is in the Eighth. NB: You can determine the arrondissement of an address from its postal code. The last two digits of a Paris address give the arrondissement; 75018 is the eighteenth for example. The exception to this rule are addresses with the word "CEDEX" appearing in them.

The Marais - Comprised of roughly the 3rd and 4th arrondissements (Right Bank) it is a quartier which has retained many small streets and hints at how Old Paris looked.

Haussmann - This Baron was responsible for the significant urban planning project of 1852 - 1870. The twenty arrondissements date from this time. Haussmann pushed through many of the major boulevards through the old sections of the city.

Métro - the Paris subway. It is extensive and serves nearly every corner of the city. The last trains are around 00h30.

RER - Réseau Express Régional; similar to the Métro except that it also serves the outlying suburbs and regions of Paris. In the center of the city, the distance between RER stations is more significant than for the Métro; an advantage if you want to go larger distances quickly - even in the center of the city.

Bateaux Mouches - This is the name given to tourist boats which ply the Seine. Literally translated it means the "fly boats". The name probably comes from the district of Lyon - "La mouche" - the place where such boats were commonplace before they were in Paris.