[Illustration: BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF PARIS, FRANCE.--Paris, the largest city in the French Republic, and its capital, covers an area of thirty square miles, with a population of about 2,000,000. The river Seine, which flows through the centre of the city, is spanned by twenty-eight bridges, of which the seven principal are shown on this photograph. The city is noted for its fine parks, magnificent churches, colossal buildings, and wide boulevards, of which the Champs Elysees is the most famous. Paris is the centre of the political, artistic, scientific, commercial and industrial life of the nation.] [Illustration: PLACE DE LA CONCORDE, PARIS, FRANCE.--Place de la Concorde, one of the most beautiful and extensive public parks in Paris, being considered, by the best authorities, the finest in the world, is bounded by the Seine, Champs Elysees, Tuileries and Rue de Rivoli. Numerous historical associations are connected with the place. The guillotine did much bloody work here during 1793-4-5; upwards of 2800 people perished by it. Foreign troops frequently bivouacked on the square when Paris was in their power. The Obelisk of Luxor, a Monolith or single block of reddish granite 76 feet high, was presented to Louis Phillipi by Mohamed Ali and erected in the centre of the Place. It adds very much to the interest of the park.] [Illustration: MADELEINE, PARIS, FRANCE.--The foundation of this church was laid by Louis XV. in 1764. The Revolution found the edifice unfinished, and Napoleon I. ordered the building to be completed as a "Temple of Glory." Louis XVIII., however, returned to the original intention of making it a church. The edifice was finally completed in 1842, and the amount of money expended was upwards of $2,500,000. It stands on a basement, surrounded by massive Corinthian columns. The building, which is destitute of windows, is constructed exclusively of stone, light being admitted through sky-lights in the roof.] [Illustration: OPERA HOUSE, PARIS, FRANCE.--This is a most sumptuous edifice, completed in 1874, and covering an area of nearly three acres. Nothing can surpass the magnificence of the materials with which it is decorated, and for which almost all Europe has made contributions. Sweden and Scotland yielded a supply of green and red granite; from Italy were brought the yellow and white marbles; from Finland, red porphyry; from Spain, "brocatello;" and from France, other marbles of various colors. The cost of the site was over $2,000,000, and that of the building nearly $8,000,000.]