Obligatory culture spots include the Louvre, at right. You can just see the famous IM Pei pyramid entrance through the throngs of people waiting to get in. Keep in mind that this photo predates the Da Vinci code by about a decade, so I would imagine the entire forecourt has caved in by now under the weight of the crowds. It is a fabulous museum, though, probably the most grandly displayed collection in the world, and it really only loses its dignity at the Mona Lisa. If that's the only reason you're going to the Louvre, don't bother as it's behind ugly plastic barriers and surrounded by phone camera snapping tourists. But otherwise the museum is a great place to wander for a few hours. There are of course lots more museums in Paris, and we saw them all. The musee d'Orsay is in the old train station and focuses on Impressionist works, and is well worth a visit. At the other extreme, there are lots of small single focus museums, like the Rodin museum with a great collection of Rodin sculpture, most of which is outdoors. To the left is the interior of the Paris Opera, a beautiful space but unfortunately there were no performances while we were there.