48°52′N 2°15′E / 48.86°N 2.25°E
The Bois de Boulogne (French pronunciation: [bwɑ d(ə) bulɔɲ], "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park that is the western half of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by the Emperor Napoleon III to be turned into a public park in 1852.
The Parc des Buttes Chaumont (French pronunciation: [paʁk de byt ʃomɔ̃]; English: Park of Buttes Chaumont) is a public park situated in northeastern Paris, France, in the 19th arrondissement. Occupying 24.7 hectares (61 acres), it is the fifth-largest park in Paris, after the Bois de Vincennes, Bois de Boulogne, Parc de la Villette and Tuileries Garden.
Opened in 1867, late in the regime of Napoleon III, it was built according to plans by Adolphe Alphand, who created all the major parks for Haussmann's renovation of Paris commanded by the Emperor. The park has 5.5 kilometres (3.4 miles) of roads and 2.2 kilometres (1.4 miles) of paths. Its best known feature is the Temple de la Sibylle (Sibyl's Temple), a miniature Roman temple inspired by the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Italy, and located on the Belvedere island in the artificial lake, at the top of a 50-metre (160 ft) cliff.
Georges-Eugène Haussmann (French: [ʒɔʁʒøʒɛn osman]; 27 March 1809 – 11 January 1891), known as Baron Haussmann ([baʁɔ̃ osman]), was a French official who supervised a radical urban renewal programme of new boulevards, parks, and public works in Paris, referred to as Haussmann's renovation of Paris, aimed at introducing grandeur in the city. First a prefect in Var (1849–1850), Yonne (1850–1851), and Gironde (1851–1853), his skills as an administrator led to his appointment in Paris by Emperor Napoleon III in 1853.
The signature architectural landmark of his works was the Paris Opera, the largest theatre in the world, designed by Charles Garnier, crowning the centre of Napoleon III's new Paris. Haussmann completely rebuilt Paris above and below ground; on his own estimation by 1870 one in five streets in central Paris were his creation, while revamped sewers now ran alongside miles of pipes to distribute gas for thousands of new streetlights. With his right-hand Adolphe Alphand and at the Emperor's direction, a plan was laid out for four major parks at the cardinal points of the compass around the city: the Bois de Boulogne to the west, Bois de Vincennes to the east, Parc des Buttes Chaumont to the north, and Parc Montsouris to the south. The major parks and their smaller counterparts in the city were an immediate success with all classes of Parisians.
Parc Montsouris (French pronunciation: [paʁk mɔ̃suʁi]; English: Montsouris Park) is a public park situated in southern Paris, France. Located in the 14th arrondissement, it was officially inaugurated in 1875 after an early opening in 1869.
Parc Montsouris is one of the four large urban public parks, along with the Bois de Boulogne, the Bois de Vincennes and the Parc des Buttes Chaumont, created by Emperor Napoleon III and his prefect of the Seine, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, at each of the cardinal points of the compass around the city, in order to provide green space and recreation for the rapidly growing population of Paris. The park is 15.5 hectares in area, designed as an English landscape garden by Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand.
Neuilly-sur-Seine (French pronunciation: [nøji syʁ sɛn] ; lit. 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban commune in Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, France. An immediate western suburb of Paris, it is physically separated from the capital centre only by the Périphérique to its east and the Bois de Boulogne to its south.
Neuilly is mainly made up of residential neighborhoods and hosts several corporate headquarters and foreign embassies. One of the most affluent areas of France, it is the wealthiest and most expensive suburb of Paris. Although, as of 2020, it is the commune with only the fourth highest median per capita income (€52,570 per year) in France, if Neuilly is grouped together with the city’s adjacent 16th and 17th arrondissements, they form the most affluent residential area in the country.
Auteuil (French pronunciation: [otœj] ) is the 61st and westernmost quarter of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is adjacent to Passy to the northeast (administratively part of la Muette), Boulogne-Billancourt to the southwest, and the Bois de Boulogne to the northwest. A very discreet neighborhood, it is known for its mainly Catholic and old-money heritage population.
Association football is the most popular sport in France. In 2024, 53% of people in France declared an interest in football, with 26% being very interested. The French Football Federation (FFF, Fédération Française de Football) is the national governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of association football in the country, both professional and amateur. The federation organizes the Coupe de France and is responsible for appointing the management of the men's, women's, and youth national football teams in France. The federation gives responsibility of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 to the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) who oversee, organize, and manage the country's top two leagues. The French Football Federation also supervises the overseas departments and territories leagues and hosts football club AS Monaco, a club based in the independent sovereign state of Monaco. In 2022, the FFF had 2.1 million licensees, 1.8 million players and 14,000 registered clubs, the second highest number of registered players in Europe after Germany.
The first football club was introduced to France in 1863 as described in a newspaper article by The Scotsman, which stated "A number of English gentlemen living in Paris have lately organised a football club... The football contests take place in the Bois de Boulogne, by permission of the authorities and surprise the French amazingly."
The Palais des congrès de Paris (French pronunciation: [palɛ de kɔ̃ɡʁɛ də paʁi]; English: Paris Congress Centre) is a convention centre, concert venue, and shopping mall at the Porte Maillot in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, France. The venue was built by French architect Guillaume Gillet, and was inaugurated in 1974.
Nearby the venue are Bois de Boulogne and the affluent neighbourhood of Neuilly-sur-Seine. The closest métro and RER stations are Porte Maillot and Neuilly–Porte Maillot, accessible via the lower levels of the building.