Few cities can claim to have been at the centre of history quite like Paris, which is staging its third UEFA Champions League final in 2022. Roman, English, Prussian and German armies have all laid siege, while kings, queens, communes and emperors have reigned and toppled as history played out within its walls. A centre of progressive thinking, modern Paris is recognised for its architectural beauty, Baron Haussmann famously carving 12 grand avenues into the city soil, radiating from the Arc de Triomphe, during the 1860s.