MINUTES before the doors open at 11am, a queue has already formed in front of this Paris attraction.

No, it's not the Louvre which has been in the news recently because of its association with the best-selling book, and upcoming film adaptation of, The Da Vinci Code.

While the Louvre has its fans, the Centre Pompidou in this City of Love is not short of admirers either.

It is a Wednesday, but the attraction is as crowded as a heartland shopping mall in Singapore.

Many of the visitors are groups of students, tourists, young couples and families with children in tow.

Some take notes as they view each artefact. Some sit on the floor in groups listening as an expert unravels the secrets of a bewildering painting. Others are there to soak in the sights, sounds and even smells of the multimedia and installation art on display.

On average, 18,000 people visit Centre Pompidou every day. Not surprising, since it houses an impressive collection of modern and contemporary art - 57,000 works from 5,000 artists like Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Marcel Duchamp.

Among its gems are Picasso's Woman Seated In An Armchair and Matisse's Portrait Of Greta Prozor.

Yet, only a selection of the works is shown at any given time, and they are alternated according to a renewal policy, allowing room for new acquisitions to be displayed.

There is even a special Children's Gallery, which puts on two exhibitions a year. Its latest show is called Tete-a-Tete and features heads of all shapes and sizes, with multimedia displays for children to interact with.

Besides the galleries, there is a vast free-access public reference library with 350,000 books and facilities for 2,200 readers. Plus, there are cinemas, performance halls and a music research institute.

And from the top floor, visitors can enjoy panoramic views of Paris, while dining at the rooftop restaurant.

The Centre Pompidou, which opened in 1977, is named after Georges Pompidou, president of France from 1969 to 1974. He had wanted to create a cultural institution focused on modern and contemporary art, envisioning a place where the visual arts coexisted with theatre, music, cinema and literature.

From the outside, the Centre Pompidou, located in the Beaubourg district in the centre of Paris, seems turned inside-out and almost machine-like.

The 42m-high building is enveloped by a lattice of pipes and supporting beams, and an escalator snakes from top to bottom on the front facade.

Colour-coded ducts form part of the building's facade - blue for air, green for fluids, yellow for electricity cables and red for people flow like lifts, for example.

Its design was selected out of 681 submissions in a competition, which was won by two architects - Italian Renzo Piano and Briton Richard Rogers.

Interestingly, their controversial design, which pushed the structural elements to the exterior, freed up the interior for exhibitions and activities, and there is now about 90,000 sq m of exhibition space inside spread over eight levels.

Internationally, the Centre Pompidou has staked its claim by bringing half of the 40 exhibitions it produces every year overseas. In addition, over 3,500 works are loaned every year to museums in France and other countries. The Centre also holds exhibitions of non-Western art, and has a collection of Asian works.

OTHER CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS IN PARIS

• MUSEE DU LOUVRE

  What it is: Originally a royal palace, the Louvre opened as a public museum in 1793. It lies along the Seine river in Paris.
   
  Undoubtedly one of the most well-known museums in the world, it had a record number of 7.3 million visitors last year, up from 6.7 million in 2004. This was partly due to the popularity of the hit novel The Da Vinci Code, as the museum is a key location in the book.
   
  What to look out for: The Louvre houses 35,000 works of some of the world's most famous works of art like the Mona Lisa, the Venus De Milo and the Victory Of Samothrace.
   
  Admission: A combined ticket costs 13 euros (S$25) for access to the permanent as well as all temporary exhibitions. Free admission for selected groups like the unemployed, disabled and visitors under 18.

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• CHATEAU DE VERSAILLES

  What it is: In 1682, the Chateau de Versailles became the official residence of the Court of France, led by King Louis XIV. It is in the city of Versailles, in the western suburbs of Paris.
   
  What to look out for: The Hall of Mirrors, a large room in the palace, is one of its main attractions. Measuring 73m long, 10.5m wide and 12.3m high, the hall contains 17 windows overlooking a garden, matched by 17 arcades lined with mirrors.
   
  Ancient statues from Louis XIV's collection line the walls. It was also here that the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, at the end of World War I.
   
  Admission: Entrance to the palace is 8 euros for people aged 18 and above, and 6 euros after 3.30pm. Free entry for people under 18 and the disabled.

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• MUSEE D'ORSAY
  

  What it is: Located on the banks of the Seine river in Paris, the Musee d'Orsay was originally a railway station but was converted into a museum to showcase Western art from 1848 to 1914.
   
  It opened to the public in 1986.
   
  About 16,000 sq m of space is available for artworks, and it receives about 2.2 million visitors a year.
   
  What to look out for: The museum has a strong collection of Impressionist art from painters like Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh.
   
  Admission: A ticket for the museum and exhibitions costs 7.50 euros. Free admission for selected groups like the unemployed, disabled and visitors under 18.