The first picture is of the building of the National Assembly. One reason France has had so many Republics is that their traditional system of proportional representation (where you vote for a party rather than individuals) often led to fragmented parliaments. Both the 3rd and 4th Republics were parliamentary systems, meaning that the head of National Assembly was also the chief executive (Great Britain and Germany have parliamentary systems still). However, with so many parties and different factions, it was hard for parliamentary leaders to hold a majority, and the result was unstable governments. (For various reasons Britain and Germany don't have that problem; Britain because they use a single member district voting system rather than proportional representation, and Germany because they have a 5% rule preventing small parties from getting in the Bundestag). When De Gaulle made the constitution for the 5th Republic he made it a Presidential system, believing that there had to be a strong leader answerable to the people who could guide the country even if parliament is divided. De Gaulle ruled as a strong President, as his party dominated the National Assembly and he controlled much of what happened. However, the French Presidency is actually rather weak in terms of formal powers, and whenever a party different than that of the President controls the National Assembly they must share powers, something the French call 'cohabitation.' That happened after 1986 between Francois Mitterrand, a Socialist President, and Jacques Chirac a Gaullist Prime Minister (head of the National Assembly). Later Chirac was President while Lionel Jospin was a Socialist Premier (Prime Minister). Currently Chirac is now President, with another Gaullist, Jean-Pierre Raffarin. as Prime Minister. The second picture is one of Paris's many cathedrals.