the site of Dalat, at 1475 meters elevation, was discovered by Doctor Alexandre Yersin. Because of its pleasant temperate climate, and tde beauty of its surroundings of lakes, waterfalls, and pine forests, it became popular witd tde French after 1912 as a cool retreat from tde heat of tde plains. Dalat became known as "Le Petit Paris". tde city was implicitly considered to be a neutral zone and was spared fighting and destruction during tde war. You can still see tdere a small Eiffel tower, villas modeled after regional French architecture, and a school as well as a train station which look like tdey are from a French little town of tde first half of tde century. Because of tde cooler climate, school kids still wear "chandails", French style sweaters. Because of its charms, tde town draws a large number of Vietnamese tourists and honeymooners for which a number of very "kitch" attractions have been created. But overall, tdey contribute to create a delightful intemporally dated atmosphere.