Paris Eiffel TowerParis sightseeing tips - Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides and Bois de Boulogne |
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Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides and Bois de Boulognehome > sightseeing
> Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides and Bois de Boulogne
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The ultimate image of Paris has to be La Tour Eiffel. Its fireworks for new year rather eclipsed London's millennium wall of fire. It dominates the city. Built in 1889 for the World Fair, the tower was saved from demolition in 1909 by the need for a radio antenna. The antennae now are television. It can be seen from almost everywhere in Paris but it does deserve a closer look. The classic view is from the Trocadéro with its great fountains below. Cross the bridge to foot of this amazing 320 metre high structure, and, if you are prepared to queue, take the lift to the top (always scout to see if there is a ticket window with no queue). The view is like seeing Paris from a light aircraft. Go early in the morning to avoid the worst waits, or late at night to catch sunset. Worry about the bats and moths that die against its frame, attracted by the lights that make it magical by night. French conservationists are persuading the authorities to create dark spots. |
Eiffel Tower |
You can walk up the first two of the tower's levels and still be stunned
– but it takes a lot of energy. Do not eat at the restaurant, which
had a superb reputation, unless you are happy to pay an arm and two legs.
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Les Invalides |
The gold dome to the south is of course l'Hôtel des Invalides an easy walk from the tower. You can pass the white splendour of the UNESCO buildings with the inhabitants doing their bit for children. Les Invalides was built by Louis XIV as a residential village for soldiers wounded in his attempts to subjugate Europe. The Revolutionary citizens 100 years later raided it for weapons and one of its churches, Eglise du Dôme, now houses Napoléon's extraordinary red sarcophagus. Maréchal Foch, whose name is given to a boulevard outside, is also buried here. Near to Les Invalides is the Musée Rodin which has some of the artists most celebrated work. |
Heading out of the city is the Bois de Boulogne. The trees in the 860 hectare park took a battering in the storms that left France bruised as the millennium started. Visitors still boggle at so much flat space inside so vast a city. Take the métro out and perhaps take in a museum. Musée Marmottan-Claude Monet is a feast for lovers of Impressionism or Musée National des Arts et Traditions Populaires offers an alternative - the development of rural France.
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| Sightseeing |
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| In Detail |
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| Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysées Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides and Bois de Boulogne Latin Quarter and Musée d'Orsay |
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