At the eastern end of the avenue des Champs-Élysées (which has been called la plus belle avenue du monde) is the place de la Concorde, which is a square-shaped "square". Just to the east of Concorde is le jardin des Tuileries, and at its eastern end is le Louvre. L'avenue des Champs-Élysées itself is two kilometers (about 1.25 miles) long. The total distance from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe is about two miles (three kilometers).
At the western end of les Champs-Élysées stands the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile. The Étoile is also une place [plahss] — in this case, place might be translated as "traffic circle" in U.S. English or, in British usage, "circus" as in London's Picadilly Circus (un rond-point in French). We call une place "a square" but this one is round — it's in the shape of a wheel with as "spokes" a dozen or so wide avenues. (L'Étoile, like Concorde, is a particularly scary challenge for American drivers.)
Up the Champs-Élysées about half-way between l'Étoile and Concorde, there are two large exhibition halls called le Grand Palais and le Petit Palais. They are located on the Right Bank of the Seine, at a point where a wide, ornate bridge called le Pont Alexandre III crosses the river. On the Left Bank are l'Esplanade et l'Hôtel des Invalides, built in the 17th and 18th centuries during the reign of le Roi-Soleil, Louis XIV.
This series of photos is great and they're all very good.
ReplyDeleteOn the left of the second photo, there is an interesting church, Saint-Pierre de Chaillot, avenue Marceau, built in concrete between 1931 and 1938.
Below the Arc de Triomphe, slightly on the right, is the spire of the American Cathedral, avenue George V, not to be confused with the American Church, on Quai d'Orsay on the Left Bank.
I was crazy enough to drive the Étoile in a little rental car many years ago. Heart stopping. I remember going around in circles oh so many times to get out. Lovely shots of the city!
ReplyDeleteI've driven around the Étoile many times — in my younger years — but I would never try it again except maybe early on a Sunday morning, when there's no traffic. In fact, I doubt I'll ever drive in Paris again. It's too crazy.
DeleteLast time we were there, we went into the Grand Palais, in part, to see the special Rodin exhibit, and in part to go into the part that is under the glass roof. We never were able to find a way to go into that part, under the glass roof, though. The Rodin exhibit was in the part of the building that is just normal building. We were kind of disappointed!
ReplyDeleteWalt and our friend Cheryl went to see a Marie-Antoinette exhibit in the Grand Palais, and it was the same story. It wasn't in the part of the Palais that they wanted to see.
DeleteI can never get enough of Paris. :). Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been to Paris several times since the glass roof of the Grand Palais was restored but I’ve never seen it either, Judy.
I can't remember ever going inside the Grand Palais. But then my memory isn't what it used to be.
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