For many days now, I've been posting photos of Paris that I've taken over the past 20 years from the top of the endlessly controversial Tour Montparnasse (une tour is a tower, as in la tour Eiffel). Just to make sure you know what building I'm talking about, here's a photo of the Tour Montparnasse (officially, in French, la tour Maine-Montparnasse — l'avenue du Maine is a main street in the area). A skyscraper is called un gratte-ciel in French.
Below is a panoramic photo showing where the Tour Montparnasse is located in relation to the Tour Eiffel. The two "towers" are nearly three kilometers (1.67 mi.) from each other. The Tour Eiffel is 300 meters tall — 984 ft. — and was completed in 1889. The Tour Montparnasse is 210 meters tall — 58 stories, 689 ft. — and was completed in the early 1970s. (I took this photo from the top of the Tour Saint-Jacques — 56 meters, or 185 ft., built built between 1508 and 1523 — which is on the Right Bank not far from Notre-Dame cathedral.)
The Hyatt Regency hotel on the western edge of Paris is 137 meters tall — 450 ft. — and was also built in the early 1970s.
It's part of the Palais des Congrès (convention center/theatres) complex.
It's part of the Palais des Congrès (convention center/theatres) complex.
The tower below is called the Tour Zamansky or the Tour de Jussieu — 90 meters, nearly 300 ft.,
24 stories — and is part of the Pierre-et-Marie-Curie university campus
in the Latin Quarter, near the Panthéon. It was built in 1970.
in the Latin Quarter, near the Panthéon. It was built in 1970.
These are some of the tall buildings out west of Paris in the area called La Défense. It's tallest buildings rise to a height of 320 meters.
The Wikipéda article about La Défense lists 50 buildings that are taller than 95 meters.
The Wikipéda article about La Défense lists 50 buildings that are taller than 95 meters.
On the eastern side of Paris stands the 1990s-era Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand (also called le site de Tolbiac after the surrounding neighborhood). It's is part of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (the French national library). Books are kept int four high-rise buildings that themselves resemble open books standing at its four corners. It was built in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Croulebarbe tower a.k.a. Tour Albert, in the 13th arrondissement, was the first gratte-ciel built in Paris in 1958. It has twenty-three stories and is 67 meters high (220 f).
ReplyDeleteAerial photos from skyscrapers or the like are deceiving because of the distortion. I the second photo, Saint-Germain-des-Prés is half way between la tour Montparnasse and the Invalides, when in reality it is much closer to the former.
Here is an interesting website in French about the tallest sky scrapers in Paris http://www.passion-gratte-ciel.com/GRATTE-CIEL%20DE%20PARIS.htm
DeleteSaint-Germain-des-Prés is about one mile from the Tour Montparnasse. It's about 1.8 miles from the Tour Eiffel. The fact is that Saint-Germain is much closer to the Tour Saint-Jacques than to either of the towers. The Tour Saint-Jacques is only a bit more than half a mile from Saint-Germain, 1.6 miles from Montparnasse, and 2.5 miles from Eiffel. It all gets really complicated, because the angles are very different.
DeleteThere is, or was, an observation deck on top of the grand arch at defense, amazing views of the city.
ReplyDeleteI know that Walt and I went up there one time, but it might have been in the 1990s, before either of us stated taking digital pictures. I remember an indoor observation deck, looking through big windows.
DeleteI didn't realize the design of the Bibliotheque - chouette!
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