The Compleat Traveller: Palais de Chaillot

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Top of The Tower Views

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The Champ de Mars stretches out into the distance from the feet of the Eiffel Tower. The Champ de Mars is a large public green space, located in between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire (Military School) to the southeast. The park is named after the Campus Martius ("Mars Field") in Rome, a tribute to the Roman god of war. The name also alludes to the fact that the lawns here were formerly used as drilling and marching grounds by the French military. [Source: Wikipedia... ]

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Two views of The Trocadéro, and the Palais de Chaillot, an area across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. The hill of the Trocadéro is the hill of Chaillot, a former village. For the Exposition Internationale of 1937, the old Palais du Trocadéro was demolished and replaced by the Palais de Chaillot which now tops the hill. Like the old palais, the palais de Chaillot features two wings shaped to form a wide arc, however, unlike the old palais, the wings are independent buildings and there is no central element to connect them: instead, a wide esplanade leaves an open view from the place du Trocadéro to the Eiffel Tower and beyond. [Source: Wikipedia... ]

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Left Bank view. The large building in the middle of the image is Les Invalides at Avenue du Maréchal Gallieni. Officially known as L'Hôtel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), Les Invalides is a complex of buildings containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's original purpose. Les Invalides also serves as the burial site for some of

France

's war heroes, notably Napoleon Bonaparte. [Source: Wikipedia... ]

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Eglise du Sacré Coeur (Church of The Sacred Heart), Avenue Paul Vaillant-Couturier, 94250, Gentilly. Standing at a height of over 60 meters, the Church of The Sacred Heart, was built in 1936. Originally, the church was to be part of the City International University which is directly opposite, but it has now been cut off from the University by the A6a highway. Today, the church is mostly frequented by the large Portuguese community who live in the area and who have made Paris their home. [Source: The Evene France website… ]

Not a bad photo considering I took the shot from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and the church is between five and six kilometers from the Tower as the crow flies. If you go back and look at the previous image, the church is the pale triangular smudge at the top right of the skyline!

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Another view of the Les Invalides complex.

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A couple of general views of Paris in the near vicinity of the Eiffel Tower. Note the dark triangular shadow of the Tower (pointing due East) in the lower left of the photograph immediately above. The late afternoon sun causes the shadow to reach out hundreds of yards across the River Seine.

After more than 30 years of waiting (see previous entry The Eiffel Tower – A Promise Kept). I am delighted to have finally visited this iconic structure and happy too, to have had the chance to see Paris from the unique perspective provided by the Tower. If you ever have the opportunity to make the trip to the top, I can highly recommend the experience – and the views.

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