Monthly Archives: August 2015

The Bridges Along the Seine River (Paris, France)

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The author with Pont Alexandre III in the background

During our Seine River Cruise, on board a popular and modern Bateaux Parisiens glass-topped trimaran, we passed by some of the city of Paris’ major bridges and passerelles (pedestrian footbridges). The city has 37 bridges  across the River Seine of which 5 are pedestrian, 2 are rail bridges, three link Île Saint-Louis to the rest of Paris, 8 do the same for Île de la Cité and one links the 2 islands to each other. The city’s bridges offered us a lesson in history and architecture.  A list follows, from downstream to upstream:

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Pont d’Iéna

The 155 m. long and 35 m. wide Pont d’Iéna (“Jena Bridge”), linking the Eiffel Tower on the Left Bank to the district of Trocadéro on the Right Bank, was built from 1808 to 1814 and designed with five arches, each with an arc length of 28 m., and four intermediate piers.

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The tympana, along the sides of the bridge, had been originally decorated with imperial eagles conceptualized by François-Frédéric Lemot and sculpted by Jean-François Mouret. Soon after the fall of the First Empire in 1815, the eagles were replaced with the royal letter “L” but, in 1852, when Napoléon III ascended the throne of the Second Empire, , the royal “L” was replaced new imperial eagles sculpted by Antoine-Louis Barye,

Four sculptures, sitting on top of four corresponding pylons on the two ends of the bridge, were put in place in 1853.  The sculpture of a Gallic warrior (by Antoine-Augustin Préault) and a Roman warrior (by Louis-Joseph Daumas) are along the Right Bank while the sculpture of an Arab warrior (by Jean-Jacques Feuchère) and a Greek warrior (by François Devault) are along the Left Bank. Since 1975, this bridge has been part of the supplementary registry of historic monuments.

The steps leading off the bridge, popularly known among film fans as the “Renault stairs,” was featured in a scene in A View to a Kill where James Bond (played by Roger Moore) drove a hijacked Renault 11 taxi down the steps in pursuit of an assassin, later revealed to be May Day (Grace Jones).

Passerelle Debilly (Debilly Footbridge)

The 125 m. long and 8 m. wide Passerelle Debilly (Debilly Footbridge), a through arch footbridge, connects the quai de New York to the quai Branly, close to the Eiffel Tower. Opened in 1900, it was designed by architect, Jean Résal (who also designed the Pont Alexandre III) and named after General Jean Louis Debilly of the French First Empire who was killed in the Battle of Jena in 1806.

The footbridge, built on a metallic framework resting on two stone piers at the riverbanks, is decorated with dark green ceramic tiles arranged in a fashion that suggests the impression of waves. In 1966, as a contemporary of the Pont Alexandre III and the Austerlitz Viaduct, the Passerelle Debilly was eventually included in the supplementary registry of historical monuments and, along with the Eiffel Tower, is the second metallic structure that stands as an attestation to the engineering achievements of its epoch. In 1991, the bridge was repainted and, in 1997, its cladding was resurfaced with hard tropical wood.  The bridge is located near the Métro station: Iéna.

Pont Alexandre III

The 160 m. long and 40 m. wide Alexandre III Bridge (Pont Alexandre III), a deck arch bridge widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in the city, connects the Champs-Élysées quarter with those of the Invalides and Eiffel Tower. Since 1975, the bridge has been classified as a French monument historique.

Nymph reliefs

This  bridge, with its 32 exuberant Art Nouveau  bronze candelabras, cherubs, nymphs and winged horses at either end, was built between 1896 and 1900 and was named after Tsar Alexander III (the second to last emperor of Russia) who, in 1892, concluded the Franco-Russian Alliance. Tsar Nicholas II (his son), Empress Alexandra Fedorovna and French President Felix Faure laid the foundation stone in October 1896. The Beaux-Arts style of the bridge reflects that of the Grand Palais, to which it leads on the right bank.

Statue of Fames Restraining Pegasus

A marvel of 19th century engineering, the bridge was designed by the architects Joseph Cassien-Bernard  and Gaston Cousin, built by engineers Jean Résal and Amédée Alby and was inaugurated in 1900 for the Exposition Universelle (universal exhibition) World’s Fair, as were the nearby Grand Palais and Petit Palais. Consisting of a 6 m. (20 ft.) high single span steel arch, its design was constrained by the need to keep the bridge from obscuring the view of the Champs-Élysées or the Invalides.

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Sculptures, provided by numerous sculptors, feature prominently on the bridge. Watching over the bridge are four gilt-bronze statues of Fames supported on massive 17 m. (56 ft.) masonry socles, crowned by Fames restraining Pegasus, that provide stabilizing counterweight for the arch, without interfering with monumental views.

The nymph reliefs, at the centers of the arches over the Seine, are memorials to the Franco-Russian Alliance. The Nymphs of the Seine, with a relief of the arms of Paris, faces the Nymphs of the Neva, with the arms of Imperial Russia. Both are executed in hammered copper over forms by Georges Récipon.

Pont des Invalides

The 152 m. long and 18 m. wide Pont des Invalides, the lowest bridge traversing the Seine, was opened in 1855 in time for the upcoming 1855 World Fair in Paris.  Paul-Martin Gallocher de Lagalisserie and Jules Savarin used the existing piers of the former suspension bridge (built in 1829) and a newly added central pier to build an arch bridge in masonry on the same site.

The new pier was adorned with sculptures in two allegorical themes –  Land Victory by Victor Vilain (upriver) and the Maritime Victory by Georges Diébolt (downstream).  The two old piers, adorned with sculptures of military trophies bearing the imperial coat of arms, were both done by Astyanax-Scévola Bosio.

Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor

The 106 m. long and 15 m. wide Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, a footbridge in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, is served by the Metro station Assemblée Nationale. Formerly known as Passerelle Solférino (or Pont de Solférino), it renamed on October 9, 2006 on the centenary of Léopold Sédar Senghor’s birth. Linking the Musée d’Orsay and the Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Gardens), the bridge was built between 1997 and 1999 under the direction of the engineer and architect Marc Mimram.

With a single span and no piers, this architecturally unique metallic bridge is covered in exotic Brazilian ipê wood (also used for outdoor flooring at the Bibliothèque nationale de France) which gives it a light and warm appearance.

Its foundations, at either end, are in the form of concrete pillars extending 15 m. into the ground, and the structure itself is made up of six 15- ton components built by Eiffel Constructions Métalliques, the Eiffel engineering company. For the year 1999, its innovative architecture brought Marc Mimram the award “Prix de l’Équerre d’Argent.” For promenaders, the bridge also has benches and lampposts.  They can reach the Jardin des Tuileries through a subterranean passage on the Rive Droite.

Pont Neuf

The 232 m. long and 22 m. wide Pont Neuf (“New Bridge”), the oldest (built from 1578 to 1607) standing bridge across the river Seine, stands by the western (downstream) point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that was, between 250 and 225 BC, the birthplace of Paris (then known as Lutetia) and, during the medieval period, the heart of the city. Since 1889, it has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.

The bridge is composed of two separate spans.  One, of five arches, joins the left bank to the Île de la Cité.  The other, of seven arches, joins the island to the right bank. At the tip of the island is Square du Vert-Galant, a small public park, nicknamed the “Green Gallant,” named in honor of Henry IV. In 1991, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  From time immemorial, it has appeared in countless paintings and , on this bridge, one can make out previous water levels that broke the Seine’s banks.

Pont au Double

The 45 m. long and 20 m. wide Pont au Double, linking the 4th and 5th arrondissements of Paris, from the Île de la Cité to the quai de Montebello, derives its name from the toll amount which was charged (a “double” denier), money which used to pay for the construction of the bridge. Built in 1883, this one arch cast-iron bridge replaced bridges built from1626 to 1634 (collapsed in 1709, the rebuilt bridge remained in place until 1847).

Pont de la Tournelle

The 122 m. long and 23 m. wide Pont de la Tournelle (Tournelle Bridge), an arch bridge with a 7 m. clearance above the central arch, was built in 1928.  In order to emphasize the shapeless landscape in the part of the Seine that it bestrides, the Pont de la Tournelle was intentionally built lacking symmetry. Its grand central arch, linking the riverbanks via two smaller arches, one on each side, is decorated, on the Eastern bank, with a pylon built on the left pier‘s cutwater.

Statue of St. Genevieve Atop a Pylon

The statue of Saint Geneviève (the patron saint of Paris), atop of the pylon, was designed by Paul Landowski, a Polish-French monumental sculptor .

Pont de Sully

The Pont de Sully  (or Pont Sully), constructed in 1876 (as part of Haussmann’s renovation of Paris), was designed by the engineers Paul Vaudrey and Gustave Brosselin.  Opened on August 25, 1877, it is named after Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully (1560–1641) and minister to Henry IV.

In reality, it is two separate bridges set at an angle of about 45 degrees to the river banks, which means that it gives a splendid view over the quais of the Île Saint-Louis and Notre-Dame. The northern part, over the narrower arm of the river, consists of a central 42-m. arch in cast iron and two 15-m. arches in masonry. It links the island to the rest of the 4th arrondissement on the Right Bank  (the nearest Metro station, Sully – Morland, is located here). The southern part, consisting of three cast iron arches, links the island to the Boulevard Saint-Germain in the 5th arrondissement of Paris on the Left Bank.

Pont Marie

The 92 m. long and 22 m. wide Pont Marie, linking the Île Saint-Louis to the quai de l’Hôtel de Ville, is one of three bridges designed to allow traffic flow between the Île Saint-Louis and the Left and Right banks of Paris. Linking the Right Bank, the Pont Marie is the counterpart of the Pont de la Tournelle which is built along the same line but serves to connect the Île Saint-Louis with the Left Bank.  Started in 1614 and opened in 1635, it was designed by
Rémy Collin, Jean Delgrange, Christophe Marie (after whom the bridge was named after) and reconstructed in 1670.  Each of its five arches is unique and the niches in the abutments have never been filled with statues.

Pont de l’Archevêché

The 68 m. long and 17 m. (11 m. usable) wide Pont de l’Archevêché  (Archbishop’s Bridge), linking the 4th Arrondissement, at the Île de la Cité, to the 5th Arrondissement (between the quai de Montebello and the quai de la Tournelle), is the narrowest road bridge in Paris.  Located near the Métro station: Maubert-Mutualité, It was built in 1828 by the engineer Plouard and is composed of three arches of stone measuring lengths of 15 m. (49 ft.), 17 m. (56 ft.) and 15 m. (49 ft.).

Pont Saint Louis

The 67 m. long and 16 m. wide Pont Saint-Louis (3:34 PM), in the 4th arrondissement, links the Île de la Cité (the seventh to link the two islands since 1630) with the Île Saint-Louis. Started in 1969 and inaugurated in 1970, the bridge is served by the Cité stop of the Paris Metro.

Bateaux Parisiens: Pontoon 3, Port de la Bourdonnais, 75007 Paris, France. Tel: +33 825 01 01 01 and +33 1 76 64 14 66.  Open 9:30 AM – 10 PM. Website: www.bateauxparisiens.com. Admission: adults (€15), children under 12 yrs. (€7), free for children under 3 years old. Ticket will be valid for one year at any given time. Departures: April to September (from 10:15 AM -10:30 PM, every 30 mins., no departures at 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM), October to March (from 11 AM -8:30 PM, at least every hour). Book online in advance to avoid queues. The boat also departs from Notre Dame Cathedral. Audio guide commentary with musical accompaniment, from a handset, available in 13 languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, American, Russian, Dutch, Polish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean). Smoking is not allowed on the boat and animals are not permitted on board.

How to Get There: Champ de Mars Tour Eiffel (RER C) 5 . Nearest metro: Trocadero or Bir Hakeim

 

Seine River Cruise (Paris, France)

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Seine River Sightseeing Cruise via Bateaux Parisiens

After our morning tour of the Eiffel Tower, we made our way, by foot, to the boat docking station at Port de la Bourdonnais where we hopped aboard a popular and modern Bateaux Parisiens glass-topped trimaran  to embark on a quintessential, scenic and leisurely cruise along the Seine riverbanks.

Port de la Bourdonnai

Bateaux Parisiens trimaran

All aboard …..

Bateaux Parisiens has a fleet of four trimarans, three named after legendary French actresses (Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Adjani and Jeanne Moreau) and another after a French businessman (Pierre Bellon). They each hold up to 600 passengers.

The author

Our trimaran, with terrace and exterior passageways, was well equipped, clean and well maintained, with plenty of outdoor seating at the upper deck.

Jandy and Grace

The company also has nine smaller boats, some of which are used for dinner cruises and private events.  They offer high priced lunch and dinner, to the sound of the resident band, with a choice of four different a la carte menus, on separate restaurant boats.  All boats follow the same 12-km. long route.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Eiffel Tower

Louvre Museum

The Grand Palais, a large historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées, was built in the style of Beaux-Arts architecture.

Check out “Louvre Museum,” “Notre Dame Cathedral” and “Eiffel Tower”

A fantastic introduction to the highlights and magic of Paris, we soaked up the passing sights of iconic, world-famous monuments and landmarks as we cruised up and down  the Seine River.

Musee d’Orsay

National Museum of the Legion of Honor and Orders of Chivalry, created in 1925, displays a history of France’s honors, medals, decorations, and chivalric orders from the time of King Louis XI to the present, including Napoleonic souvenirs and more than 300 portraits. A special section is dedicated to foreign orders. Its library and archives contain more than 3,000 works.. Located beside the Musee d’Orsay, it is housed within the Hôtel de Salm, built in 1782 by architect Pierre Rousseau for Frederick III, Prince of Salm-Kyrburg.

Registry of the Paris Commercial Court

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On the left bank are the Notre Dame Cathedral, the National Museum of the Legion of Honor and Orders of Chivalry, Conciergerie, National Assembly, Les Invalides, the Institut de France, and the Musée d’Orsay.

Paris City Hall, the headquarters of the municipality of Paris since 1357, serves multiple functions, housing the local administration, the Mayor of Paris (since 1977), and also serves as a venue for large receptions.

Institut de France, a French learned society, groups five académies (including the Académie Française). It manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and châteaux open for visit..

On the right bank, during the return trip, are the Louvre,  the Grand Palais, the Obelisk at the Place de la Concorde, Tuileries Garden, the Paris City Hall, and the Eiffel Tower.

The Conciergerie Paris, located on the west of the Île de la Cité, was formerly a prison but is presently used mostly for law courts. During the French Revolution, hundreds of prisoners were taken from the Conciergerie to be executed by guillotine at a number of locations around Paris.

We also glided beneath beautiful historic bridges (37 bridges span the river), including the famous Pont Neuf. Even the Seine riverbanks, collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991, are a sight to behold.

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Hotel Dieu, a hospital located on the Île de la Cité, on the parvise of Notre-Dame, is the oldest hospital in the city and the oldest worldwide still operating. Ravaged by fire several times, it was rebuilt for the last time at its present location between 1867 and 1878, as part of Haussmann’s renovation of Paris.

After half an hour, our boat turned around and cruised back up along the opposite bank. Our 1-hour cruise ends back at the original departure point near the Eiffel Tower.

The Palais Bourbon serves as a meeting place of the French National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French government. It is located on the left bank of the Seine, across from the Place de la Concorde.

Bateaux Parisiens: Pontoon 3, Port de la Bourdonnais, 75007 Paris, France. Tel: +33 825 01 01 01 and +33 1 76 64 14 66.  Open 9:30 AM – 10 PM. Website: www.bateauxparisiens.com. Admission: adults (€15), children under 12 yrs. (€7), free for children under 3 years old. Ticket will be valid for one year at any given time. Departures: April to September (from 10:15 AM -10:30 PM, every 30 mins., no departures at 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM), October to March (from 11 AM -8:30 PM, at least every hour). Book online in advance to avoid queues. The boat also departs from Notre Dame Cathedral. Audio guide commentary with musical accompaniment, from a handset, available in 13 languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, American, Russian, Dutch, Polish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean). Smoking is not allowed on the boat and animals are not permitted on board.

How to Get There: Champ de Mars Tour Eiffel (RER C) 5 . Nearest metro: Trocadero or Bir Hakeim

Eiffel Tower (Paris, France)

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The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. This iron lattice tower, located along the Champ de Mars, was named after the French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower in 1889. Erected as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair (which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution), it was started on  January 26, 1887, completed on March 15, 1889 and opened on March 31.

L-R: the author, Jandy, Grace, Kyle an Cheska

L-R: the author, Jandy, Grace, Kyle and Cheska

It was initially criticized by some of France’s leading artists and intellectuals for its design (saying it had too much engineering and not enough art to be considered good architecture) but now is widely considered now to be a striking piece of structural art, often featured in films and literature. Here are also some interesting trivia regarding the Eiffel Tower:

  • Gustave Eiffel did not design the Eiffel Tower – senior engineer Maurice Koechlin did.
  • The design for the tower was decided by a contest. Contestants had to submit their designs for consideration. Eiffel’s design won.
  • It took 3 years of lobbying to approve the Eiffel Tower in 1887.
  • Public funds only covered a quarter o the cost of the Eiffel Tower.
  • On February 14, 1887, all the big names of the world of arts and literature, including Charles Garnier (who built the famed Opera house), Guy de Maupassant, Alexandre Dumas Jr., Leconte de Lisle, and Sully Prudhomme, united to stop its construction in what is known as the ‘Artists Protests.”
  • Eiffel’s firm produced 5,329 drawings (1,700 generals an 3,629 detailed) of the Eiffel Tower
  • Only one person died in the construction of the Eiffel Tower
  • The French name for the Eiffel Tower is La Tour Eiffel. It also has the nickname La dame de fer which means “the iron lady,” the same nickname as Margaret Thatcher’s.
  • Famed novelist Guy de Maupassant hated the tower but ate lunch there every day. When he was asked why, Maupassant answered that the only place in Paris where he couldn’t see the Eiffel Tower was the Eiffel Tower itself.
  • It is the most-visited paid monument in the world.
  • The tower, the tallest structure in Paris and the  second tallest structure in France (not including broadcast aerials), after the Millau Viaduct (completed in 2004, the world’s tallest bridge is  taller, at 343 m.). It was the tallest until the construction of a military transmitter in the town of Saissac in 1973.
  • During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the 555-ft. high Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. In 1957, after the addition of the aerial, the Eiffel Tower it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 m. (17 ft.).
  • Famous visitors to the tower during its opening included The Prince of Wales, Sarah Bernhardt, “Buffalo Bill” Cody (his Wild West show was an attraction at the Exposition) and Thomas Edison.
  • Eiffel had a private apartment for entertaining friends at the third floor of the tower. He  made use of his apartment at the top level of the tower to carry out meteorological observations, and also made use of the tower to perform experiments on the action of air resistance on falling bodies.
  • Gustave Eiffel was also behind the design of the Garabit Viaduct (1884), the Pest Railway Station in Hungary, the dome of the Nice Observatory and the interior elements for the Statue of Liberty‘s spine. He was also involved in a disastrous attempt by the French to build a canal in Panama, and his reputation was badly damaged by the failure of the venture. He died while listening to Beethoven‘s 5th symphony.
  • The Eiffel Tower was originally intended for Barcelona, Spain, but the project was rejected.
  • It served as a military radio post in 1903, transmitted the first public radio program in 1925, and then broadcast television and digital TV.
  • Sir John Bickerstaffe, Mayor of Blackpool and an attendee at the 1889 World’s Fair, was so impressed with the Eiffel Tower that, in 1891, he had a similar structure (Blackpool Tower) designed and built on the English seafront to surpass the Eiffel Tower in height.  However, it was unsteady, never completed and demolished in 1907.
  • Eiffel’s permit for the tower allowed it to stand for only 20 years (it was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris). As part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it should be easy to demolish, the city had planned to tear it down. However, the tower was proved valuable for communication purposes (it was repurposed as a giant radio antenna) so it was allowed to remain even after the expiry of the permit.
  • In 1905, local newspaper L’Equipe organized a stair climbing championship at the tower. A M. Forestier won a bike, taking three minutes and 12 seconds to reach the second level.
  • On February 4, 1912, French tailor Franz Reichelt attempted to fly from the first floor with a spring-loaded parachute suit of his own design. However, he crashed 187 ft. to the ground instead.
  • During World War I, using the Eiffel Tower’s wireless station to intercept enemy messages from Berlin, the French military, in 1917, intercepted a coded message between Germany and Spain that included information about ‘Operative H-21’ otherwise known as the Dutch-born exotic dancer Margaretha Geertruida Zelle  MacLeod (stage name: Mata Hari) who was spying for the Germans. Based on this message, the French were able to arrest, convict and execute Mata Hari for espionage.
  • At the First Battle of the Marne, in 1914, the tower played a part in the Allied victory when one of its transmitters jammed German radio communications, hindering their advance.
  • By 1918, after Guillaume Apollinaire made a nationalist poem in the shape of the tower (a calligram) to express his feelings about the war against Germany, it became a symbol for Paris and for France
  • In 1923, Pierre Labric cycled down the stairs of the tower, winning a bet but was arrested by local police.
  • On February 28, 1926, 23 year old French aviator Leon Collot attempted to fly his plane under the tower but was killed when he was blinded by the sun and became entangled in the aerial from the wireless station, crashing in a ball of flame.
  • On 2 separate occasions in 1925, con artist Victor Lustig, pretending that he was the deputy director-general of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs, “sold” the Eiffel Tower to a scrap metal dealer.
  • Between 1925 and 1934, French car manufacturer Citroen used the tower as a giant billboard (recorded as the world’s biggest advertisement by the Guinness Book of Records), the company name was emblazoned on the tower using a quarter of a million light bulbs.
  • During the German Occupation in World War II, when Adolf Hitler visited Paris, the French cut the lift cables on the Eiffel Tower so that he would have to climb the steps if he wanted to reach the top. Nazi soldiers also attempted to attach a swastika to the top, but it was so large it blew away and had to be replaced with a smaller one.
  • In 1944, as the Allies approached Paris, Hitler ordered Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower, along with other parts of the city. The general refused.
  • In 1960, Charles de Gaulle proposed temporarily dismantling the tower and sending it to Montreal for Expo 67. The plan was rejected.
  • In the Beatles song I Am the Walrus, Semolina Pilchard climbs the Eiffel Tower.
  • For its 75th anniversary, there was a televised broadcast of mountaineers climbing up the tower.
  • The tower appears in the 1985 Bond film A View to a Kill. There is a scene in the Jules Verne Restaurant, and a fight in the stairway.
  • In 2007, a woman with an objects fetish named Erika La Tour Eiffel “married” the Eiffel Tower, changing her name to Erika La Tour Eiffel in honor of her “partner.”
  • According to the Societe de la Tour Eiffel, since the tower first opened in 1889, there have only been 349 successful suicides. Some were jumpers, while others were people hanging themselves from the beam. Those who did attempt to jump from the first level don’t always die.
  • At night, it is illegal (you can be fined) to take a photograph of the tower because the light display is considered artwork and therefore protected under copyright law.
  • Zoning restrictions in Paris limit the height of most buildings to 7 storeys high. Thus, only a small number of taller buildings have a clear view of the tower.
  • The Eiffel Tower being so popular, its design has been recreated around the world, with over 30 replicas including the half scale replica at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel in Nevada, USA, the full scale Tokyo Tower in Japan and one at the Window of the World theme park in Shenzhen, China.
  • To counteract atmospheric perspective, multiple types of colors are used to paint the Eiffel Tower. Darker shades are used at the top and, gradually, lighter hues are painted toward the bottom.
Names of 70 scientists and engineers inscribed in surrounding panels

Names of 70 scientists and engineers inscribed in surrounding panels

  • The names of 72 engineers, scientists and mathematicians are engraved on the side of the tower, each of whom contributed to its construction.
  • To mark the 125th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower’s completion, the British Virgin Islands has launched a special tower-shaped $10 coin.
  • In the computer game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the tower is toppled by an airstrike.
  • Lego set number 10181, containing 3,428 bricks, are for those who wanted to build your own Eiffel Tower.
  • To keep the operations up and running 365 days a year, the site requires a large staff of 280 people.
  • To validate admission, cashiers sell 2 tons of tickets every year and the cleaning crew uses 25,000 garbage bags annually.
  • More than just a tourist attraction, the tower also houses gourmet restaurants, art exhibitions, concerts, a newspaper office, a post office, scientific laboratories, and the first level becomes an ice rink every year.
  • In 1984, two Britons parachuted from the tower without permission.
  • The Eiffel Tower Light Display, dating back to 1985, was invented by Pierre Bideau, an electrician and lighting engineer. Consisting of projectors equipped with high-pressure, yellow-orange sodium lamps, when illuminated, they give the impression that the Eiffel Tower is sparkling with gold. In under 10 mins., the projectors are turned on and activated by sensors. In 2004, they were replaced with energy-efficient projectors, resulting in 40% energy savings.
  • For the landmark’s centennial, tightrope walker Philippe Petit walked the 2,296 ft. between the Palais de Chaillot and the Eiffel Tower.
  • In 2002, Hugues Richard climbed the tower on his mountain bike , breaking his own 1998 record.

Here are some amazing facts about the tower:

  • The Eiffel Tower is 324 m. (1,063 ft. including antenna) tall (about the same height as an 81-storey building) and its base is square, 125 m. (410 ft.) on a side.
  • 98 million people ascended it in 2011 and the tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010. In 2012, there were 6,180,000 visitors (75% foreign) and an average of 25,000 people ascend the tower every day. The majority of visitors are French (10.4%), followed by Italy and Spain (8.1% each), USA (7.9%), Britain (7.4%), Germany (5.8%) and Brazil (5.5%).
Bottom of first level platform

Bottom of first level platform

  • The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants (including the internationally renowned Jules Verne Restaurant) on the first and second. The third level observatory’s upper platform, the highest accessible to the public in the European Union, is 276 m. (906 ft.) above the ground,
  • 1,665 steps are needed to climb all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The climb from ground level to the first level (187 ft.) is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level.   The height of the third level is 905 ft.
  • There are 336 floodlights and 20,000 (5,000 per side) special light bulbs that twinkle (for 5 mins. on the hour, every hour, from nightfall to 1 AM) on the Eiffel Tower. Its light beam can be seen 50 miles away. 25 mountain climbers were required for the 5-month lighting installation. 50 miles of electrical cable and 60 tons of metallic parts cover the tower. Total cost was over $5 million
  • Its 6 elevators make 100 climbs per day. Every year, elevator trips total 103,000 kms. (64,000 mi.), enough to go around the globe 2.5 times.
  • Annually, it consumes 7,500,000 KWH of electricity, the same amount of electricity used by a small village annually.
  • Every 7 years, around 50 to 60 tons (49 to 59 long tons; 55 to 66 short tons)of paint, weighing as much as 10 elephants, are needed to paint the 2,690,750 sq. ft. surface of the Eiffel Tower to protect it from rust.
  • It cost 7,799,401 gold francs to build. If the Eiffel Tower was built today, it would cost about US$35 million.
  • It took a total of 2 years, 2 months and 5 days to build 180 years fewer than Paris’s other great attraction, Notre Dame Cathedral.
  • Despite its height, the Eiffel Tower was designed to be wind resistant, swaying only a few inches in the wind.
  • Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm. (7.1 in.) because of thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.
  • The Eiffel Tower weighs 11,133 tons, around 7,300 of which represents the metallic structure..
  • The height of the Eiffel Tower varies by 15 cm. (5.9 in.) due to temperature.
  • 300 workers, 18,038 pieces of wrought iron and 2.5 million rivets were needed to build the Eiffel Tower.
  • The puddled iron (wrought iron) structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tons, while the entire structure, including non-metal components, is approximately 10,000 tons. If the 7,300 tons of the metal structure were melted down it would fill the 125-m. square base to a depth of only 6.25 cm. (2.5 in.), assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tons per cu. m.
  • A cubic box surrounding the tower (324 m. x  125 m.  x  ) would contain 6,200 tons of air, almost as much as the iron itself.
One of the main pillars

One of the main pillars

Eiffel Tower: Champ de Mars, 5 Avenue Anatole France, 75007 Paris, France. Tel: +33 892 70 12 39.  Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift (elevator) to the first and second levels. To avoid long queues, tickets can also be purchased online. Although there are stairs to the third and highest level, these are usually closed to the public and it is generally only accessible by lift (€15).

Place de la Concorde (Paris, France)

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Place de la Concorde seen from Jardin des Tuileries

The 7.6-hectare (18.8-acre) Place de la Concorde, situated along the right bank of the Seine River in the  eighth arrondissement, separates the Tuileries Gardens from the beginning of the Boulevard Champs-Elysées. (see map). At the bottom of the Champs Elysées, set in the center, stands an ancient Egyptian obelisk from the Luxor Temple.

Here is the historical timeline of the Place de la Concorde and its sumptuous obelisk:

  • In 1754, construction of the royal square began. First called Place Louis XV, it was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, Louis XV’s architect, for the purpose of showcasing an equestrian statue of the King (commissioned in 1748 by the city of Paris, mostly sculpted by Edmé Bouchardon.and completed by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle after the death of Bouchardon)
  • In 1763, the square was completed.
  • During the French Revolution, the square was renamed as Place de la Révolution and the statue of the king was replaced by the guillotine.
  • With the restoration of the Bourbons, the square was renamed Place Louis XVI and an equestrian statue of King Louis XVI, designed by Jean-Pierre Cortot, was installed.
  • During the July Revolution in 1830, the equestrian statue of King Louis XVI was destroyed.
  • In 1829, Muhammad Ali Pasha (also known as Mehmet Ali Pesha), the self-declared Khedive  of Ottoman Egypt, deciding to dramatically reform the military, cultural and economic aspects of Egypt, offered to France the two obelisks of the first pylon at the front of Luxor Temple (the temple of the god Amon), that Ramesses II had raised in the 13th century BC.
  • In August 1832 (they had to wait for the flood of the river to leave), the French steam paddle ship Sphinx sailed to Alexandria to rendezvous there with the Louqsor. The French seamen then lowered the obelisk with an array of blocks and tackles, yardarms and capstans.
  • On April 1, 1833, the Sphinx and Louqsor depart Alexandria
  • On May 10, 1833, both ships reached Toulon.
  • On August 12, 1833, the ships arrived at Cherbourg port within the Basse Normandie region.
  • On December 21, 1833, the Parisian obelisk arrived in Paris. Sphinx then towed Louqsor back to France.
  • On October 25, 1836, the obelisk was moved to the center of Place de la Concorde and re-erected during a carefully planned ceremony watched and applauded by King Louis-Philippe I and his family, gathered on the balcony of the Hotel de la Marine, and an eager crowd of 200,000 people. The lifting of the obelisk began at 11:30 AM.
  • In 1936, the Luxor Obelisk was officially classified as a Monument Historique.
  • On the morning of December 1, 1993, to mark World AIDS Day, the anti-AIDS Charity Act Up Paris covered the Parisian obelisk with a giant pink condom.
  • In May 1998, as part of the celebrations to mark Franco-Egyptian relations, a 3 m. high pyramid, made of bronze and gold leaf, was added to the top of the monolith by the government of France under then French President Jacques Chirac, to cap the top of the obelisk (its original pyramidion was believed stolen in the 6th century BC).
  • In 1998 and 2000, French urban climber Alain Robert scaled the Parisian obelisk without the use of any ropes or other climbing equipment or safety devices.

The square marks an intersection of two axes. The Voie Triomphale (Triumphal Way), the major axis, extends east-to-west, in a perfectly straight line, from the former royal palace (now the Louvre Museum), past the Arc du Carrousel and through the Tuileries Gardens, up the Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe, and beyond — now culminating at the Grande Arche in the Paris suburb of La Défense. The second (minor) axis, formed by the line between Place de la Madeleine, down rue Royale through the square and across the Pont de la Concorde, culminates at the Palais Bourbon.

Check out “Arc de Triomphe” and “Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel“

Statues, at each corner of the octagon (at one time, the pedestals under these statues were inhabited by citizens of Paris), were initiated by architect Jacques-Ignace Hittorff. They represent the French cities of Brest and Rouen by Jean-Pierre Cortot, Lyon and Marseille by Pierre Petitot, Bordeaux and Nantes by Louis-Denis Caillouette, and Lille and Strasbourg by James Pradier.

Horses of Marly.  These are copies of Costeau’s horses, masterpieces of French sculpture, that were moved to the Louvre in 1984 to be conserved.

The Horses of Marly (Chevaux de Marly), monumental statues of French sculptor Guillaume Coustou the Elder located at the beginning of the Champs Elysées, are copies of the originals which are now exhibited at the Louvre Museum.

The Pont de la Concorde, at the south end of the square, was built between 1787-1790 by Jean-Rodolphe Perronnet and widened between 1930-1932.  It crosses the Seine, leading to the Palais Bourbon, home of the French National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale).

 

Cheska and Kyle at the rain-swept Place de la Concorde

Bordering the Place de la Concorde are the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume (originally Napoleon III’s indoor tennis court) and Musée de l’Orangerie, both in the Tuileries Gardens; and the Embassy of the United States, located in the corner of the square at the intersection of Avenue Gabriel and Rue Boissy d’Anglas.

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the Place de la Concorde.

  • Measuring 359 m. (1,178 ft.) long by 212 m. (696 ft.) wide, Place de la Concorde is the largest public and, possibly, the most infamous square in Paris and is one of the most well known traffic circles in the world.
  • The square is actually in the shape of an octagon (because of its cut-off corners) and was once bordered by large moats which no longer exist (filled in during the reign of Napoleon III) .
  • Between 1793 and 1795, during the French Revolution, Louis XVI (January 21, 1793),  Princess Élisabeth of France, Marie Antoinette, Charlotte Corday, Georges Danton,  Camille Desmoulins, Antoine Lavoisier, Madame du Barry,  Maximilien Robespierre  Louis de Saint-Just, and Olympe de Gouges and nearly 1,300 others were executed there. It is said that the scent of blood was so strong in the square that a herd of cattle once refused to cross the grounds.
  • Following the Revolution, the square underwent a series of name changes – Place de la Concorde (as a gesture of reconciliation after the turmoil of the revolution), Place Louis XV (again), Place Louis XVI, Place de la Chartre and, once again, Place de la Concorde.
  • Its obelisk, and twin that still stands in front temple in Luxor (formerly the city of Thebes, the second largest city in Egypt at the time), were the largest obelisks to have been erected by Ramses II (others were set up at temples in Heliopolis and Tanis).
  • Obelisks were popular among the Roman emperors so much so that 13 of them were taken to Rome. Today, in addition to that in Paris and the Cleopatra’s Needles in London and New York, historic Egyptian examples are also found in Florence in Italy.
  • Mediating between the Egypt and France was Jean-Francois Champollion, first decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and curator of Egyptian collections at the Louvre Museum. Dying in 1832, he never had the chance to see the completion of his work.
  • Through the efforts of Jean Baptiste Apollinaire Lebas, the two ancient obelisks were presented as a gift to King Charles X. However, King Charles X had already abdicated from the throne, even before the first of the two obelisks was even destined to arrive in Paris, and King Louis Philippe took over.
  • Only the right-hand obelisk in Luxor Temple was transported and erected. The left-hand obelisk remained in its location in Egypt as President Francois Mitterand, on September 26, 1981, renounced the French claim to second Luxor obelisk as a symbolic gesture and one of peace between nations.
  • The original sculpted Egyptian pedestal (both obelisks had identical pedestals), which included the statues of 16 fully sexed carved baboons raising their legs, revealing their sexes (at dawn, ancient Egyptians observed baboons in nature making such a gesture and interpreted this as the animals ‘adoring’ the sun), was deemed too obscene for public exhibition. It is now displayed in the Egyptian section of the Musée du Louvre. A block of granite for the new pedestal was ordered in Brest.
  • To transport the monolith, the 49 m. long, specially designed, purpose-built, flat bottomed and 3-masted barge Louqsor (the first naval steamer), a seagoing freighter, was built by the Toulon naval yard to be able to navigate the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, sail up the Seine and the Nile, and pass under the bridges of Paris.
  • In Luxor, 300 workmen dug a canal to allow the Louqsor to come close to the obelisk. After packing and felling the monolith, it had to be dragged for 400 m. to join the Nile.
  • To lift the obelisk at the Place de Concorde, a counterweight system was developed by engineer Apollinaire Lebas, with 350 gunners operating the lift, with the strength of their arms, while the engineer remains voluntarily under the obelisk.
  • The successful French transport operation of the obelisk (a 9,000-km. journey that lasted seven long years), not an easy engineering feat as the effort, manpower and expertise was tremendous.  It predates, by more than 30 years, the eventful transport of Cleopatra’s Needle by the British.
  • The large mechanical clock, offered in 1845 by King Louis Philippe in exchange for the obelisk, was discovered to be faulty, having probably been damaged during transport. The still not working clock exists in a clock-tower in a mosque at the top of the Cairo Citadel.
  • Compared to the rest of this old monument, the new and shiny pyramidion makes it now known as the most cheerful obelisk in the world for what it represents.
  • In the Star Trek novels, the Place de la Concorde is the location of the offices of the President and the Council of the United Federation of Planets.

The 3,000 year-old, so-called Luxor Obelisk (French: Obélisque de Louxor), of yellow granite and inscribed with hieroglyphs in honor of the Pharaoh Ramesses II, is one of a pair of ancient Egyptian obelisks carved to stand either side of the portal of the Luxor Temple.

The Luxor Obelisk

Flanked on both sides by fountains (Fontaine des Mers and Fontaine des Fleuves) constructed at the time of its erection, the Paris obelisk rises 22.83 m. (74.9 ft,) high, including the base, and weighs over 250 metric tons (280 short tons). Its hieroglyphics depict the rule of Ramses II and Ramses III.

The obelisk’s pedestal

Its present-day pedestal , originally intended for the equestrian statue of King Louis XVI, is now with drawn gilded diagrams explaining the procedures and the complex machinery and different devices that were used for the transportation and erection on the square (just as the pedestal of the Obelisk of Theodosius has relief carvings showing that ancient Egyptian obelisk’s re-erection in Constantinople).

Check out “Louvre Museum” and “Louvre Museum – Egyptian Antiquities Department”

Hôtel Crillon, north of the obelisk, was where Marie Antoinette, in happier times, took piano lessons and where, in 1778, France signed a treaty (first in the world) recognizing a free and independent United States of America.

The new pyramidion of the obelisk

Place de la Concorde: 75008 Paris, France. 

How to Get There:

  • Concorde, the nearest Métro station, is located beneath the Place de la Concorde, at the beginning of the Rue de Rivoli, next to the Jardin des Tuileries.  It serves Lines 1, 8 and 12.  Walking in a northerly direction gets you to the Madeleine stop that serves lines 8, 12 and 14 while walking in a westerly direction, up the famous Avenue des Champs Elysees, you have the Champs-Elysees – Clemenceau stop serving Lines 1 and 13.
  • Several Bus Lines that gets you close by to this historical monument including 24, 42, 72, 73, 84, 94 along with the Noctilien Night Bus Service via lines N11 and N24.  However, the nearest RER train station is the Invalides stop on the left bank of the River Seine, which serves the RER C Line.24, 42, 52, 72, 73, 84, 94.

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (Paris, France)

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After our all morning tour of the Louvre and lunch at an outdoor café, we made our way, by foot, to the Bateaux Parisiens boat docking station, near the Eiffel Tower, where we were to embark on a Seine River Cruise.  We passed a number of Paris landmarks along the way.  The first was the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, a triumphal arch  derivative of the triumphal arches of the Roman Empire; in particular that of Septimius Severus in Rome.

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

Located in the Place du Carrousel, it was designed by Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine and was built between 1806 and 1808, on the model of the Arch of Constantine (312 AD) in Rome, by Emperor Napoleon I as an entrance of honor of the Tuileries Palace, the Imperial residence, and to commemorate his diplomatic and military victories of the previous year. The more famous Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, across from the Champs Élysées and designed in the same year, is about twice as massive but was not completed until 1836.

DSC05462

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is located at the eastern end of Paris Axe historique (“historic axis”), a 9-km. long linear route which dominates much of the northwestern quadrant of the city. It is, in effect, the backbone of the Right Bank.  Looking west, the arch is perfectly aligned with the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde, the centerline of the grand boulevard Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe at the Place de l’Étoile, and, although it is not directly visible from the Place du Carrousel, the Grande Arche de la Défense. Thus, the axis begins and ends with an arch.

Bas-relief of The Battle of Austerlitz

Bas-relief of The Battle of Austerlitz

When the Arc du Carrousel was built, however, an observer in the Place du Carrousel was impeded from any view westward as the central part of the Palais des Tuileries intervened to block the line of sight to the west. When the Tuileries was burned down during the Paris Commune in 1871, and its ruins were swept away, the great axis, as it presently exists, an unobstructed view west was opened all the way to the Place du Carrousel, the Louvre and the more famous Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile. Also, with the disappearance of the palace, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel also became the dominant feature of the Place du Carrousel.

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel seen from the Louvre

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel seen from the Louvre

This monument is 19 m. (63 ft.) high, 23 m. (75 ft.) wide and 7.5 m. (24 ft.) deep.  Its 6.4 m. (21 ft.) high central arch is flanked by two smaller ones, 4.3 m. (14 ft.) high, and 2.7 m. (9 ft.) wide. An example of Corinthian style of architecture, around its exterior are 8 marble Corinthian columns topped by an entablature whose upper frieze has sculptures of 8 soldiers of the Empire: Auguste Marie Taunay‘s cuirassier, Charles-Louis Corbet‘s dragoon, Joseph Chinard‘s horse grenadier and Jacques-Edme Dumont‘s sapper.

Statue of a dragoon

Statue of a dragoon

On the pediment, between the soldiers, are bas-reliefs, executed in rose marble, whose subjects are devoted to the battles of Napoleon and were selected by Vivant Denon, the director of the Napoleon Museum  (located at the time in the Louvre), and designed by Charles Meynier. They depict:

It was originally surmounted by the so-called Horses of Saint Mark that adorned the top of the main door of the St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, which had been captured in 1798 by Napoleon. In 1815, following the Battle of Waterloo and the Bourbon restoration, France ceded the quadriga  to the Austrian empire which had annexed Venice under the terms of the Congress of Vienna. The Austrians immediately returned the statuary to Venice.

Quadriga of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel - Copy

Quadriga of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

The horses of Saint Mark were replaced in 1828 by a quadriga, atop the entablature, sculpted by Baron François Joseph Bosio, depicting Peace riding in a triumphal chariot led by gilded Victories on both sides. The composition commemorates the Restoration of the Bourbons following Napoleon’s downfall.  The Arc du Carrousel inspired the design of Marble Arch, constructed in London between 1826 and 1833.

Tuileries Garden (Paris, France)

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Tuileries Garden

The Tuileries Garden (French: Jardin des Tuileries),  a public garden located between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde, a place where ordinary Parisians celebrated, met, strolled, relaxed, enjoyed the fresh air and greenery and be entertained.

Check out “Louvre Museum” and “Place de la Concorde“

The name of the garden, as well the Tuileries Palace (burned in 1870 during the uprising of the Paris Commune), was derived from the tile-making factories called tuileries (from the French tuile, meaning “tile”) which once occupied the area since the 13th century.

View of Eiffel Tower from the gardens

Here is the historical timeline of the garden:

  • In 1564, Queen Catherine de Medici commissioned Bernard de Carnesse, a landscape architect from Florence, to create an Italian Renaissance garden (the largest and most beautiful garden in Paris at the time) in an enclosed space 500 m. long and 300 m. wide, separated from the new Tuileries Palace by a lane. It was to have fountains, a labyrinth, a grotto and was decorated with faience images of plants and animals, made by Bernard Palissy, whom Catherine had tasked to discover the secret of Chinese porcelain. Six alleys divided it into rectangular compartments which were planted with lawns, flower beds, and small clusters of five trees (called quinconces) and, more practically, with kitchen gardens and vineyards. Catherine used this garden for lavish royal festivities honoring ambassadors from Queen Elizabeth I of England, and the marriage of her daughter, Marguerite de Valois, to Henri III of Navarre (better known as Henry IV, King of France and of Navarre).
  • In 1588, after King Henry III was forced to flee Paris, the gardens fell into disrepair.
  • Henry IV (1589–1610), his successor, and his gardener, Claude Mollet, restored the gardens.  They built a covered promenade the length of the garden, and a parallel alley planted with mulberry trees (where he hoped to cultivate silkworms and start a silk industry in France). He also built a rectangular, 65 m. by 45 m. ornamental lake of with a fountain supplied with water by the new pump called La Samaritaine (built in 1608 on the Pont Neuf). The area between the palace and the former moat of Charles V was turned into the “New Garden” (Jardin Neuf) with a large fountain in the center. Henry IV used the gardens for relaxation and exercise.
  • In 1610, at the death of his father, the Tuileries Gardens became the enormous playground of 9 year old Louis XIII who used it for hunting and where he kept a menagerie of animals. On the north side of the gardens, Marie de’ Medici established a riding school, stables and a covered manege for exercising horses. The gardens were turned into a pleasure spot for the nobility when the king and court were absent from Paris.
  • In 1630, a former rabbit warren and kennel, at the west rampart of the garden, was made into a flower-lined promenade and cabaret (where the daughter of Gaston d’Orléans and the niece of Louis XIII, known as La Grande Mademoiselle, held a sort of court). The “New Garden” of Henry IV (the present-day Carousel) became known as the “Parterre de Mademoiselle.”
  • In 1652, “La Grande Mademoiselle” was expelled from the chateau and garden for having supported the Fronde, an uprising against her cousin, the young Louis XIV.
  • In 1662, to celebrate the birth of his first child, Louis XIV held a vast pageant of mounted courtiers in the New Garden (enlarged by filling in Charles V’s moat and had been turned into a parade ground). Thereafter, the square was known as the Place du Carrousel.
  • In 1664, Colbert, the king’s superintendent of buildings, commissioned the landscape architect André Le Nôtre (the grandson of Pierre Le Nôtre, one of Catherine de’ Medici’s gardeners, and his father Jean had also been a gardener at the Tuileries), to redesign the entire garden. Le Nôtre immediately began transforming the Tuileries into a formal jardin à la française (a style he had first developed at Vaux-le-Vicomte and perfected at Versailles), based on symmetry, order and long perspectives.
  • In 1667, at the request of Charles Perrault (the famous author of Sleeping Beautyand other fairy tales), the Tuileries Garden was eventually opened to the public (with the exception of beggars, “lackeys” and soldiers). It was the first royal garden to be open to the public.
  • In 1682, furious with the Parisians for resisting his authority, the king abandoned Paris and moved to Versailles. The garden was abandoned for nearly forty years.
  • In 1719, La Renommée and Mercure, two large equestrian statuary groups  by the sculptor Antoine Coysevox, were brought from the king’s residence at Marly and placed at the west entrance of the garden. Along the Grande Allée, other statues by Nicolas Coustou and Guillaume Coustou the Elder, Corneille Van Clève, Sebastien Slodz, Thomas Regnaudin and Antoine Coysevox were placed. To make access to the garden easier, a swing bridge was placed at the west end over the moat. A grand vestibule to the garden was created with the place Louis XV (now Place de la Concorde). Certain holidays, such as August 25, the feast day of Saint Louis, were celebrated with concerts and fireworks in the park.
  • On October 6, 1789, as the French Revolution began, King Louis XVI was brought against his will to the Tuileries Palace and the garden was closed to the public except in the afternoon. A part of the garden, first at the west end of the Promenade Bord d’eaux, then at the edge of the Place Louis XV, was given for the private use of Queen Marie Antoinette and the Dauphin.
  • On the evening of September 18, 1791, after the king’s failed attempt to escape France and during the festival organized to celebrate the new French Constitution, when the alleys of the park were illuminated with pyramids and rows of lanterns, the royal family was allowed to walk in the park.
  • On August 10, 1792, a mob stormed the Tuileries Palace and the king’s Swiss guards were chased through the gardens and massacred.
  • After the king’s removal from power and execution, the Tuileries became the National Garden (Jardin National) of the new French Republic.
  • In 1794, the painter Jacques-Louis David, and to his brother in law, the architect August Cheval de Saint-Hubert were assigned the renewal of the gardens by the new government, conceiving a garden decorated with Roman porticos, monumental porches, columns, and other classical decoration. The project was never completed and all that remains today are the two exedres, semicircular low walls crowned with statues by the two ponds in the center of the garden. While David’s project was not finished, large numbers of statues from royal residences were brought to the gardens for display. The garden was also used for revolutionary holidays and festivals.
  • On June 8, 1794, Robespierre organized a ceremony in the Tuileries in honor of the Cult of the Supreme Being, with sets and costumes designed by Jacques-Louis David. After a hymn written for the occasion, Robespierre set fire to mannequins representing Atheism, Ambition, Egoism and False Simplicity, revealing a statue of Wisdom.
  • In 1780, public toilets were added.
  • On December 1, 1783, a famous early balloon ascent, by Jacques Alexandre César Charlesand Nicolas Louis Robert, was made from the garden. Small food stands were placed in the park, and chairs could be rented for a small fee.
  • On April 2, 1810, Napoleon Bonaparte used the garden as passage of his own wedding procession when he married the Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria.
  • After the fall of Napoleon, the garden briefly became the encampment of the occupying Austrian and Russian soldiers.
  • After the restoration of the monarchy, and the new King Charles X renewed an old tradition and celebrated the feast day of Saint Charles in the garden.
  • In 1830, after a brief revolution, the new king Louis-Philippe, wanting a private garden within the Tuileries, separated a section of the garden in front of the palace with a fence, decorating the new private garden with a small moat, flower beds and eight new statues by sculptors of the period.
  • In 1852, following another revolution and the short-lived Second Republic, the new Emperor Louis Napoleon enlarged his private reserve within the garden further to the west as far as the north–south alley that crossed the large round basin, so that included the two small round basins. His new garden was decorated with beds of exotic plants and flowers and new statues.
  • In 1859, Louis Napoleon made the Terrasse du bord-de-l’eau into a playground for his son, the Prince Imperial. He also constructed the Jeu de paume and the Orangerie, twin pavilions at the west end of the garden and built, at the west entrance, a new stone balustrade. From May to November, when The Emperor was not in Paris, the entire garden, including his private garden and the playground, were usually open to the public.
  • In 1883, the ruins of the burnt out palace were torn and the empty site, between the two pavilions of the Louvre, became part of the garden.
  • At the 1900 Summer Olympics, the Gardens hosted the fencing
  • In the years between the two World Wars, the Jeu de paume tennis court was turned into a gallery, its western part was used to display the Water Lilies series of paintings by Claude Monet. The Orangerie became an art gallery for contemporary western art.
  • At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the Tuilieries Garden was filled with entertainments for the public (acrobats, puppet theaters, lemonade stands, small boats on the lakes, donkey rides, and stands selling toys).
  • In 1914, during the First World War, the statues in the garden were surrounded by sandbags.
  • In 1918, two German long-range artillery shells landed in the garden.
  • During the German Occupation of World War II (1940 to 1944), the Jeu de paume was used by the Germans as a depot for storing art they stole or expropriated from Jewish families.
  • In 1927, the Jeu de Paume became an annex of the Luxembourg Palace Museum for the display of contemporary art from outside France.
  • In 1944, the liberation of Paris saw considerable fighting in the garden and, during the battle, Monet’s paintings Water Lilies were seriously damaged.
  • From 1947 until 1986, the Jeu de Paume served as the Musée du Jeu de Paume, which held many important Impressionist works now housed in the Musée d’Orsay.
  • In 1964–65, André Malraux (the Minister of Culture for President Charles de Gaulle) removed the 19th century statues which surrounded the Place du Carrousel and replaced them with contemporary sculptures by Aristide Maillol.
  • In 1994, as part of the Grand Louvre project launched by President François Mitterrand, the Belgian landscape architect Jacques Wirtz remade the garden of the Carrousel, adding labyrinths and a fan of low hedges radiating from the triumphal arch in the square.
  • In 1995, the Jardin du Carrousel was remade to showcase a collection of 21 statues by Aristide Maillol, which had been put in the Tuileries in 1964.
  • In 1998, under President Jacques Chirac, works of modern sculpture by Jean Dubuffet, Henri Laurens, Étienne Martin, Henry Moore, Germaine Richier, Auguste Rodin and David Smith were placed in the garden.
  • In 2000, the works of living artists (Magdalena Abakanowicz, Louise Bourgeois, Tony Cragg, Roy Lichtenstein, François Morrellet, Giuseppe Penone, Anne Rochette and Lawrence Weiner) were added. At the same time, another ensemble of three works by Daniel Dezeuze, Erik Dietman and Eugène Dodeigne, called Prière Toucher (Eng: Please Touch), was added.
  • At the beginning of the 21st century, French landscape architects Pascal Cribier and Louis Benech have been working to restore some of the early features of the André Le Nôtre garden.

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The Grand Carré (Large Square), the eastern, open part of the Tuilieries Garden, still follows the formal plan of the Garden à la française created in the 17th century by André Le Nôtre. The eastern part, surrounding the round pond, was the private garden, separated from the rest of the Tuileries by a fence, of Louis Philippe and Napoleon III.  Most of its statues were put in place in the 19th century. 

Statue of Diane Chasseresse (Louis-Auguste Levesque)

Nymphe (1866) and Diane Chasseresse (Diana the Huntress) (1869), both done by Louis Auguste Lévêque, marks the beginning of the central allée which runs east-west through the park.

Statue of Nymphe (Louis-Auguste Levesque)

Tigre terrassant un crocodile (Tiger overwhelming a crocodile, 1873) and Tigresse portant un paon à ses petits (Tigress bringing a peacock to her young, 1873), both by Auguste Cain, are located by the two small round ponds.

The large round pond is surrounded by statues on themes from antiquity, allegory, and ancient mythology and in violent poses alternating with those in serene poses. On the south side, starting from the east entrance of the large round pond, they are:

The Good Samaritan (François Sicard)

On the north side, starting at the west entrance to the pond, they are:

The Centaur Nessus Carrying Off Dejanire (Laurent Honoré Marqueste)

Le Grand Couvert, the part of the garden covered with trees, has  two cafes named after two famous cafes once located in the garden – the Café Very (which had been on the Terrace des Feuiillants in the 18th–19th century) and the Café Renard (which in the 18th century had been a popular meeting place on the western terrace).

The Oath of Spartacus (Louis Ernest Barrias)

It also contains the two exedras (low curving walls built to display statues which survived from the French Revolution), built in 1799 by Jean Charles Moreau (as part of a larger unfinished project designed by painter Jacques-Louis David in 1794), now decorated with plaster casts of moldings on mythological themes from the park of Louis XIV at Marly.

Pericles Giving Crowns to Artists (Jean-Baptiste Debay Pėre)

The Grand Couvert also contains a number of important works of the 20th century and contemporary sculpture, including:

The Standing Woman (Gaston Lachaise)

The Orangerie (Musée de l’Orangerie), built in 1852 by the architect Firmin Bourgeois, is located at the west end of the garden, close to the Seine River. Since 1927, it has displayed many large examples of Claude Monet‘s Water Lilies series as well as the Walter-Guillaume collection of Impressionist painting.

Bassin Octogonal

On the terrace are four works of sculpture by Auguste Rodin: Le Baiser (1881–1898); Eve (1881) and La Grande Ombre (1880) and La Meditation avc bras (1881–1905). It also has a modern work, Grand Commandement blanc (1986) by Alain Kirili.

The partially installed Roue de Paris, a 60-m. (200-ft.) tall transportable Ferris wheel, originally installed on the Place de la Concorde for the 2000 millennium celebrations.

The Jardin du Carrousel, also known as the Place du Carrousel, is the part of the garden that used to be enclosed by the two wings of the Louvre and by the Tuileries Palace. In the 18th century it was used as a parade ground for cavalry and other festivities. The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, its central feature, was built to celebrate the victories of Napoleon, with bas-relief sculptures of his battles by Jean Joseph Espercieux.

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La Comédie (Julien Toussaint Roux)

The elevated Terrasse (terrace), between the Carrousel and the rest of the garden, used to be at the front of the Tuileries Palace which, after the Palace was burned in 1870, was made into a road, which was put underground in 1877. The terrace is decorated by two large vases which used to be in the gardens of Versailles, and two statues by Aristide Maillol; the Monument to Cézanne on the north and the Monument aux morts de Port Vendres on the south.

 

From the Terrasse, two stairways descend to the moat named for Charles V of France, (who rebuilt the Louvre in the 14th century), part of the old fortifications which originally surrounded the palace. On the west side are traces left by the fighting during the unsuccessful siege of Paris by Henry IV of France in 1590 during the French Wars of Religion.

Since 1994, the moat has been decorated with statues from the facade of the old Tuileries Palace and with bas-reliefs made in the 19th century during the Restoration of the French monarchy which were meant to replace the Napoleonic bas-reliefs on the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, but were never put in place.

The Jeu de Paume (Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume), built in 1861 by the architect Viraut, was enlarged in 1878. Today, it is used for exhibits of modern and contemporary art.  On the terrace in front of the Jeu de Paume is the Le Bel Costumé (1973), a work of sculpture by Jean Dubuffet.

Tuileries Garden: 1st arrondissement, Paris, France

Louvre Pyramid (Paris, France)

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Louvre Pyramid

The Louvre Pyramid

At the main courtyard (Cour Napoléon) of the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) is the Louvre Pyramid (Pyramide du Louvre), a large, glass and metal pyramid that serves as the main entrance to the Louvre Museum. Designed by the late Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei (Ieoh Ming Pei), the founder of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners known for his stellar work at the National Gallery in Washington as well as the Fine Arts Museum in Boston.

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L-R; Jandy, Grace, Cheska, Kyle and Manny

It was commissioned in 1984 by the, François Mitterrand, President of France, and completed on March  29, 1989 (symbolically, the bicentenary year of the French Revolution).

Cheska and Kyle

I.M. Pei’s most famous structure, this controversial structure, now an iconic symbol for the largest museum in the world,  has become, together with the Arc de Triumphe and the equally controversial Eiffel Tower, a landmark of the city of Paris.

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One of the three smaller pyramids

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the Louvre Pyramid:

  • There are actually five pyramids throughout the museum. The Louvre Pyramid is surrounded by three smaller pyramids, positioned to create light shafts for access to the museum’s collections, plus the Pyramide Inversée (Inverted Pyramid), an upside-down and smaller version of the Louvre Pyramid. The latter is a skylight in the Carrousel du Louvre shopping mall in front of the Louvre Museum.
  • The large pyramid has the exact same proportions as the Great Pyramid of Giza.
  • The choice of the pyramid figure serves as a reminder of the importance of the Egyptian antiquities collection inside the museum.
  • The Louvre Pyramid was featured near the beginning the 2006 film The Da Vinci Code. Here, Robert Langdon, the main character, meets French Police Captain Bezu Fache in front of the Louvre Pyramid. Today, the sites at the Louvre which are portrayed in the film are the subject of a special visitor trail which enters through the Pyramid and concludes at the Inverted Pyramid.
  • Because of a series of problems with the Louvre’s original main entrance (it could no longer handle, on an everyday basis, the enormous number of visitors, then at 5 million visitors a year), the Louvre Pyramid was created so that visitors entering through the pyramid first descend into the spacious, 60,386 sq. m. (650,000 sq. ft.) underground lobby before ascend into the museum’s three pavilions — Denon, Richelieu and Sully.  However, in 2014, the Louvre’s attendance had doubled and the pyramid proved inadequate, necessitating a thorough redesign of the layout of the foyer area in the Cour Napoleon, including better access to the pyramid and the Passage Richelieu, between 2014 and 2017.
  • As soon as the Louvre Pyramid project, costing 5 billion euros, was announced, it triggered many years of strong and lively aesthetic and political debate. Accused of disfiguring the architecture, some questioned what direction the museum was headed. They criticized the Modernist style of the edifice being inconsistent with the majestic, old and classic French Renaissance architectural style and history of the Louvre; the pyramid being an unsuitable and anachronistic intrusion of an ancient Egyptian symbol of death in the middle of Paris; the hugely unpopular project being an immodest, pretentious, megalomaniacal folly imposed by then-President François Mitterrand (political critics referred to the structure as “Pharaoh Francois’ Pyramid”); and that Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei being insufficiently French to be entrusted with the task of updating the treasured Parisian landmark. Even today, many people still feel that the harsh modernism of the edifice is out of place.
  • M. Pei also included large glass pyramid concept on the roofs of the IBM Somers Office Complex(Westchester County, New York, 1989, the same year the Louvre Pyramid opened) and at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1995, Cleveland, Ohio).
  • Several other museums have also duplicated the pyramid concept, most notably the Museum of Science and Industry(Chicago, Illinois) and the Dolphin Centre (opened April 1982, by Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester).
  • It has been claimed by some that the glass panes in the Louvre Pyramid number exactly 666, “the number of the beast” often associated with Satan and the beast in the Apocalypse. Dominique Stezepfandt’s book François Mitterrand, Grand Architecte de l’Universalso declares that “the pyramid is dedicated to a power described as the Beast in the Book of Revelation (…) The entire structure is based on the number 6.” The story of the 666 panes originated in the 1980s, when the number 666 was mentioned in various newspapers as well as the official brochure published during construction (even twice, though, in a few pages earlier, the total number of panes was given as 672 instead). In 2003, the myth resurfaced when Dan Brown incorporated it in his best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code.  In the book, the protagonist reflects that “this pyramid, at President Mitterrand’s explicit demand, had been constructed of exactly 666 panes of glass.”  However, the Louvre museum states that the finished pyramid contains 673 glass panes (603 rhombi and 70 triangles). David A. Shugarts obtained a higher figure from Pei’s offices, reporting that the pyramid contains 689 pieces of glass.
  • During the design phase, there was a proposal that the design include a spire on the pyramid to simplify window washing. However, Pei objected and this proposal was eliminated.
  • Just in case any glass pieces ever break, laminated glass manufacturer Saint-Gobain made enough to build two pyramids. However, after more than 30 years, no repairs have yet been needed.
  • In the early days, mountaineers were actually hired to scale the Pyramid and clean the glass, a monumental task. However, in the 1990s, a robot was designed to do the job. Then, in 2002, Advanced Robotic Vehicles, a Seattle company, developed a “double breadboxed-sized robot” which boasts a squeegee and rotating brush. When secured to the glass via suction cups, it is maneuvered by remote control to climb the Pyramid on tracks. However, human ropers are still used to repair the joints and descale the glass from time to time.
  • Although the Pyramid was constructed to accommodate a visitor entrance, it’s not the only way to get into the Louvre. Visitors, with single or group tickets, can enter through the Passage Richelieu, which is just off the Rue de Rivoli across from the Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre metro station. You can also enter via the Carrousel du Louvre, an underground shopping and dining space opened in 1993 and the location of the suspended Inverted Pyramid. Whichever entrance you choose, they all converge in the lobby beneath the Louvre Pyramid.

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The underground lobby

Constructed entirely with 21.5 mm. (0.8-in.) thick, extra clear “Diamond Glass” laminated glass segments, totaling 1,800 sq. m. (19,375 sq. ft.) in area, and 6,000 metal poles, the structure, supported by 95 tons of steel and 105 tons of aluminum, is 21.6 m. (71 ft.) high and its square base has sides of 34 m. (112 ft.) and a base surface area of 1,000 sq. m. (11,000 sq ft.).

Spiral stair

Consisting of 603 rhombus-shaped and 70 triangular glass segments, elementary arithmetic allows for easy counting of the panes.  Each of the three sides of the pyramid without an entrance has 18 triangular panes and 17 rows of rhombic ones arranged in a triangle, thus giving rhombic panes (171 panes total).

The side with the entrance has 11 panes fewer (9 rhombic, 2 triangular), so the whole pyramid consists of rhombi and triangles, 673 panes total.

The pyramid structure was engineered by Nicolet Chartrand Knoll Ltd. of Montreal (Pyramid Structure/Design Consultant) and Rice Francis Ritchie of Paris (Pyramid Structure/Construction Phase).

Information counter

Louvre Museum: 75001 Paris, France.  Tel: +33 1 40 20 50 50. Open daily, except Tuesdays and holidays, 9 AM- 6 PM (until 10 PM on Wednesday and Friday evenings).

The Louvre has three entrances: the main entrance at the pyramid, an entrance from the Carrousel du Louvre underground shopping mall, and an entrance at the Porte des Lions (near the western end of the Denon wing).

Admission is free, from October to March, on the first Sunday of every month. Still and video photography is permitted for private, noncommercial use only in the galleries housing the permanent collection. The use of flash or other means of artificial lighting is prohibited. Photography and filming are not permitted in the temporary exhibition galleries. 

How To Get There: the Louvre can be reached via Metro lines 1 and 7, station Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre Métro or the Louvre-Rivoli stations. By bus, take No. 21, 24, 27, 39, 48, 68, 69, 72, 81, 95 as well as the touristic Paris l’Open Tour. By car, there is an underground parking reachable by Avenue du Général Lemonier, every day from 7 AM – 11 PM.

Louvre Museum – From Louis XIV to Louis XVI (Paris, France)

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Parade room of the Hôtel de Chevreuse (Room 622)

The Louvre Museum  houses one of the most prized collections of largely 18th-century French decorative arts, some drawn from donations from benefactors like Comte Isaac de Camondo, Baronne Salomon James de Rothschild, Basile de Schlichting, René Grog and Marie-Louise Grog-Carven, J. Paul Getty, the Duchess of Windsor and the Kraemer family.

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Room 601 (Louis XIV Room) with a portrait of King Louis XIV by Hyacinthe Rigaud (oil on canvas, 1701, 277 cm. × 194 cm.)

A section entitled “From Louis XIV to Louis XVI” (“De Louis XIV à Louis XVI”), presented by the Department of Decorative Arts’ Collections, is a series of rooms, with over two thousand treasures of French art and design, we can walk through.

Room 603 with ceiling fresco “La France victorious at Bouvines” (Merry Joseph Blondel) which commemorate the victory at the Battle of Bouvines

This relatively new (opened last June 17, 2014) setting, designed to shed light on both the technical and stylistic history by introducing the major residences and key figures of the time (artists, craftsmen, and those who commissioned their work), offered a broad panorama of interior design, production from major manufactories, crafts, and the art trade.

The tapestry “Theseus tames the bull of Marathon and offers it as a sacrifice to Apollo” (Room 604)

Primarily French in character, from the reign of Louis XIV up to the French Revolution, this remarkable collection, most originally commissioned for royal or princely residences and formerly the preserve mainly of royalty but now for the enrichment of future generations, consist of wood paneling made of hand carved gilt boiserie and painted decorative elements, lots of gorgeous Sèvres porcelain, some furniture and personal effects of Marie Antoinette‘s, tapestries, fine furniture, decorative bronze work, marble items, gold- and silverware, jewelry, scientific instruments, silks, clocks, European faience, porcelain and sumptuous brocades, all previously hidden away in museum storerooms.

“The Audience given by Loius XIV at Fontainebleau, to Monsignor Cardinal Chigi,” a tapestry at Room 601, made at the Gobelins (Mobilier National, Paris, first version, 1665-1672).

To provide a clearer understanding of this luxurious art of living, particular care had been taken in refurbishing the 33 dedicated galleries which were previously closed for almost a decade. Their approach to exhibition design (masterminded by interior designer and French decorative arts connoisseur Jacques Garcia), adopted by some history museums in the nineteenth century, was to reconstruct the finest inventions of interior decorators and master craftsmen in their natural setting.

Room 631 (Furniture of Royal Residences, 1774-1792)

Through a US$35.4 million (€26 million) major renovation (the museum’s first major project entirely funded by private donors, mainly by the famous watch manufacturer Breguet) and complete revamp of the Louvre’s Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI rooms, these masterpieces by the artists and craftsmen from that bygone era were presented in 2,200 sq. m. of exhibition space in chambers that once housed the Council of State and the entire first floor of the north wing of the Cour Carrée.

The visitor trail is divided into three main chronological and stylistic sequences make up – Louis XIV’s personal reign and the Régence (1660–1725), development of the Rococo style (1725–1755) and return to Classicism and the reign of Louis XVI (1755–1790).

Room 603

A team of artisans, under the supervision of the Louvre’s successive curators of the Department of Decorative Arts under the direction of Marc Bascou, helped the 18th century galleries regain their original splendor, thereby succeeding in safeguarding uncommon skills – cabinetmaking (Charles Cressent, Jean-Jean Henri Riesener, Jean-Baptiste-Claude Séné and Bernard II van Risenburgh), bronze work, silver- and gold smithing (Thomas Germain, Jacques Roëttiers and Robert-Joseph Auguste), gilding, upholstering, painting and decorating (Charles Le Brun and Charles-Antoine Coypel), parquet work and art restoration.

Room 603.  On the right is a tapestry set of The Vatican Stanze – Parnassus. A transposition, into tapestry, of one of Raphael’s compositions, painted to adorn a wall in the Stanza della Segnatura (Room of the Signatura) at the Vatican: the god Apollo is depicted as guardian of the arts, surrounded by the Muses and the most illustrious poets.

The rooms, adopting a chronological approach, took us through a natural progression of the major stylistic periods, from the flamboyant Louis XIV aesthetic and the Regency style, to the elaborate but lighthearted Rococo art, followed by a return to the antique taste and Neo-Classicism with its pure, geometrical proportions, straight lines and refined colors.

Cabinet woodwork of L’Hôtel Dangé-Villemaré

The master works on display, contributing to the spread of French culture, were done by the greatest artisans of their day, whose workshops served not only the French court, but also its European counterparts.

Room 609 displays a collection of scientific instruments (compass, magnets, perpetual calendar, etc.) donated by Nicolas and Simone Landau (1957 and 2002)

The three sparkly “new” and lavish period rooms (a rarity in French museums), formerly from palatial and fashionable private residences of the period and reconstructed, are the. faithfully reconstructed 1750 drawing room, salons, library and private sitting room of the former L’Hôtel Dangé-Villemaré (built in 1709 and redecorated in 1750, it is one of the most important surviving examples of an interior by a Louis XV-era Parisian workshop) at Place Vendôme, the drawing room of the Château d’Abondant, and the ceremonial bedchamber of the Hôtel de Chevreuse).  They are in the style of Louis XIV and continue through to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

France, in the Midst of the Legislator, Kings and French Jurisconsults, Receives the Constitutional Charter from Louis XVIII (Merry Joseph Blondel, 1827)

All are prime examples of interior design by Parisian workshops under the reign of Louis XV. Brought back to life and put on display, it reconstituted a coherent decorative setting in terms of floors, paneling, doors, windows, cornices and ceilings, thus allowing us to view objects in historic context.

Grand Salon of the Château d’Abondant

A fully restored, reassembled and installed cupola fresco, in a Neo-Classical space at the heart of the new galleries, depicts mythological subjects from The Toilet of Venus painted in 1774 by Antoine-François Callet and Pierre-Hyacinthe Deleuze for Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Condé.

The Turkish cabinet of the Comte d’Artois, brother of Louis XVI (Room 630)

Some of the exceptional pieces in the exhibit include:

  • A top-quality, perfectly-proportioned Louis XVI garden with dolphins vase with a blue background in Sèvres porcelain made for the son of the king, painted by Pierre Joseph Rosset l’Ainé and gilded by Jean-Pierre Boulanger.
  • A gold coffer made for Louis XIV by goldsmith Jacob Blanck, with a wooden body covered in blue silk satin, cast, chased and filigreed gold and gilt bronze.
  • A Marie-Antoinette’s traveling case in mahogany containing 94 objects in silver, crystal, porcelain, steel, ivory and ebony.
  • An amazingly-detailed carved, elegantly painted and gilded wood paneling, originally created for aristocrat Le Bas de Montargis’ residence, which once adorning the Comte d’Artois’ Turkish-designed study in Versailles
  • A complete set of nine decorative paintings, in the grotesque style, depicting leisurely country pastimes by Jean-Baptiste Oudry.
  • A Louis XVI commode, by Martin Carlin, with a red griotte marble top, ebony and rosewood veneers and chased gilt-bronze mounts which highlights imported Japanese lacquer screen panels featuring Asian landscapes (among the best examples in the world of the cultural exchanges between Asia and France at the time).
  • A set of six straight-backed armchairs and a sofa owned by the financier Pierre Crozat in carved, gilded walnut, red and fawn-colored leather, and red-and-white silk braiding
  • A roll-top desk by Jean-François Leleu in oak, tulipwood veneer, gilt bronze and marquetry of barberry wood, hollywood, maple burr and boxwood on brown-stained maple, decorated with Sèvres porcelain plaques.
  • An armoire, for the royal furniture depository, in oak, softwood, ebony veneer, marquetry of tortoise shell, brass, pewter and stained horn, and gilt-bronze mounts, created by André-Charles Boulle, the first cabinetmaker to use lavish gilt-bronze mounts to enhance the decoration of his furniture. 

Salle Marie-Antoinette (Room 632)

The luxurious art of living was made instantly perceptible and easier to understand via this museological concept, returning the creations of decorators and master artisans to their natural environment.

Marie Antoinette’s cylinder desk (Jean-Henri Riesener, 1784)

From Louis XIV to Louis XVI: First Floor, Sully Wing, Louvre, 75001 Paris, France.  Tel: +33 1 40 20 50 50. Open daily, except Tuesdays and holidays, 9 AM- 6 PM (until 10 PM on Wednesday and Friday evenings).

The Louvre has three entrances: the main entrance at the pyramid, an entrance from the Carrousel du Louvre underground shopping mall, and an entrance at the Porte des Lions (near the western end of the Denon wing).

Admission is free, from October to March, on the first Sunday of every month. Still and video photography is permitted for private, noncommercial use only in the galleries housing the permanent collection. The use of flash or other means of artificial lighting is prohibited. Photography and filming are not permitted in the temporary exhibition galleries.

 How To Get There: the Louvre can be reached via Metro lines 1 and 7, station Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre Métro or the Louvre-Rivoli stations. By bus, take No. 21, 24, 27, 39, 48, 68, 69, 72, 81, 95 as well as the touristic Paris l’Open Tour. By car, there is an underground parking reachable by Avenue du Général Lemonier, every day from 7 AM – 11 PM.

Louvre Museum – Near Eastern Antiquities Department (Paris, France)

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Near Eastern Antiquities Department

Our visit to the the Near Eastern Antiquities Department, the second newest and one of the most spectacular departments of the Louvre, began at the Ground Floor of the Sully Wing. Here, we spent at least a half hour.

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The author. In the background is one of the heads of the columns of the audience hall (Apadana) of King Darius I. It formed part of the decoration of a 358-foot square room. Room 12-A, First Floor, Sully Wing

The world’s first “Assyrian Museum,” the precursor to today’s department, annexed to the “Department of Antiques,” was opened in 1847 and, in 1881, a “Department of Oriental Antiquities.” When the Louvre expanded with the Richelieu Wing, the department rearranged its collections and the first phase of this transformation, occupying the new wing, was inaugurated in 1993.

The second phase, funded by a generous donation, was inaugurated in 1997. A third phase, in the Denon Wing, was scheduled for the fall of 2012.  It aims to organize joint exhibitions by the three Antiquities Departments, based on Roman objects from the eastern Mediterranean.

The museum’s collection consists of the following:

  • The 37 the monumental bas-reliefs discovered during archaeological excavations in Khorsabad, started by Paul-Émile Botta (consul of France in Mosul) from 1843-1854 in the ancient Assyrian city of Dur-Sharrukin.  The excavation showed the existence of a palace built by King Sargon II in 706 BC. During transport on the Tigris River, a large part of the objects were lost in a shipwreck.
  • Palestinian and Jewish antiquities from his archaeological expedition of Louis Félicien de Saulcy.
  • Sumerian works excavated from the site of Tello (in Lower Mesopotamia) by the French vice-consul at Basra, Ernest de Sarzec.
  • The core of the Phoenician collection supplied by Ernest Renan’s excavations in Lebanon.
  • The first Cypriot collection established by Melchior de Vogué.
  • The first elements of the polychrome brick decoration of the Palace of Darius, discovered by the Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy excavations in 1886.
  • The Code of Hammurabi, a basalt stele discovered by the archaeological mission led by Jacques de Morgan in 1901 in Susa, covers family law, slavery, commercial & agricultural law, and even sets prices and salaries.
  • Claude Schaeffer’s excavations at Ras Shamra (Ugarit)
  • Excavations conducted at Mari, from 1933 to 1974, by André Parrot while pursuing his career as department curator, then as director of the Louvre  (1968-1972).
  • Significant collections of Cypriot (Enkomi) and other antiquities, derived from excavations by the Biblical School of Jerusalem at Tell el-Farah (Tirzah) by donations and acquisitions.
  • The Anatolian, Punic, and South Arabian collections added with loans from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Institut.
  • The large private collection, assembled by Louis de Clercq around 1900, and donated by Henri de Boisgelin in 1967
  • The Coiffard collection of Luristan bronzes, acquired in 1958
  • Collections extended toward Central Asia thanks to a number of acquisitions made in recent decades.
  • A set of objects unearthed during rescue excavations at Meskene (Emar) which entered the Louvre in 1980.
  • A rare gypsum statue from Ain Ghazal (dated around 7000 BC, currently the oldest major artwork in the Louvre), discovered in 1985 in a Neolithic site, entered the department in 1997 via a loan agreement with Jordan. Sully Wing, Room D.

The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a stele (inscribed stone) set up around 840 BCE by King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan).

The Near Eastern Antiquities Department presented an overview of the ancient civilizations of the Near East, which extends from nine thousand years ago, and the “first settlements” before the arrival of Islam, and encompasses an area stretching from North Africa to the Indus Valley and Central Asia, and from the Black Sea (Anatolia) to the Arabian peninsula (as far as the Indian Ocean).

The basalt Shihan stele, was the oldest monument from the Holy Land to be found in the Louvre’s collection until the inter-war excavations bore their fruit.

The department, covering 25 rooms, is divided into three major cultural and geographic areas, with the exhibits arranged chronologically – the Mediterranean Levant (the lands west of the Euphrates, including Cyprus, Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, and North Africa), ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq), and Persia (Iran as far as Central Asia).

Statue of Queen Napirasu, wife of King Untash-Napirisha

The scope and diversity of the collections allow for a historical approach. Illustrated in this department are the names of Sumer, Akkad, Ur, Babylon, the Hittites, Assyria and many others.

Votive Steles of Ugarit

The museum contains major sculptures and monuments such as the Prince of Lagash’s Stele of the Vultures (from 2450 BC); the stele erected  by Naram-Sin, King of Akkad, to celebrate a victory over barbarians in the Zagros Mountains; the 18th-century BC mural of the Investiture of Zimrilim; the 25th-century BC Statue of Ebih-Il (found in the ancient city-state of Mari), the 5,52 m. high “Hero Overpowering a Lion,” and the 2.25m. (7.38 ft.) high Code of Hammurabi (the great emblem of Mesopotamian antiquity, it prominently displays Babylonian Laws  so that no man could plead their ignorance) in Room 3, Richelieu wing, Ground Floor.

Rooms 1 to 6, comprising the complete Mesopotamian section, features Sumerian artwork, the Code of Hammurabi and the Khorsabad Court. In Room 2 is the special and well conserved for his age (2100 BC) seated statue of Goudea, prince of Lagash (Sumer).

The Iranian Collection

The ancient Iranian civilizations were essentially represented by works from excavations at Susa (a city founded around 4000 BC), its cultural richness reaching its peak with the works of Darius and Xerxes, the great kings of the Persian Empire.

Frieze of Archers from Darius’ Palace

Rooms 7 to 10 house the first part of the Iranian section while the north wing of the Cour Carrée continues the Iranian section with the Iron Age collection (1st millennium BC), the remains of the palace of Persian king Darius I in Susa, and objects representing the Parthian and Sassanian empires.

Lion Relief from the Palace of Darius I

The Iranian section contains rare objects from Persepolis which were lent to the British Museum for its Ancient Persia exhibition in 2005.The Funerary Head and the Persian Archers of Darius I are both works from the archaic period.

Furniture From a Princely Achaemenid Tomb

In Room 12-B are the friezes of parades of archers (armed with lances and bows on their shoulders) and lions, glazed, colored brick decorations of the palace of Darius at Susa.

Art of the Achaemenid Court

Most visitors always like to have their photos taken in front of the spectacular winged human-headed winged bulls of 4 x 4 m., protective genies placed as guardians at the gates of the city. However, one of them is a copy, the original being in the Oriental Institute of Chicago.

Floor Covering Panel – Satyr Head

Rooms A to D, in the west wing of the Cour Carrée (opened in 1993), is devoted to Cyprus and the Levant, from Prehistory to the Phoenician Period (early first millennium BC).

Sarcophagus Lid

A section of the north wing houses galleries devoted to the Levant (until the conquest of Alexander the Great), with royal sarcophagi from Sidon. The Phoenicians in the West are represented by Carthage and Punic North Africa.

Vase from Amathus

A section dedicated to Cyprus in the 1st millennium BC is structured around the monumental vase from Amathus.

The last rooms are devoted to the civilizations of pre-Islamic Arabia from the 7th century BC to the 3rd century AD (essentially Yemen and Hauran), and to the caravan cities of Syria (Palmyra and Dura Europos).

 

We weren’t able to visit Cour Khorsabad at the ground floor of the adjoining Richelieu Wing.  This courtyard houses the impressive remains of the palace inaugurated by King Sargon II in Khorsabad (a city in northern Iraq) in 706 BC., its sculpted reliefs displayed in their original configuration, re-creating the monumental architecture of the palace.

Louvre Museum: 75001 Paris, France.  Tel: +33 1 40 20 50 50. Open daily, except Tuesdays and holidays, 9 AM- 6 PM (until 10 PM on Wednesday and Friday evenings).

The Louvre has three entrances: the main entrance at the pyramid, an entrance from the Carrousel du Louvre underground shopping mall, and an entrance at the Porte des Lions (near the western end of the Denon wing).

Admission is free, from October to March, on the first Sunday of every month. Still and video photography is permitted for private, noncommercial use only in the galleries housing the permanent collection. The use of flash or other means of artificial lighting is prohibited. Photography and filming are not permitted in the temporary exhibition galleries. 

How To Get There: the Louvre can be reached via Metro lines 1 and 7, station Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre Métro or the Louvre-Rivoli stations. By bus, take No. 21, 24, 27, 39, 48, 68, 69, 72, 81, 95 as well as the touristic Paris l’Open Tour. By car, there is an underground parking reachable by Avenue du Général Lemonier, every day from 7 AM – 11 PM.

Louvre Museum – Egyptian Antiquities Department (Paris, France)

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Egyptian Antiquities Department

Egyptian Antiquities Department – crowds gathered around a statue of Horus

After viewing the paintings of Italian and French masters at the Denon Wing, Jandy and I proceeded to the underground level of the Sully Wing to visit the Egyptian Antiquities Department, passing the Winged Victory of Samothrace (190 BC) statue and the excavated and preserved remains of the medieval fortress and moat of the Louvre.

Check out “Louvre Museum“

Guardian Lion at the Entrance to a Chapel of the Serapeum of Saqqara

Guardian Lion at the Entrance to a Chapel of the Serapeum of Saqqara

A numbers of visitors to the Louvre come with the sole aim of visiting this department and it would be a real pity if we did not to spend at least one hour here.

Set for protection of the mummy

Set for protection of the mummy

The Egyptian Antiquities collection of the Louvre, the second biggest in the world after the Cairo Museum, comprises over 50,000 pieces, includes artifacts from the Nile civilizations which date from 4,000 BC to the 4th century AD. The collection overviews Egyptian life spanning Ancient Egypt, the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom, Coptic art, and the Roman, Ptolemaic, and Byzantine periods. 

Funerary servants

Funerary servants

The department’s origins lie in the royal collection, but it was augmented by Napoleon’s 1798 expeditionary trip with Dominique Vivant, the future director of the Louvre. After Jean-François Champollion translated the Rosetta Stone, Charles X decreed that an Egyptian Antiquities department be created.

Fragment of Statue of Ramses II

Fragment of Statue of Ramses II

Champollion advised the purchase of 7,000 works from the three its continued via acquisitions by Auguste Mariette, founder of the Egyptian Museum  in Cairo. Mariette, after excavations at Memphis, sent back crates of archaeological finds including The Seated Scribe.

Magic protection, amulets, steles of Horus

Magic protection, amulets, steles of Horus

In 1997, during the Grand Louvre renovation project, this huge collection was distributed on two different floors in what is now called the Sully Wing at the east end of the Louvre.

Sphinx guarding entrance

Sphinx of Tanis guarding entrance

Guarded by the Great Sphinx of Tanis (c. 2000 BC), this department now fills 30 large rooms. Holdings include art, papyrus scrolls, mummies, tools, clothing, jewelry, games, musical instruments and weapons.  

Canopes (Vases)

Canopes (Vases)

The 19 rooms on the ground floor include two in the basement for particularly heavy exhibits (another reason they are at ground level is that there are pedestrian entrances to the courtyard). As the heaviest objects had to remain on the ground floor, it was impossible to arrange the works by period.

Sarcophagi Room (Room 14)

Sarcophagus Room (Room 14)

Instead, they are organized into a “thematic circuit” centered on the major aspects of Egyptian civilization (i.e. the daily life in Ancient Egypt), using authentic relics and artworks to illustrate and explain the topics of agriculture, hunting, fishing, animal husbandry, writing, arts and crafts, domestic life, temples, funeral rites and gods in ancient Egypt. The ground floor includes the Temple Room (Room 12) and the Sarcophagus Room (Room 14).

Room 3

Room 3

Room 3 has models, found in graves, that show people rowing on the Nile River or poling through shallow water. The models were perhaps intended to provide transportation in the afterlife for the person who had died.

Model of a funeral boat

Model of a funeral boat

Room 11 contains a row of six of the sphinxes which were set up, in the 4th or 3rd century BC, along the aisle leading to the temple Sérapéum de Saqqara in Egypt. In 1851, these were discovered and excavated out of the sand by workers under the direction of Auguste Mariette.

A row of 6 sphinxes in Room 11

A row of 6 sphinxes in Room 11

Later, in 1869, Mariette was asked to suggest a plot for an opera about ancient Egypt, and his idea was accepted as the basis for the opera Aida by Giuseppe Verdi.

Naos Housing a Statue of Osiris

The large Temple Room (Room 12), divided into 4 sections, shows the remains of sanctuaries from various sites and all epochs of ancient Egyptian history.  It gives us an idea of the structure and function of a temple and the ceremonies that took place there.

The large Temple Room (Room 12)

The large Temple Room (Room 12)

After visiting the 12 densely packed rooms of the thematic tour of ancient Egypt, we went down a long staircase (there’s also an elevator for people with restricted mobility) that lead down to the basement.

Room 13

Room 13

Here, Room 13 displays the huge, extremely heavy red granite royal tomb of pharaoh Ramses III, who ruled from 1186–1155 BC. This room is also identified as the crypt of the god Osiris.

The red granite tomb of pharaoh Ramses III at Room 13

The pink granite cartouche-shaped tomb, at Room 13, once contained the nest of coffins of Pharaoh Ramesses III.

Rooms 18 and 19 have an alphabetical guide to the ancient Egyptian gods, including their appearance, their attributes, their roles, all illustrated with authentic figurines made of metal, ceramics or stone. There is also an exhibit of mummified animals.

Statue of Bes, god of matrimony, as a dwarf

Statue of Bes, god of matrimony, as a misshapen nude dwarf with overly long arms, bowed legs, and a face combining leonine and human features

Rooms 20 to 30, on the first floor, on the other hand, is organized into a “chronological circuit” showing outstanding examples of Egyptian art, from the earliest to the latest periods of ancient Egypt. present a chronological approach, highlighting the different historical periods and the development of Egyptian art from 4000 BC to 400 AD.

Stele of LadyTaperet

The small wooden stele features an image of Lady Taperet praying to different aspects of the sun: Ra, the sun at its zenith, on one side; and Atum, the setting sun, on the other

Pieces from the ancient period include the Gebel el-Arak Knife from 3400 BC, the Head of King Djedefre and The Seated Scribe, its most famous artifact. Probably the most famous statue in the Egyptian collection of the Louvre, “The Seated Scribe” (c. 2620-2500 BC), in room 22 on the 1st floor, always impresses visitors.  Its inlaid eyes are the most striking aspect of this sculpture.  Nothing is known about the person portrayed

Well Painted Coffin of the Lady of Madjadiscovered in a cemetery in West Thebes overlooking the valley of Deir el-Medina, behind the hill of Qurnet Mourai

The highly decorated coffin of the Lady of Madja discovered in a cemetery in West Thebes overlooking the valley of Deir el-Medina, behind the hill of Qurnet Mourai

The Middle Kingdom art, known for its gold work and statues, moves from realism to idealization.  This is exemplified by the schist statue of Amenemhatankh and the wooden Offering Bearer. The New Kingdom and Coptic Egyptian sections are deep, but the statue of the goddess Nephthys and the limestone depiction of the goddess Hathor demonstrate New Kingdom sentiment and wealth.

Troop of funerary servant figures

Troop of funerary servant figures

In Room 28 (Musee Charles X), the exhibits are about Egyptian Princes and courtiers in the period from 1295–1069 BC.  However, its ceiling painting, by Horace Vernet (1789-1863), shows something completely different -Pope Julius II ordering Bramante, Michelangelo, and Raphael to build the Vatican and Saint Peter’s in Rome.

Check out “Charles X Museum“

Musee Charles X

In Room 29 (Musee Charles X), the exhibits are about the Third Middle Period of ancient Egypt, from about 1069–404 BC. Here the ceiling painting, L’Egypte sauvée par Joseph (Egypt saved by Joseph) by Alexandre-Denis Abel de Pujol (1785-1861), has to do with Egypt.

Fragment of a Statue of a Nubian

Fragment of a Statue of a Nubian

Louvre Museum: 75001 Paris, France.  Tel: +33 1 40 20 50 50. Open daily, except Tuesdays and holidays, 9 AM- 6 PM (until 10 PM on Wednesday and Friday evenings).

The Louvre has three entrances: the main entrance at the pyramid, an entrance from the Carrousel du Louvre underground shopping mall, and an entrance at the Porte des Lions (near the western end of the Denon wing).

Admission is free, from October to March, on the first Sunday of every month. Still and video photography is permitted for private, noncommercial use only in the galleries housing the permanent collection.The use of flash or other means of artificial lighting is prohibited. Photography and filming are not permitted in the temporary exhibition galleries.

How To Get There: the Louvre can be reached via Metro lines 1 and 7, station Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre Métro or the Louvre-Rivoli stations. By bus, take No. 21, 24, 27, 39, 48, 68, 69, 72, 81, 95 as well as the touristic Paris l’Open Tour. By car, there is an underground parking reachable by Avenue du Général Lemonier, every day from 7 AM – 11 PM.