Paris Hotels

The Eiffel Tower, which has become the symbol of Paris, was erected for the World Fair in 1889. A masterpiece designed by the engineer Gustave Eiffel, it is altogether 1050 feet high, an extremely light, interlaced structure made of 15000 pieces of metal welded together. Its weight of 7000 tons rests on four huge piers…

This was initially a vast swampy region; after its reclamation, Le Notre in 1667 designed the broad avenue which was first called the Grand Cours ( its current name dates from 1709 ): it goes from the Tuileries to Place de I’Etoile, now today called Place de Gaulle. At the start of the avenue are…

This is the oldest part of the university’s buildings; erected between 1635 and 1642 by Lemercier, it has a typically Baroque facade with two orders, surmounted and dominated by its elegant cupola. Volutes link the lower order to the upper. The columns at ground level become flatter pilaster strips higher up, thus creating a gradual…

The huge arch stands in regal isolation in the middle of the square. Ordered by Napoleon to the Grand Army as a memorial, Chalgrin began it in 1806. Finished in 1836, it truly surpasses in Rome the Arch of Constantine in size and has one archway: it’s 147 feet broad and 164 feet high. On…

You will probably also want to begin at once doing some shopping, even before you go looking for special souvenirs. Shopping in Paris will give you an idea of the vitality of the city, whether you are buying food or any other article. It is a large city where the people work hard. Shops selling…

This is a huge complex of buildings, including the Palais de Justice itself, the Sainte-Chapelle, and the Conciergerie. On this same site, the Roman rulers had their administrative and military headquarters; the kings of the Merovingian dynasty followed their example, and later the Capetians erected a chapel and a keep here. In the 13th century,…