Paris France - Champs Elysees
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After visting the Museum d'Orsay we are going to cross the Seine river and
walk up the so-called Grand Ax of Paris. In a straight line it consists of the west end of
the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, through the Tuileries garden to the
Obélisque de Luxor at the Place de la Concorde,
next comes the Champs-Elysees, and then the Arc de Triomphe at Etoile. It finishes at the
Grande Arch de la Defense,
but we are not going that far. I put a light yellow line which shows our route.
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Here is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. Behind it is the west end of the Louvre
meuseum. It was
built between 1806 and 1808 by Napoleon I following the model of the Arc of
Constantine in Rome. The two arches built by Napoleon - Arc de Triomphe du
Carrousel and the Arc de Triomphe at Etoile, were to commemorate his victories,
and the Grand l'Armee that won them.
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The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is richly decorated in rose marble on the columns and
the front paneling.
The Arc is surmounted by a group of men on horses. Carved into the marble one finds
the names of the battles and treaties of Napoleon I for the period it commorates.
The bronze horses which originally perched on top of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel were taken
from Saint-Marc of Venice. These were later returned after WWII and replaced with a copy.
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The Tuileries garden was started by Catherine de Medici. Loving music, the arts, literature
and science, she thought of herself as Italian, ordered her clothes from Mantua and loved
the Medici’s Florentine gardens. The Jardin de Tuileries was made on the site of
a tile-works (tuileries), within the old walled city on the banks of the River Seine.
The Tuileries Gardens were one of the first to open to the public, and have served as a
proto-type for public gardens across Europe. Even at that time, the gardens boasted
cafes and kiosks, places where people of all social classes could meet and relax.
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These tranquil gardens have a bloody history. The Tuileries Palace stood at the western end of the Louvre.
Louis the XVI and Marie Antoinette were
held prisoner in the palace, after being routed from Versailles during the French
Revolution. The siege at the Tuileries by the Parisian mob at the close of the
revolution in 1893 left a thousand dead. Both Louis and Marie Antionette were
guillotined on a scaffold set up near the present day obelisk.
Between 1793 and 1795, more than 1300 people were beheaded in public executions.
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The Place de la Concorde is the largest public square in Paris. Situated along
the Seine in the 8th arrondissement, it separates the Tuileries Gardens from the
beginning of the boulevard Champs-Elysées.
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The Obelisk of Luxor, a pink granite monolith, was given to the French in 1829 by
the Viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali. The edifice, which once marked the entrance to
the Amon temple at Luxor, is more than 3,300 years old and is decorated with
hieroglyphics portraying the reigns of the pharaohs Ramses II and Ramses III.
Installed in 1833, the
Obelisk, weighing 230 tons, stands 75 ft high.
Gilded images on the pedestal portray the monumental task of transporting the
monolith to Paris and erecting it in the center of the Place de la Concorde
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The Obelisk is flanked on both sides by two fountains
constructed during the same period.
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Now we are walking on gravel paths alongside the Champs-Elysees. Just like in Munich,
the federal police here too are very active.
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We soon ran into the section that has many shops and cafes.
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Let's experiment trying to show a short video - maybe one will work! ==> Try this windows media video file of walking along the Champs-Elysees ==> Try this avi media video file of walking along the Champs-Elysees
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10 of 15 |
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