Introduction
Begin: Champs-Elysées ClemenceauEnd: Eiffel TowerThis walk is not for the faint of heart. If you are someone who likes to read the descriptions of each piece displayed in a museum, you may consider taking two days to complete it. The musée de l’Armée (Military Museum) housed in the Invalidesis several museums in one. It includes artifacts of military history from the Middle Ages through World War II, with wings devoted to each major period or war. By contrast, the musée Rodin (Rodin Museum) is small and intimate. Many of my students have preferred it to all the other Parisian museums. After passing by the famous École Militaire, this walk ends at one of the most iconic sites in the world: the Eiffel Tower.Corry L. Cropper
#1 The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées and the Petit Palais
Begin at the exit of the Champs-Elysées Clemenceau métro station. Turn around, and you will see two large exposition halls: the Grand Palais to your right and the Petit Palais across avenue Winston Churchill to your left.Both the Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées and the Petit Palais were built between 1897 and 1900 for the Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair) in 1900 and were designed with both neoclassical elements and elements of the just emerging art nouveau style. The Grand Palais houses various art exhibits that rotate regularly and have recently featured artists as diverse as Gauguin, Picasso, and Walt Disney. To check on the current exhibits, consult http://www.Paris.fr (choose EN at top right for the English version) and search for the Grand Palais or the Petit Palais web sites. In addition to art exhibits, the Grand Palais has hosted sporting events, primarily equestrian competitions. Had Paris won the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, fencing was slated to be held here; currently, both Fencing and Taekwando will be held here during the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Atop the Grand Palais are two quadriga statues, the the work of French sculptor Georges Récipon. A quadriga is a wheeled chariot pulled by four horses working abreast of each other.The permanent exhibit at the Petit Palais is free and is organized by periods. It gives a great overview of French art. The Petit Palais also receives special, temporary exhibits for a fee; check the web site for details.
#2 Pont Alexandre III
Walk down the avenue Winston Churchill between the Grand and Petit Palais and cross the streets to the pont Alexandre III in front of you.The Pont Alexandre III connects the palais de l’Élysée (where the French president lives—you will see the gardens of the palace behind you across the Champs-Élysées) with les Invalides in front of you. It forms a symbolic connection between the French Republic and the French Revolution (Napoléon, symbol of the revolution, is buried beneath the large golden dome just across the river). As you are walking to the bridge, be sure and look to your left, and you will see another symbol of the revolution, the place de la Concorde.Built at the same time as the Grand and Petit Palais, the pont Alexandre III, which you are standing on and named after Russian Czar Alexander III, symbolizes the friendship and alliance between Russia and France. Nicolas II, Alexander III’s successor, placed the first stone, and in the beginning, people called it the “Exposition” Bridge since it opened for the 1900 Exposition Universelle. Notice the bridge is made of a single arch that spans the entire river (a big deal for the time period in which it was built). The gilded sculptures represent Pegasus held by la Renommée (fame); the two sculptures on the right bank—the Champs-Élysées side—symbolize peace; and the two on the left bank symbolize war. At the base of the pillars you will see sculptures that represent contemporary France and Charlemagne’s France on the right bank and Renaissance France and Louis XIV’s France on the left bank. As you cross the bridge, notice on your left the nymphs bearing the arms of Paris and, on your right, the nymphs bearing the arms of Russia. From the bridge, you’ll see the Louvre and the Conciergerie upstream, and the American Church, the Eiffel Tower, and Chaillot downstream.
#3 Hôtel Biron and the musée Rodin
Continue across the bridge and cross the street to the esplanade des Invalides, the large grassy area in front of you (a popular place for rollerblading). Stay to the left and cross over to the wall surrounding the Hôtel des Invalides. Perhaps the cannons and cannon balls around the perimeter of the Invalides will provide you with decorating ideas for your landscaping back home—or maybe not. We’ll come back to the Invalides. For now, continue to your left around to the boulevard des Invalides, past the square d’Ajaccio, and down to the rue de Varenne. Cross the rue de Varenne and turn left to the musée Rodin on your right. After paying, be sure to pick up an audio guide.Built in the 1720s, the Hôtel Biron, home of the musée Rodin, is a good example of the Rococo style. Rodin lived here in the early twentieth century, and the chateau and surrounding park became a museum in 1919, two years after Rodin’s death.Before going into the musée Rodin be sure to look at the sculptures in the garden. From the reception area, go to the right, and you will see The Thinker, Rodin’s famous sculpture of nineteenth-century novelist Honoré de Balzac. Back to the left is Rodin’s magnum opus, the Gates of Hell, a sculpture that contains nearly all of his other sculptures including theKiss, the Thinker, Je suit belle, and many others. Inside there are other important works as well as studies he did in preparation for his larger works. Don’t miss the paintings by Monet, Renoir, Carrière, and Van Gogh.
#4 Hôtel des Invalides
When you have seen all the Rodin sculptures you want to see, return to boulevard des Invalides and turn left, continuing around the Hôtel des Invalides. Turn right on avenue de Tourville, and then go through the gate into the grounds of the Invalides.You may have noticed a moat around the grounds of the Hôtel des Invalides; it was never filled with water, but it did serve (in theory) to protect the stock of arms kept on the premises. Originally, des Invalides was built to accommodate the soldiers injured during the wars waged by Louis XIV. The first veterans moved in during 1674. The classical église du Dôme, constructed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, was inaugurated by Louis XIV in 1706. During the French Revolution, the église duDôme was dedicated to Mars, the god of war, and to the virtues of war. In 1840, bowing to political pressure, King Louis-Philippe had the church overhauled and placed Napoleon’s remains in it (along with the remains of other important military figures).Today, part of the Hôtel des Invalides has been transformed into le musée de l’Armée and part is still used as a care facility for veterans (you may even see some of them out in the gardens). The museum, the largest in France and one of the best military museums in the world, contains over 500,000 objects, with military collections spanning from antiquity to WWII. In the First World War collection, You'll see a red taxi; these taxis were an important element associated with a turning point in the war: during the First Battle of the Marne (September 1914), a major turning point in the First World War, the allies were finally able to stop the German advance on Paris. Approximately 1.9 million soldiers took part in the battle, and about 150,000 lost their lives during the 7 days of fighting. As the battle began, 600 taxis from across Paris were assembled to take approximately 6,000 soldiers to the front to boost numbers. Although the overall impact of the taxis was minimal in the grand scheme of the battle, the impact on the morale of the French people was much greater, with many viewing this event as a symbol of national unity and solidarity at one of the darkest hours during the war. The taxi drivers kept their meters running, as was the law, and were dutifully reimbursed at a later time by the French Treasury.
#5 Le musée de l’Armée
When you enter, first go into the reception area to the left of l'église du Dôme, where you will buy tickets for the museum and for Napoléon’s tomb.From here, you will explore the different wings of le musée de l’Armée and pay your respects to Emperor Napoléon (or as the French nobility and the British called him, the butcher of Europe). You may spend an entire day or more in the museum. However, if your time is short, you owe it to yourself to see the medieval and sixteenth-century (King François I) armor, the Napoleonic era weapons and art (including paintings of the emperor by Ingres and Delaroche, the emperor’s famous hat and a breastplate belonging to François Fauveau, may he rest in peace), and the World War II collection.If you do go into the World War I section, you may be surprised by how large it is. This is, in part, because of the huge scar this war left on France. The French won the Battle of Verdun but lost more men in that single battle than America has lost in all its foreign wars combined. During World War I, over four million French were killed or wounded, approximately 11 percent of the entire population.
#6 Place de l’École Militaire
As you leave the Invalides, turn right onto avenue de Tourville and walk to place de l’École Militaire. If you are hungry, turn right on avenue de la Motte Picquet and go one block to rue Cler. Turn left onto this street (a great market street), and go about two blocks until you come to the Café du Marché on your left. The salads here are excellent and reasonably priced. When you are done, make your way back to the Champ-de-Mars (a park just down avenue de la Motte Picquet from the place de l’École Militaire).The parc du Champ-de-Mars, so named because of the military exercises conducted here in the past, now links the École Militaire with the Eiffel Tower. Like other large parks in Paris, the Champ-de-Mars has a manège (merry-go-round), playgrounds, and marionette shows (Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays) for children. Since the École Militaire is still used as a school for officers in the French military, you can’t go in it, but you may appreciate its classical facade. It was built in the early 1770s, during the reign of Louis XV at the insistence of his mistress, Madame de Pompadour. It was in the cour intérieure (courtyard), just behind the central facade, that Alfred Dreyfus was stripped of his rank in 1895 and where he became a member of the Legion of Honor in 1906 (See Walk 3). Just across the street from the École Militaire are statues of important French marshals.
#7 La Tour Eiffel
Walk through the Champ-de-Mars to the Eiffel Tower.La Tour Eiffel (The Eiffel Tower) was built for the Exposition Universelle in 1889—one hundred years after the revolution—to demonstrate the engineering prowess of France. It was the tallest structure in the world and retained that distinction until 1930. Many Parisians originally despised Gustave Eiffel’s creation. Author Guy de Maupassant said he liked to go to the restaurant on the Eiffel Tower—the one place he could eat without having to look at “the useless and monstrous structure.” Slated for demolition in 1909, the tower was saved only because it functioned as a broadcast tower. Today, it is the most recognizable building in the world, and the symbol of Paris.Here are some interesting facts about the Eiffel Tower: Sixty tons of paint are required to cover it (on average, it has been painted once every seven years). Over the years, it has been painted red, yellow, and now brown. Different shades of paint are used so that the Tower appears to be a uniform color when looked at against the sky. It weighs over ten thousand tons and contains two and a half million rivets. Names of important scientists and engineers are inscribed on each side of the tower (eighteen per side, seventy-two in all). At night, flashing lights illuminate the tower for ten minutes at the top of every hour.
The End
After the WalkIf you decide to go up the Eiffel Tower, I recommend taking the stairs; the lines are much shorter, and it’s less expensive. I find the view from the second level just as good as the view from the top. However, if you decide to go all the way to the top, you will need to buy a ticket and take the elevator. There is a restaurant named the Jules Verne halfway up the tower. If you want to eat there, make reservations weeks in advance and be prepared to pay the very high cost per person. Also take note that there's a dress code; t-shirts, shorts, and sportswear is not acceptable. There's also the 58 Tour Eiffel restaurant available, as well as three "buffet" snack bars.Once you leave the Eiffel Tower, you may return to the place de l’École Militaire and catch the métro (Line 8) or walk along the Seine in either direction, and catch the RER (Line C).
