Paris - The Arc de Triomphe - 7me

Plate LXVIII - The Arc de Ttriomphe…

I believe that two images most strongly define Paris in the eyes of the world - the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.

Perhaps through having seen in my schooldays those fractured, aging 1945 newreels of the victorious Charles de Gaulle entering a newly liberated city; or perhaps because of a lifelong fascination with Napoleon and his military prowess - this was the one particular sight I had waited for so many years to see.

For whatever reason, to me this is Paris, and Paris is the Arc de Triomphe. Prepared for disappointment by previous visits to many other celebrated world sights and landmarks, which always seem smaller than their reputation would have you expect, could the Arc de Triomphe be all that I needed it to be?

Having arranged these images by arrondissements they are not in the sequence I visited them. After time at La Défense I had taken the RER from Nanterre to Etoile. Rising through this underground mystery, that was still so new to me, to the midway Metro station and then not sure which exit to take, I fortuitously selected the escalators that rise to the very foot of this magnificent landmark. The hairs on my arms began to rise as I caught my first glimpse of the stonework carvings that decorate the Arc. Little by little, more and more was revealed – seemingly as if in slow motion. And then … there it was!

A giant Tricolore suspended in the centre of the arch greeted my arrival in Paris.

I was here at last, and I was most definitely NOT disappointed.

Paris - Axe Historique - La Défense

Plate V - Grande Arche view of the Axe Historique …

If I have one recommendation for any first time visitor to Paris it is to start your visit, whether you are here for one day or several, with a familiarization viewing of the city from the top of the Grande Arche. Although I was to make several unforgivable (but enjoyable) ‘blunders’ in planning my city wanderings, you will truly get a feeling for the siting of everything you will see or want to see during your time here. This is to Paris, what the London Eye has become to that other nearby capital across the channel.

The almost nine and a half kilometer precision of the historical axis (and indeed Haussman’s city plans radiating from Etoile) becomes apparent with the view from here. Proceeding from La Défense along the Ave. de la Grande Armée, through the Arc de Triomphe, along the Champs Elysées, throught the third arch (du Carrousel) and onto the Louvre, you will also understand the axe’s other name the Voie Triomphale (Triumphal Way). Some slight deviations from perfection do exist, (I have previously mentioned the almost negligible 6.33 degree rotation of the Grande Arche) the axis having been planned along the center of Tuileries Gardens rather than the Vieux Louvre (as the old palace was called). Cleverly, Haussman placed Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel on the fulcrum point of the Tuileries Palace to Vieux Louvre axis, disguising the ‘fault’ of the join. Further sympathy to the axis was shown by I.M Pei in placing the equestrian statue of Louis XIV adjacent to his Pyramide in the Cour Napoléon of the Grande Louvre design – marking the furthest point of the axis.

Although I did not know it at the time of my visit, a secondary axis forms along the line of the Eiffel Tower, and the Tour Montparnasse. Notice the seemingly solid lower section of the Eiffel Tower in the picture, caused by the alignment of these two landmark city edifices. It was only while questioning the strange apparent solidity of the tower that I discovered how, through fortunate chance, I had captured this placement. It would seem however that nothing about Paris happens through mere chance.

Paris - Grande Arche - La Défense

Plate II - Quatre Temps, the Grande Arche, and CNIT…

La Défense is primarily a business area. Named for a statue (La Défense de Paris) commemorating the defense of Paris in the 1870 Franco-Prussian war, many of the city’s highest office buildings and large commercial premises are situated here, including the Quatre Temps shopping mall (left). Typical of modern malls a wide range of shops is to be found, the tenant mix catering for both residents of the nearby Nanterre, as well as the office workers of La Défense itself.

Although not the tallest building in the area (that dubious honour belonging to the GAN Tower) La Défense is dominated by the Grande Arche de la Fraternité (centre), constructed in 1989, the centennial year of the Eiffel Tower, and in it’s own way just as significant a landmark of Paris. Also dubbed the Tête Défense this arche celebrates humanity rather than the military victories of Napoleon’s two other Parisian arches.

An exhibition of sculptural works was in place in the spaces surrounding the Arche, one of which can be seen in the image.

It would be hard to miss the nearby CNIT (Centre des Nouvelles Industries et Technologies (right)), with its amazing shell like roof construction. Constructed in the late 1950’s France once again used designs, methods and technologies others thought unrealistic at the time. A popular venue for conventions, exhibitions and conferences the expansive 22,500 square metre reinforced concrete roof (it remains the largest of its kind in the world) is supported only at three points, each some 200 metres apart. Interestingly many of the grand landmarks of Paris are the legacy of various French presidents. Not to be outdone by his predecessors President Sarkozy has perhaps the grandest (and most controversial) vision of all with his plans today for a Grand Paris - a vision that could change the way future generations will see Paris forever.