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 - Les Halles - 1er

Plate XXI - The old Les Halles ...

Les Halles has unintentionally come to be an important centre of my visits to Paris; somehow whenever I am lost (it fortunately still happens) I seem to land up here – and then again I know where I am. The main Metro and RER station serving the area is Chatelet–Les-Halles. It was here that I needed to make my first train changeover on my arrival from Orly, and where I stupidly took a line bound for Boissy instead of Poissy hoping to get myself to Nanterre. It was here too that my life was (figuratively) saved during a subsequent visit to Paris for the biannual Paris Motor Show (the Salon Mondiale at Porte de Versailles). My camera battery (I was by then using reasonably decent digital kit) had gone dead overnight and the only agent I could find in the city carrying spares was in the centre at the Forum des Halles. It is not the Parisians’ favourite landmark apparently, but I love the constant buzz around the Forum.

This area is named for the original site of the large wholesale market established here. I always think of it (possibly wrongly) as Paris’ answer to London’s Covent Garden, but with a richer life. The old market was sadly demolished in 1971, but this iron and glass arch reminds the visitor of what was here before. Originally established in the time of King Philippe Auguste II in 1183 Les Halles was known as ‘le trou (the hole) des Halles’ and also as ‘the stomach of Paris’. The design of the new forum was controversial (stop me if you’ve heard that before) and there are perpetual discussions about remodeling the area. Considering it’s proximity to the Centre Pompidou I personally find its design rather pleasing as well as complementary to that centre.

Behind the arch to the image left is the knave of the church of Saint-Eustache.

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.