A G: Paris Day 1 by Aaron, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Musee de Louvre

Paris Day 1, Eiffel Tower 艾佛尔铁塔, Arc de Triomphe 凯旋门, Louvre 卢浮宫

~ Aaron

Eiffel Tower from far

Statue of Liberty over Seine River

Eiffel Tower view from
entrance

Eiffel Tower view from

Palais de Challoit

Arc de Triomphe

Musee de Louvre

Louvre at night

My first day at Paris was very extraordinary. I went up to the top floor of the Eiffel Tower and saw a very nice view of Paris. The Arc de Triomphe is a very impressive monument to Napoleon’s victories and those who died helping him. Musee de Louvre has many wonderful artifacts and history inside. These help make the day a great day.

Day started with

Statue of Liberty model

Walking towards

Eiffel Tower

Statue of Liberty model

Eiffel Tower from far

Eiffel Tower

Ground to 1st floor, Eiffel Tower

engineer Gustave Eiffel

who designed &

built the tower

At ground floor

of Eiffel Tower

ready to take

elevator up

Constructed in 1887-89, the Eiffel Tower is surprisingly well-designed. The iron in the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tons, and the addition of other things have made it 10,100 tons. If the 7,300 tons of metal in the structure were melted down, it would fill the square base, 125 meters (410 feet) on each side, to a depth of not even 1 foot! Additionally, a box surrounding the tower (324 m x 125 m x 125 m) would contain 6,200 tons of air. The view from its observation deck is very beautiful. The Seine River winds close by the Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Tower Top Floor (3rd floor) scene:

Palais de Chaillot

from top floor

Eiffel Tower

Palais de Chaillot, from top floor, Eiffel Tower

A model of

the tower tip

from top floor

Eiffel Tower

from top floor

Eiffel Tower

Les Invalides

from top floor

Eiffel Tower

Musee de Louvre, from top floor, Eiffel Tower

Grand Palais & Pont Alexandre III, from top floor, Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower 2nd Floor scene:

Palais de Chaillot

from 2nd floor

Eiffel Tower

Palais de Chaillot

from 2nd floor

Eiffel Tower

Palais de Chaillot

from 2nd floor

Eiffel Tower

Palais de Chaillot

from 2nd floor

Eiffel Tower

The Seine River, from 2nd floor, Eiffel Tower

Les Invalides, from 2nd floor, Eiffel Tower

Grand Palais & Pont Alexandre III

from 2nd floor, Eiffel Tower

2nd floor view

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower 1st Floor scene:

From 1st floor

see the bottom of

the Eiffel Tower?

From 1st floor

See the bottom of

Eiffel Tower?

On the 1st floor of Eiffel Tower

On the 1st floor of the Eiffel Tower

From 1st floor
view of the

Eiffel Tower

From 1st floor

view of the

Eiffel Tower

From 1st floor

view of the top of the

Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower lies on the edge of Champ de Mars. From the top floor of the Eiffel Tower, many of the famous attractions of Paris can be found. The Louvre building complex is very recognizable with the tip of its glass pyramid. The golden dome of the Invalides shines above most of the buildings in France. The lawn and grand water fountains of Palais de Chaillot are hard to miss, even at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Top to 2nd floor, Eiffel Tower

Taking stairs to get down

1st floor to ground Eiffel Tower

Palais de Chaillot

Seine River

viewed from

a bridge

Grande Arche de la Defense

viewed from

Arc de Triomphe

Side of Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

Carving on the ceiling
Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

Statue on the wall of

Arc de Triomphe

Tomb of the

Unknown Soldier

from WWI

beneath the

Arc de Triomphe

Tomb of the

Unknown Soldier

from WWI

beneath the

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe was built in 29 July, 1836. It honors people who died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals carved on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its roof lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. The arc is modeled on the Roman Arch of Titus. It was the tallest triumphal arch in the world at 50 meters, but the record was beaten in 1938 with an arc 67 meters high. After its construction, the arc became the meeting point of French troops parading.

Arc de Triomphe

Walking on Avenue des Champs-Élysées

from Arc de Triomphe to Musee de Louvre

Grande Palais

Ferris wheel on Concorde Square

Concorde Square

Ferris wheel

Concorde Square

Ferris wheel

Concorde Square

Ferris wheel

Concorde Square

Water fountain, Concorde Square

A statue at Concorde Square

One side of Musee de Louvre

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
built between 1806 and 1808
to commemorate Napoleon's
military victories

Musee de Louvre

Original Louvre foundation

from fortress to royal residence

Original Louvre foundation

from fortress

to royal residence

The Louvre has a rich history inside it. The U shaped Louvre Palace itself is an attractive building in French Baroque style. It houses the museum, was originally a fortress to protect the city from possible Viking attacks. Remnants of this building (the base) are still visible in the crypt. In the 14th century, Charles V made the building a home and in 1546, Francis I gave the site a new look. During this time, the museum collected the Mona Lisa painting, and it still has it today. During the French Revolution, the Louvre became a public museum. Napoleon greatly added to the collection of the museum during his military campaigns.

A model of the Louvre

Interior of Louvre

Musee de Louvre

The Louvre contains over than 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight different areas. The department of Egypt antiquities, made of over 50,000 pieces, includes artifacts from the Egyptian civilizations which date from 4,000 BC to the 4th century AD. The collection, among the world's largest, overviews Egyptian life during many periods when it was ruled by foreigners and by itself.

A teacup

diamant dit le Regent

Vierge a I'Enfant

The Seated Scribe
Ancient Egypt
either the 5th Dynasty, c. 2450–2325 BCE
or the 4th Dynasty, 2620–2500 BCE

The Seated Scribe, Ancient Egypt

One of the most famous Egyptian collections in the Louvre is in this gallery, the Seated Scribe. The Seated Scribe is a very precious artifact in the history of Ancient Egypt. It is a clay item with many precious stones on it and found in a tomb. Its eyes are made of precious stones, and look very real!

Grand Sphinx

Egyptian Anubis

Fragment of Parthenon

Fragment of the frieze of the Temple of Artemis Leukophryene

at Magnesia ad Maeandrum

Department of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities

Hellenistic Art (3rd-1st centuries BC)

A statue

The Greek, Etruscan, and Roman collection is made of artifacts from the Cycladic period to the end of the Roman Empire.

Venus de Milo

Ancient Greek statue

130-100 BCE

Venus de Milo

Ancient Greek statue

130-100 BCE

Venus de Milo

Ancient Greek statue

130-100 BCE

Venus de Milo

Ancient Greek statue

130-100 BCE

Finding the Venus de Milo statue is an easy job. The statue is made with marble. The beautiful goddess is looking at the side, and wearing a toga. This is one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture. It was carved sometime between 130 and 100 BCE.

Winged Victory of Samothrace
Greece, 190 BC

The Winged Victory of Samothrace is a very famous statue displayed in the Louvre ever since 1884. It is shown besides a staircase so you won't miss it. This marble sculpture of Nike was created around the 2nd century BC. It is one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world. It was in pieces when people found her in Samothrace, Greece. Louvre restored her, but sadly, the head is still missing. Her dress looks as if it's floating with the wind.

The Statue of Ebih-II, nu-banda
Temple of Ishtar, Mari, Syria
2400 BC

Winged human-headed bull
Mesopotamia, Assyrie, Iraq
721-705 BC

The Near Eastern antiquities department is divided into three geographic areas: the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Persia. The Islamic art collection spans thirteen centuries and three continents.

Code de Hammurabi

a well-preserved Babylonian

law code of ancient Mesopotamia

1754 BC

Code de Hammurabi

a well-preserved Babylonian

law code of ancient Mesopotamia

1754 BC

A stone pillar recording the (sometimes harsh) laws of the Babylon. One of the laws was, "If an adopted child says to his/her adopted mother or father that they are not his/her parents, his/her tongue will be cut off".
It was ordered to be carved by the first king of Babylon. Sadly, the Babylon civilization doesn't exist anymore.

Liberty Leading the People
Engene Delacroix commemorating
the July Revolution of 1830
Paris 1830

Les Noces de Cana
Paolo Caliari, dit Veronese
Venise 1562-63

La Vierge et I'Enfant avec
le jeune saint Jean Baptiste
Florence 1470-75

Le Bain Turc
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1863

The Objects of Art collection has artifacts from the Middle Ages to the mid-19th century. The painting collection has more than 7,500 works from the 1200s to 1848, including the very famous Mona Lisa. Nearly two-thirds of the paintings are by French artists, and more than 1,200 are Northern European.

Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci
Italian 1503-06

The smiling Lisa Gherardini was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. At the time, the style that he used to paint Mona Lisa was very new. The mysterious smile is the main cause of Mona Lisa's fame, but the background also makes it stand out. No one knows why she's smiling, but it might be da Vinci's idea of a joke. Her married last name (giocondo) is very similar to the Italian word for happy; gioconda. There were many people in the crowd looking at the Mona Lisa, and the painting has bulletproof glass surrounding it. It is probably the most famous painting in the world, and is in the Louvre!

Musee de Louvre

Glass Pyramid of Louvre

The glass pyramid and an inverted glass pyramid of Louvre were added in 1989 and 2003. The glass pyramid was designed by the architect I. M. Pei. The pyramid is very beautiful at night with a bright light shining in it. At day, the pyramid as a long line in front of Louvre and reflects light, making it shiny. I've visited the place where Pei spent part of his childhood; the Lion Grove Garden in Suzhou, China.

Glass Pyramid of Louvre

Bottom tip of reverse glass Pyramid of Louvre

I’m very sad that this day in Paris has ended. The Eiffel Tower is amazing in many ways. The Arc de Triomphe may be the most majestic monument in the world! The Louvre has a very complex history that is fun to learn about, and many priceless artifacts from all over the world. I wish I could go through this day in Paris many more times.