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Our tour began with a bus ride around Paris to show us all of the beautiful architecture of the city. First, we saw the Hotel de Invalides on our tour, it was being restored and repaired when we drove by. As the bus continued on we came across Place de la Concorde and the obelisks in its courtyard. Then we went to Notre Dame, it was amazing to see the stained glass windows and the statues inside. • Next we walked to the Eiffel tower and we took pictures in the courtyard, then we went up. The view was amazing! It was night so I could see all of Paris lit up, it was spectacular. The next day we went shopping all day at this shopping mall in central Paris. And finally, on our last day in Paris we went to the louvre, it was amazing. I wish I could have walked around and seen all the art but the main thing we were there to see was the Mona Lisa.
Louis the 14th, the king who built the Palace of Versailles, staged many wars in Europe. In 1670, he decided to build Les Invalides, a Paris military hospital, that would take care of wounded soldiers. • With their large church topped by a golden dome and 13 hectares building(right), Les Invalides are a masterpiece of French classical architecture.
The Place de la Concorde is the largest public square in Paris. Construction of the square began in 1754 and was completed in 1763.Situated along the Seine in the 8th arrondissement, it separates the Tuileries Gardens from the beginning of the boulevard Champs-Elysées. Originally named Place Louis XV, the square was designed by Jacques-Ange Gabriel, Louis XV's architect, for the purpose of showcasing an equestrian statue of the King — which had been commissioned in 1748 by the city of Paris and sculpted by Edmé Bouchardon. In the 19th century the 3200 years old obelisk of Luxor from the temple of Ramses II at Thebes was installed at the center of the Place de la Concorde.
Notre Dame de Paris Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris, decided to build a new cathedral for the expanding population, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Although construction started in 1163, it was not completed until roughly 180 years later in about 1345.
The Gothic loftiness of Notre-Dame dominates the Seine and the Ile-de-la-Cité as well as the history of Paris. On the spot where this majestic cathedral now stands, the Romans had built a temple to Jupiter, which was followed by a Christian basilica and then a Romanesque church (the Cathedral of St. Etienne, founded by Childebert in 528).
Built in an age of illiteracy, the cathedral retells the stories of the Bible in its portals, paintings, and stained glass Blabla statues.
The Eiffel Tower was built for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889 commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution. The Prince of Wales opened the tower. Of the 700 proposals submitted in a design competition, GustaveEiffel's was unanimously chosen. However it was not accepted by all at first, and a petition of 300 names - including those of Maupassant, Emile Zola, Charles Garnier, and Dumas the Younger - protested its construction. In 1898, Gustave Eiffelbegan to fit the peak of the tower as an observation station to measure the speed of wind. He also encouraged several scientific experiments including Foucault’s giant pendulum, a mercury barometer and the first experiment of radio transmission. In 1898, Eugene Ducretet at the Pantheon, received signals from the tower. The tower was almost torn down in 1909, but was saved because of its antenna used both for military and other purposes, and the city let it stand after the permit expired. When the tower played an important role in capturing the infamous spy Mata Hari during World War I, it gained such importance to the French people that there was no more thought of demolishing it.- used for telegraphy at that time.
The Louvre, one of the world's greatest art museums is located in Paris, France along the Seine River. It houses many significant works of art such as Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa." Initially it was a royal fortress and many years later turned into a palace for Philip II, King of France. The Louvre is a tremendous compound of buildings constructed in Paris over a span of three hundred years. It has been constantly enlarged and decorated by French kings. Today, thousands of pictures adorn its towering walls, statues stand elevated on its dazzling floors and abundant art treasures are displayed in over one hundred rooms of the palace. The Louvre is the largest art museum in the world. The art is so priceless that during both World War I and II, the government of France took all the valuables out of the Louvre and hid them. The hiding place is still kept secret for fear of it ever having to be used again.
Sources • Les Invalides: http://www.parisdigest.com/monument/invalides.htm • Place de la Concorde & obelisk: http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Paris/Monuments-Paris/Obelisque.shtml • Notre Dame: http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Cathedrals/Paris/Notre-Dame.shtml • Eiffel Tower: http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Landmarks/eiffel-history.htm • Le Louvre: http://www.essortment.com/all/louvre_ruon.htm
