Paris

Les Champs-Elysées Le Musée d’Orsay

Le Louvre La JocondeEiffel Tower

Tour EiffelBuilt in 1889 for the World’s Fair

An engineering feat for that time

Tallest structure in the world until 1930

Symbol of Paris and France

Most famous monument in the world

Affectionately called “The Iron Lady”

Opéra Garnier

A lake lies beneath the cellars of the building.

Stage has room for up to 450 artists

Central chandelier weighs over six tons

Ceiling painted in 1964 by Chagall

Made famous by “Phantom of the Opera”

Le Louvre

Richest art museum in the world

Home of la Joconde (Mona Lisa), Venus de Milo,

and Winged Victory

A fortress, a palace, a prison, and now an art museum.

I.M. Pei, an American, is the architect of the glass pyramid.

Arc de TriompheCommissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate his victories.

The four huge relief sculptures at the bases of the four pillars commemorate:

The Triumph of 1810ResistancePeaceThe Departure of the Volunteers (La Marseillaise)

Beneath the Arch is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the eternal flame commemorating the dead of the two world wars.

Notre DameConstruction began in 1163 and completed about 1345.

During the Revolution, many treasures were destroyed. Only the great bells avoided being melted down. The church interior was used as a warehouse for storage. A restoration program was begun in 1845 and lasted 23 years.

Notre Dame was made popular by Victor Hugo In his novel “Notre Dame de Paris (Hunchback of Notre Dame.)

1430, Henri VI of England is crowned here.

2 December 1804, Napoleon crowned himself emperor in Notre Dame Cathedral.

26 August 1944, a mass celebrated the liberation of Paris.

Conciergerie

A place of irony! Once a place of imprisonment, torture, and death, it is now the Palais de Justice complex.

The Cuisines has four large fireplaces, each large enough to roast an entire ox.

Built by Philippe the Fair (1284-1314.)

Marie Antoinette spent her last days here as a prisoner before she was beheaded. Her cell is now a chapel to her memory.

Works Cited• http://www.paris.org/Monuments/Opera/• http://www.paris.org/Monuments/NDame/• http://www.paris.org/Monuments/Conciergerie/gifs/concie

rgerie1.html• http://www.aolsvc.worldbook.aol.com/na/pc/cp/

pc006600.htm• http://www.atkielski.com/inlink.html?/PhotoGallery/

Paris/Eiffel/EiffelTowerSmall.html• http://www.paris.org/Musees/Orsay/info.html• http://www.geocities.com/~sralph/m20.html