The wide avenue of Champs-Elysees reaches from the
Tuileries to
Place de Gaulle. On either side are residential areas, luxurious
shops, theaters, restaurants and a beautiful park. At the end
of this
avenue stands the Arch of Triumph, which is 164' high and 147'
wide.
Under the arch, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was placed in
1920.
There is a small museum inside of the arch.
Montmartre stands on a limestone hill 425' high.
It was and still is the
most picturesque quarters of Paris. Throughout the 19th century,
this was
the mecca of all those artists who believed that the Bohemian
life meant
living freely and making one's art the main reason for living.
At the foot
of the hill, dominated by the long blades of the windmill, is
the
Moulin Rouge founded in 1889, where the can-can was born!
We had a great time at the show that night .. it was fabulous!
In the center of a huge square, which for five centuries
was the site
of public executions .. is the Hotel De Ville. Today it's the
municipal
headquarters of the city. The domes are in the shape of pyramids
and
there are 136 statues on the four facades of the building.
The Dome Des Invalides was erected in the late 1600's.
The gilded
leaves with which the top is decorated shines brightly in the
sunlight
and the small lantern with spire is 350' above ground level. Napoleon
Bonaparte died in 1821 on St. Helena but it was not until 1840
that a
ship carrying his body arrived in Le Havre, then slowly made the
entire
trip up the Seine as far as Paris. On September 15th, in a snow
storm,
almost the entire city attended the funeral of the emperor. His
remains
were in six coffins .. the first tin, then mahogany, the third
and fourth
of lead, the fifth of ebony and then oak. These were placed in
red
granite, in a crypt in the Dome Des Invalides.
Sacre-Coeur stands majestically on the top of the
hill of Montmartre,
which was erected in 1876. It's style is a mixture of Romanesque
and
Byzantine. The four small domes and the large center dome are
typically
Oriental. The tower is 275' high with the bell weighing 19 tons
.. one of
the biggest in the world. The interior is filled with elaborate
paintings
and mosaics.
In closing, there are many other museums, monuments,
etc. to visit ..
too numerous to mention here. Paris at night is spectacular with
all
the monuments and squares brilliantly illuminated. There are many
nightclubs offering fabulous revues .. don't miss the world renowned
Lido on the Champs-Elysees. Paris is truly a city filled with
mesmerizing
sights!! It is a city we were totally enthralled with and will
revisit one
day.