Best of Paris

The Arc de Triomphe dominates the skyline with its massive limestone pillars and vaulted arches at the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle. Napoleon Bonaparte commissioned the monument in eighteen oh six to celebrate the military…

The Eiffel Tower rises above the Champ de Mars as a massive, intricate lattice of puddle iron, recognizable for its four curved legs that sweep inward to form a single, tapering column. Commissioned for the eighteen eighty-nine World’s…

The Musée d’Orsay is defined by the massive glass clock face visible on its facade and the sweeping iron-and-glass roof that arches over the building. Originally constructed as the Gare d’Orsay, this Beaux-Arts terminal was inaugurated for…

The Palais Garnier is distinguished by its massive copper roof and the gold-colored figures that adorn its dome, rising high above the street level. Commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III during the Second Empire, this building was designed…

The Louvre is identifiable by the large glass and steel pyramid sitting in the center of the Cour Napoléon. This structure, inaugurated in nineteen eighty-nine, serves as the main entrance to what is now the largest art museum in the world.

Sainte-Chapelle is recognized by the wall-to-wall stained glass that encases its upper level, replacing traditional heavy masonry with a glowing, translucent canopy. Built on the Île de la Cité between twelve forty-two and twelve…

The Luxembourg Gardens feature over four thousand five hundred green metal chairs. These seats sit across the gravel paths and lawns, available for anyone to move into the sun, under the shade of a horse chestnut tree, or near one of the…

The Panthéon in Paris is identifiable by its massive neoclassical dome and a front portico modeled after the ancient Pantheon in Rome. Completed in seventeen ninety, the building occupies the site of a former abbey on the Montagne…