One of the largest and most historically significant squares in Paris, the Place de la Concorde was originally named after Louis XV (Place Louis XV) and was designated as the site for which a commemorating statue of the king would be erected. A few decades later, revolutionaries seized power, renamed the square Place de La Revolution and replaced the statue with a guillotine. The square soon became the forefront of public execution and saw many famous dignitaries, such as Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and Danton, fall victim to the macabre enterprise. A total of 2,800 executions were committed here between 1793 and 1795. It is said the scent of blood was so strong here that a herd of cattle once refused to cross the grounds. After the revolution the Place would change names several times over, until it was officially dubbed the Place de la Concorde by the 1830 Revolution, a name chosen to symbolize the close of a turbulent era. Supplanting the guillotine is the powerful Obelisk of Luxor, a pink granite monolith that was given to the French as a gift in 1829 by the viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali. Installed in 1833, the Obelisk stands in the center of the Place, dividing the Tuilerie Gardens and the Avenue de Champs Elysees. The Obelisk is flanked on both sides by two fountains constructed during the same period.

Arc de Triomphe

Napoléon, the French emperor who conquered most of Europe at the beginning of the 19th century, admired the Roman people. In 1806, following their example, he decided to build a big arch of triumph which stands at the top of the Champs Elysées. His victorious troops would march on through the arch cheered by the population of Paris. This never happened thanks to General Wellington who defeated Napoléon at Waterloo in 1815. The Arc de Triomphe was finished in 1836. It magnificently crowns the hill from where the Champs Elysées, the Avenue Foch, the Avenue de la Grande Armée and nine other avenues radiate. The Arc de Triomphe keeps the memory of all the dead killed in World War I (1914/1918) with the grave of the unknown soldier and a permanently burning flame of remembrance. At national days, a flag is stretched through the arch.
 

Place Charles de Gaulle

PLACE CHARLES DE GAULLE – L’ETOILE

Place Charles de Gaulle was for a long time called Place de l'Etoile (Star Square) because of the geometrical design of the twelve avenues fanning out from the square, which is located at the summit of the old Roule hill, and which converge on the Arc de Triomphe. The Place de l'Etoile took the name Charles de Gaulle upon General de Gaulle's death in 1970.

PALAIS DE L’ELYSÉE – PRÉSIDENCE DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE

The Palais de l’Élysée is the official residence of the French President. The current name of the palace derives from its proximity to the Avenue des Champs-Elysées which is behind the garden behind the palace. The building is both the official residence and the official workplace of the French Président de la République, but some presidents (such as François Mitterrand, predecessor to Jacques Chirac) have preferred to live in their existing homes or apartments, coming to the palace only to work.

LA MADELEINE   La Madeleine The Madeleine is an obese Napoleonic structure on the classical temple model which was built for the emperor as yet another monument to the victory of his army. Following many vicissitudes and changes of plan, the present building is now a windowless edifice with a Greek temple facade of Corinthian columns 20 metres high. Work on the church was begun in I764. However, following the death of the architect in 1777 a new scheme was considered, and a Greek cross building begun. Well before its completion the revolutionary government dreamt up more rational uses for the building in progress. Napoleon decided on a Temple of Glory dedicated to the Great Army and in I806 commissioned Barthelemy Vignon to build it. After the erection of the colonnades, Louis XVIII, restored to power in I8I4, ordered that the temple be once more a church. Unlike the exterior, the interior is lavishly overdecorated. At the east end a series of frescoes celebrates heroes of Christianity in a span which includes, surprisingly, Napoleon.

ST-AUGUSTIN   St-Augustin The church of St-Augustin is definitely off the beaten path: no lines to get in, like Notre Dame. Built from 1860 to 1871, this church made use of structural iron to reach new heights. The architect, Victor Baltard, was responsible for the now-vanished Les Halles. Saint Augustin's dome is 50 meters high. If you visit the church, note the way the iron structure was incorporated into the design iron columns, iron angels.

GARE ST-LAZARE   Gare Saint Lazare The Gare St-Lazare’s platforms and iron-vaulted canopy are a bit grubby, but not to be missed by train riders and fans of Monet’s painting “la Gare St-Lazare” and Zola’s novel about the station and its trains, “La Bete Humaine”.Chronologically the first Parisian railway station, it was first built (1837) a little further to the North, next to the Place d'Europe. Rebuilt by Alfred Armand between 1841-1843, it was later extended by Eugène Flachat (1851-1853).

PARC MONCEAU   Parc Monceau The Duke of Chartres, later Duke of Orleans, built, near the village of Monceau, a “madness”. The comedies author and drawer, Carmontelle, with the help of the gardener Thomas Blaikie, created a garden of dream with fake gothic ruins, a Deutsch mill, a tartar tent, a pagoda, an Egyptian pyramid… The garden was a curious place revealing nature and civilisation charms. Paris sold the Half of the park to the Péreire brothers when Monceau was attached to the capital, in 1860. They built mansions, while the other half was transformed in an English style park by Alphand for the commissioner Hausmann. It soon became a public garden. Along its calm alleys the park still owns its beautiful statues, its pyramid –made by Carmontelle-, and its “Naumachie”. The park houses the largest tree in Paris: an oriental platane of 7 mt and 2 centuries old.