Along with the gardens of the Trocadero, the Champs-Elysees and the Eiffel Tower, the Palais de Chaillot constitutes a fine example of the architecture at the beginning of the 20th century. It was built for the Exhibition held in Paris in 1937. Its architects were Boileau, Azema and Carlu, who planned the present building on the site of another previous structure, the Trocadero. Of the latter, built by Napoleon for his son, the King of Rome, only the plans by Percier and Fontaine remain. Palais de Chaillot consists of two enormous pavilions which stretch out in two wings, united by a central terrace with statues of gilt bronze. From here…

The Jardin des Plantes – Paris, France The Jardin des Plantes or Botanical Gardens, dates back to 1626, when Herouard and Guy de la Brosse, the doctors of Louis XIII, established the Royal Garden of Medicinal Herbs, opened to the public in 1650. Its collections of plants were enriched by Louis XIV’s first doctor, Fagon, by the botanist Tournefort, by the three Jussieu brothers, who travelled the world in search of new plants, and above all by the great naturalist Buffon; the latter made the greatest contribution to the gardens, enlarging them as far as the Seine and building the galleries, the maze and the amphitheatre. At the time of…

Champs elysees was originally a vast swampy area; after its reclamation, Le Notre in 1667 designed the wide avenue which was first called the Grand-Cours (its present name dates from 1709): it extends from the Tuileries to Place de I’Etoile, now called Place de Gaulle. At the beginning of the avenue are the celebrated Horses of Marly, by Guillaume Coustou. From here to the Rond-Point of the Champs-Elysees, the avenue is flanked by a vast park. As we walk along it, on the right is the Theatre des Ambassadeurs-Espace Pierre Cardin, on the left the Ledoyen restaurant from the time of Louis XVI. In Place Clemenceau is the bronze statue…

Entrance to the museum is on the right of the courtyard. On the first floor are collections of furniture, works of art and paintings which illustrate the Paris of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI.  On the ground floor, on the other hand, most of the rooms are dedicated to the Revolution and the First Empire. Among the museum’s most interesting relics are the bill of indictment of Louis XVI and the key of the Temple in which the royal family was imprisoned, the dressing table and chair used by Marie-Antoinette in the Tower of the Temple (on the table are perfume bottles and a miniature of the Dauphin which the queen…