Paris - Metro
Place de la Bastille - July 14, 1789, start of the French Revolution
The 52 meter high column honors the 504 victims during the 3 days of the revolution
The column is topped by the 'Spirit of Liberty' statue
Place de la Bastille - close up
Bastille Opera - Its auditorium seats 2700 people
Some modern architectures - 1 of 4
Some modern architectures - 2 of 4
Some modern architectures - 3 of 4
Some modern architectures - 4 of 4
Grande Arche de la Défense
It is a 106 meters white building with the middle part left open. The sides of the cube contain offices
The design of the Danish architect Otto van Spreckelsen looks more like a cube-shaped building than a triumphal arch.
One of the scenes of "Mr. Beans Holiday" released in 2007 was shot right here!
View from the top of the steps(backward)
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Another architectural marvel - looks like the twin tower
Watch spare parts - put on show
The 'hero' and the 'marvel'
Thumbs up!
Arc de Triomphe
Street view near Arc de Triomphe
Napoléon's Triumphal Arch was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate his victories
The design of the arch by Jean Chalgrin is based on the Arch of Titus in Rome.The Arc de Triomphe is much higher (50m versus 15m)
Triumph of our hero!
Roof of the monument
Names of generals who commanded French troops during Napoleon's regime
Adorned with many reliefs commemorating the battle of Aboukir, Napoleons victory over the Turkish etc.
Street view from the monument
The arch also includes the Grave of the Unknown Soldiers from the first World War.
Shields bearing name of one of Napoleon's successful battles
More names...
Way up to the observatory (300 steps!)
Half-way up to the observatory (almost half-dead!)
The Eiffel tower behind the fog
Are bhai, I am not yet ready for the shoot....re-take please!!
Columbus discovered America but Eiffel tower was discovered by ME!! Note my personal telescope yaar !!
Top of observatory from where you have great views of La Defense, the Champs-Elysées and the Sacré-Coeur.
There are about 12 such streets - all symmetric
Really a grand view from the observatory
All the 12 streets had remarking similarilties in them
Way down the observatory
Sorry! no information about this man..I mean the statue....Of course, the 'hero' on the right is well known !
Some important guy from the french history...
Note the stonework on these buildings..
Another important guy from the french history...
The bridge with four pillars....forgot the name of this bridge
Close up of one of the pillars
Place de la Concorde
At 8 hectares, the octagonal Place de la Concorde is the largest square in Paris.
'La fontaine des Mers' - bronze fountain
Assembly nationale
Beautiful french couple posing for pictures
In the 19th century the 3200 years old obelisk from the temple of Ramses II at Thebes was installed at the center of the Place de la Concorde.
It is a 23 meters tall monolith in pink granite and weighs approximately 230 tons
Installed in 1836 by Jacob Ignaz Hittorf
The obelisk is covered with hieroglyphs picturing the reign of pharaohs Ramses II & Ramses III
Pictures on the pedestal describe the transportation to Paris and its installation at the square in 1836
Famous five!! (From left: Arafat, Amit, Dhagal, Vishnu,Raghu)
This obelisk was offered by the Viceroy of Egypt to Louis Philippe
It was only one of 3 obelisks offered by the Viceroy, but only one was transported to Paris
Assembly nationale - It was the Duchess of Bourbon who, in the 18th century, had the Bourbon Palace built.
Starting in 1722, the construction was begun by the Italian architect Giardini, followed by Lassurance and finished by Jean Aubert and Jacques Gabriel in 1728
During this century, renovations were mainly to the interior decoration, as the National Assembly site now extends well beyond the Bourbon Palace
Siene river
Paris road
Siene river again
Tourist bus in Paris - 80 Euro/day !! (We did not take this)
Another street in Paris
Gard de Nord - lot of Indian restaurants here - we had lunch here
Street close to our restaurant called 'Kaveiri'
Walk towards our next destination
Sacré Coeur Church - located on top of the Montmartre hill
The name Montmartre is said to be derived from either Mount of Martyrs or from Mount of Mars
Until 1873, when the Sacré-Coeur was built on top of the hill, Montmartre was a small village, inhabited by a mostly farming community.
Sacré Coeur Basilica monument was built as moral condemnation of the sins of Paris which had caused the defeat of the French army against Prussia in 1870
The architectural style of the basilica stands in sharp contrast with other contemporary buildings in France....
.... which were mostly built in a Romanesque style
Lawns near the Church
View below from the church top
Another view below from the church top
The carrolls inside were very enchanting.....really touched my heart
The Eiffel tower - street view
Myself and La Tour Eiffel
The Eiffel Tower was built for the World Exhibition in 1889, held in celebration of the French Revolution in
1789The top can be seen from all over Paris.
It rises 300 meters tall and was twice as high as the Washington Monument in USA
The man behind the Eiffel Tower was Gustave Eiffel
He was also known from the construction of the Statue of Liberty's iron framework
The structure took more than two years to complete
Each one of the about 12,000 iron pieces were designed separately to give them exactly the shape needed
All pieces were prefabricated and fit together using approx. 7 million nails
Inaugurated March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower would be the tallest structure in the world until the completion of the Chrysler Building in 1930
Skylight view near the Eiffel tower
View from the bottom
It is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the River Seine in Paris
Lights on!
There are 1,665 steps (360 to the first level, another 359 to the second)
The shape of the tower was determined by mathematical calculation involving wind resistance
On the tower, Gustave Eiffel engraved 72 names of French scientists & engineers in recognition of their contributions
The journey up the tower via lift. There are two levels.
The mechanical component with rollers via which the lift moves
View of the web of the iron bars through the lift
The lift on it's way down
The majestic view of the 'City of Lights' from the tower top
Another section of fully lit Paris
The Siene river
Another enchanting view of Siene
Restaurant on the tower. Reminds me of 20,000 leagues under the sea !
French Open (Roland Garros) courts can be seen clearly
The Grand Slam tennis tournament is one of the biggest sporting events in France
Deadly trio on the top of Eiffel tower !
The wind was very chilling and the temperature freezing when we shot this. Due to searchlight the picture is not clear.
Our cameraman's hand shievering with cold is clearly evident
The searchlight can be seen at the back
Distance to India, about 7500Km Mumbai
Distance from all the major cities of the world are present here
Another amusing view from the tower top
20,000 flashing lights for a glittering performance - 10 minute display of diamond sparkles.
The lighting consumes about 400 kilowatts of power
Some statue that glittered like gold !
Aquarium entrance
Le Panthéon Church
Front view
ts ambitious lines called for a vast buidling 110 metres long by 84 metres wide, and 83 metres high.
Among those buried in its necropolis are Voltaire, Rousseau, Mirabeau, Marat, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, and Soufflot its architect.
Another beautiful building in front of the Le Panthéon
Panthéon is a Greek word meaning "Temple of all the Gods"
Eye of the god
Model of the Panthéon
Voltaire's statue
This man invented the physics term Volt(V)
Voltaire's tomb in the crypt of the Panthéon
Alexander Dumas' tomb
Victor Hugo, the great writer is buried here
Louis Braille's tomb
Inside the Pantheon
Foucault pendulum in the Panthéon which shows the correct time till date
Splendid view of the roof
Splendid view again !
Notre Dame Church
During the Commune of 1871, the Cathedral was nearly burned by the Communards...
.....and some accounts suggest that indeed a huge mound of chairs was set on fire in its interior.....
.....whatever happened, the Notre Dame survived the Commune essentially unscathed.
Siene River near the church
During its history, Notre Dame has been the site of numerous official and other ceremonial occasions
Notre Dame is a French word meaning "Our Lady"
Les Invalides; the name is a shortened form of hôpital des invalides, the hospital for invalides
Louis XIV initiated the project on November 24, 1670 as a home & hospital for aged and unwell/wound soldiers
The architect of Les Invalides was Libéral Bruant
Les Invalides is also the burial site for some French military heroes
The buildings still comprise of disabled war veterans. In fact we saw some of those forgotten true heroes of the past also !
Top dome of the monument
The sarcophagus of Napoleon Bonaparte
De La Fosse's allegories under the dome over Napoleon's tomb
Napoleon's tomb
Napoleon's statue
Some prominent French army person's coffin
Napoleon's amulet that he always wore
Napoleon's sword
Napoleon's guns
French army dress during the world war
French army medals
Collection of French army medals
Jawaharlal Nehru award given to some French man
World map in the monument
View of the Pyramid near the Louvre museum
Louvre Museum (French: Musée du Louvre) entrance
The Louvre Pyramid was built on the axis of the French Revolution
The Louvre Pyramid is a large glass pyramid commissioned by then French president François Mitterrand......
.......designed by Ieoh Ming Pei and was inaugurated in 1989
The central courtyard, on the axis of the Champs-Élysées
Paris Metro train & Yes, the train also has rubber tyres apart from the iron ones for smooth running
Paris Metro train
Moulin Rouge (French for Red Mill or windmill) is a traditional cabaret, built in 1889 by Joseph Oller
It offers musical dance entertainment for visitors from around the world.
The movie "Moulin Rouge" starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The show price was a whopping 75 Euro, so we thought it wise not to see it
Arc de Triomphe by the night
It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon I at the peak of his fortunes
Laying the foundations alone took two years.....
......and in 1810 when Napoleon entered Paris from the west with his bride Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria.....
......he had a wooden mock-up of the completed arch constructed.
Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the First World War
It has the first eternal flame lit in Western Europe in memory of the dead who were never identified.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy of the United States paid their respects
....well we also did pay our respects for them.
Paris metro on rubber tyres
Close up on the 'tyre' !! I had never seen tyre on the rails !!!
Auto picture studio
Myself trying to take a picture
A painting in Louvre museum
Our history teacher Arafat after he had explained the history behind this statue
Don't they look alike
How innovative !
Well, that's a real Mummy !! 1 of 5
Real Mummy - 2 of 5
Real Mummy - 3 of 5
Real Mummy - 4 of 5
Real Mummy - 5 of 5
Our cameraman forgot to focus before shooting this !
How innovative !!
The mirror !!
Beautiful Chandelier !!
Disneyland Parade
Special effects studio
This car was used in 101 Dalamations
The mechanical Dinosaur
The tour around Disneyland
The movie effect felt first hand !!
Disney Village
Paris subway
Plane used for Pearl Harbour
NYPD Police car
The creator and his creation
Disneyland Park
Disneyland Rides
