Palais de Chaillot, Paris

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Today, the Palais de Chaillot houses a number of different museums. In the south wing, there are two - the Musée de la Marine (Naval Museum) and the Musée de l'Homme (The Museum of Man). The former is a maritime-themed museum whose collection started with artifacts that belonged to Louis XV. There's also an architecture museum - the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine, which opened in 2007. The museum showcases French architecture from the Middle Ages through the 21st century. The Théâtre National de Chaillot is located below the esplanade. With 1,200 seats, it was the center of Parisian culture following World War II and is still a popular location for concerts and plays.

Walking on the main square at the hill in between the two amazing wings we also learned that this building is as a reminder of the French victory in Spain in 1823. So, more than enough history lessons I guess. We walked around, enjoyed the views and also had a nice cool drink at the nearby Café Kleber.

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When we walked our way up the hill known as Chaillot we could already guess that it would provide an excellent view of the Eiffel Tower on the other side of the river Seine. For us a perfect moment to have some pictures taken with all of us in front of the Eiffel Tower. Or just pointing a finger on top of the famous tower is maybe the most popular shot that was taken.

But the monumental building of Palais de Chaillot is also worth a visit on its own merits: it houses several museums and an aquarium. The first structure built on the top of this particular hill was erected for the 1878 World's Fair. Known as the Palais du Trocadero, it was a large concert hall with two wings and two towers. An architecturally-unusual building, it contained elements of both Moorish and Byzantine architecture. An aquarium was situated below the building. When it was announced that Paris would once again host the World's Fair in 1937, plans for a new Palais de Chaillot were proposed and left us with the building we see today. It’s trully huge and impressive!

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When we were at the Eiffel Tour we could already see the huge Palais de Chaillot at the other side of the river Seine. There was no doubt about that, we had to visit it. We crossed the Seine via the bridge Pont d’léna and walked our way up at the beautiful Jardins de Trocadéro (Gardens of the Trocadero). It’s actually a huge open space right in the city of Paris. The main feature is the Fountain of Warsaw with its arches of water. It was created for the Exposition Internationale des Arts in 1937.

Par excellent this garden is the place (pitch) for performances. This good pitch can be the key to success for him. An act that might make money at one place and time may not work at all in another setting and Jardin de Trocadéro is quite a popular pitche. Of course this public place has a large volume of touristic pedestrian traffic and I must say that the kids love them! But in the other hand it costed us quite some money to pay them al … :). And after our fair share of ‘shows’ we walked on to the actual destination of the day, the Palais de Chaillot.

By far, the Palais de Chaillot at the Place du Trocadero provides the best view of the Eiffel Tower. The Palais itself, although hated by some, is itself an art deco masterpiece. It does need a bit of clean up. Even more spectacular than the view of the Eiffel Tower, though, are the Fountains of Warsaw at the Trocadero Gardens. I believe this complex of fountains is the largest in Paris and is a remnant of the great French International Exhibitions.

During my last visit, the fountains were not working. During the time before, in November 2009, some were working, while some were not. To my disappointment, the twenty large water cannons that appear to blast a huge arch of water toward the Eiffel Tower were not working.

HOWEVER, it is my understanding that the fountains, based upon Paris city documents regarding public works, have been restored to their grandeur, and a recent post appears to demonstrate that the fountains are fully working. I hope the photos accompanying the post of 11 June 2011 are, in fact, recent photos. A verification that the cannons are once again working would be wonderful!

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The sights from the Trocadero esplanade are great, especially if you have the luck to get the fountains at work. The power of the great canons is fabulous, and the harmony of the whole makes you forget that, in front of you is... the Eiffel tower.

It's the best side to approach the tower, and must be enjoyed without rush. It's also the place where a couple of yong boys decided to follow my camera - no chance, Fernanda noticed and warned me. Be careful!

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The Palais de Chailot with two curved and colonnaded wings was built for the World Exhibition of 1937, replacing the old Palais du Trocadéro.

From the wide esplanade between the two independent wings at the top of the hill the open view to the Eiffel Tower is spectacular. Not only during the day, but also during the evening with all the lights. Especially in the evening at 10pm crowds of people come to watch the sparkling lights of the Eiffel Tower from here.

In the Palais de Chaillot the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the 10th december 1948. This event is commemorated by a stone. And that's why the esplanade is named the 'esplanade des droits de l'homme', meaning the 'esplanade of human rights'.

The esplanade is ornamented with huge statues fo bronze. The buildings at both sides house some museums. The Naval Museum and the Musée de l'Homme in the southern wing and the the Musée National des Monuments Français in the northern wing. In this wing is also the Theatre National de Chaillot with the entrance below the esplanade.

housed in the PALAIS DE CHAILLOT near the EIFFEL TOWER....

This museum has on show: a wonderful collections of paintings, a huge collection of scale models of all kinds of vessels, a huge collection of object which originate from various sources......very, very interesting!

Always temporary exhibitions, special programmes for children on Wednesdays and during holidays.

There is a lovely GIFT SHOP with numerous gift-ideas.......books, clothes, bijous, petits-riens.........one can easily spend an hour there!!

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Named after the hill it occupies, le Palais de Chaillot was built in 1937 for l'Exposition Universelle of the same year. The Art Déco structure replaced the 19th century Palais du Trocadéro, which had been built for the earlier Exposition Universelle of 1878. Palais de Chaillot occupies a strategic point in Paris opposite the Eiffel Tower. The two buildings that make up the Palais contain several museums, including musée du Cinéma, musée de l'Homme, and musée de la Marine. They also contain a theatre.

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Place du Trocadero was built for the 1937 World Fair and now houses various museums; Musee de la Marine; Cite de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine. Further down the road, avenue du President Wilson, is the Palais de Tokyo (formerly the Electricity Pavilion) which is now houses Musee d'Art Modern de la Ville de Paris.

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For the 1878 World's Fair, the (old) Palais du Trocadero was built.
For the Exposition Internationale of 1937, the old Palais du Trocadero was demolished and replaced by the Palais de Chaillot which now tops the hill.

Parisians don't like the new palace and we can understand that... but
you have to be here just for the best view at the Eiffel Tower.