Favorite Views of Paris?

Old Jul 23rd, 2014, 12:01 PM
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Favorite Views of Paris?

In cities like Paris I love clambering up to the top of tall edifices or hills to take in a sweeping view of all of Paris laid out below.

Of course the primo viewpoint is from the third floor of the Eiffel Tower - day or night - I love em both - the night lights attest to the city's moniker City of Light.

I've never been up the Montparnasse Tower but I assume the views are even better because you can see the Eiffel Tower too! (And locals used to say that the view from it was also good because you can't see this often presumed to be modern blight - being about the only skyscraper built inside central Paris itself (which generally has a several-story limit on buildings).

OTHER NEAT VIEWPOINTS:

Montmartre
In front of the Sacre Coeur church - from the steps unfolds most of Paris right down below.

The Galleries Lafayette
Not sure if the cafe once on a roof of this tall building is still there but if so another high-up sweet vista. Perhaps Au Printemps has one?

The Monde Arabe
On the Seine up river from Notre-Dame - a tea shop on the top has a good view of the Seine and Notre-Dame area.

Suresnes -
Suburban Suresnes sits high up on a mini-mountain to the west of Paris - I take trains there sometime just to take in the sweeping views of Paris from the west - all the famous monuments laid out like on a relief map. You can also often see the smoggy air Paris is infamous for - in part I believe because of inversion, being hemmed in by high hills on the west and east sides.

The Arc de Triomphe
Love this view right down the Champs-Elysees to the Tuileries and the Louvre - straight as an arrow and the other way to La Defense.

The Grande Arch de la Defense
Similar to the Arc de Triomphe but a longer lateral view down over Etoile and the Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees, etc.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE VIEWS IN PARIS?
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Old Jul 23rd, 2014, 12:16 PM
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I like views of domes from terra firma.

https://modigliani.shutterfly.com/paris2007/135
https://modigliani.shutterfly.com/paris2007/67
https://modigliani.shutterfly.com/paris2007/63
https://modigliani.shutterfly.com/paris2007/30

And other things in the round.

https://modigliani.shutterfly.com/paris2007/5
161
https://modigliani.shutterfly.com/paris2007/161
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Old Jul 23rd, 2014, 12:17 PM
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I like the Montmarte view, and I think I have a neat picture from the Grand Arch de la Defense as you described.

If memory serves, La Sumaritaine (sp?) had a viewing platform which was more central than some of the others but the department store is no more.

Also, again its been a while, but isn't there an interesting view out the clocks in the Musee d'orsay? Maybe not the best view but kind of iconic?
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Old Jul 23rd, 2014, 01:14 PM
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Yes to the views out of the Musee clocks. Sightline right to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur
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Old Jul 23rd, 2014, 01:30 PM
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The top of the Parc de Belleville or the Buttes Chaumont are standard favorites for seeing the rest of Paris.

The top of the Grande Arche de la Défense has been closed for years and is not likely to reopen any time soon.
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Old Jul 23rd, 2014, 03:24 PM
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If memory serves, La Sumaritaine (sp?) had a viewing platform which was more central than some of the others but the department store is no more.>

Well the store is still there and there are continual rumors that is may re-open and yes I always loved the views from the cafeteria with large glass windows and balcony overlooking the Seine and the Ile de la Cite. But I think that store (but not the views perhaps) are gone forever.
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Old Jul 23rd, 2014, 04:07 PM
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One of my favorite views is also from the Arc de Triomphe at dusk as the lights on the Champs Elysees begin to sparkle. My next favorite if from Notre Dame Tower!
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Old Jul 23rd, 2014, 07:12 PM
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My daughter took a nice shot from a friend's balcony. http://tinyurl.com/n28eftf. I don't know where it is.
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Old Jul 24th, 2014, 05:38 AM
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The top of the Parc de Belleville or the Buttes Chaumont are standard favorites for seeing the rest of Paris.>

Yes - I love the 1958 movie The Red Balloon shot in this area I believe and shows much of Paris far below - but at that time there is often a smog hovering over the city - probably from coal fires.

But yes Belleville provides a view looking west over all the famous monuments of Paris.
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Old Jul 24th, 2014, 08:23 AM
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View from top floor of Centre-Georges Pompideau where cafe is located, looking over the rooftops of Paris.
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Old Jul 24th, 2014, 08:42 AM
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It had been announced that in the new Samaritaine project, the public terrace would return when everything was completed, but I had serious doubts about it. But the project has been delayed so many times with all sorts of weird opposition to the building permits that finally the owner Louis Vuitton threw in the towel -- and sold the whole complex to the City of Paris. So now I am pretty sure that the Samaritaine terrace WILL return... sooner or later.
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