Palais de Chaillot

Palais de Chaillot Review

This honey-color Art Deco cultural center on Place du Trocadéro was built in the 1930s to replace a Moorish-style building constructed for the World's Fair of 1878. The plaza-terrace is a top draw for camera-toting visitors intent on snapping the perfect shot of the Eiffel Tower. In the building to the left is the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine—an excellent architecture museum—and the Theâtre National de Chaillot, which occasionally stages plays in English. Also here is the Institut Français d'Architecture, an organization and school. The twin building to the right contains the Musée de la Marine, an excellent small museum with a nautical theme; and the Musée de l'Homme, which is closed for renovation and set to reopen, as the Musée de l'Humanité, in 2012 or beyond. Also here is the cozy Café de l'Homme, which has a fantastic view of the tower but a pricey menu that is not nearly as stellar. The garden leading to the Seine has sculptures and dramatic fountains and is a dramatic staging ground for fireworks on July 14, Bastille Day.