Paris City Views
 

What is the location of your favorite view of Paris? List below is a start. Would welcome suggested view times and how to get to the location if its tricky.


Arc de Triomphe (at dusk)

Sacre Coeur (at dusk)

Samaritaine

Au Printemps (household goods annex/9th floor)

Eiffel Tower

Notre Dame Tower

Pompidou Center

Montparnasse

I listed panoramic view sites, but maybe we should expand it to include all strong visual impressions like down a particular street or across a square, park, or fountain, inside a church or a public building or looking at a monument.

I'm partial to the view out of the large glass clocks in the d'Orsay. Somethng transporting about it, for me.

I also like the view from the Pont des Arts foot bridge near the Louvre.

Both are great choices. The d'Orsay view often runs through my mind at odd times.

Another is the view at the end of Rue des Envierges in the 20th, above the Parc de Belleville.

I think the lampposts and sculptures on the Pont Alexandre III make it the most beautiful bridge in Paris. I especially like the view from the right bank looking across the bridge to the golden dome of the Hôtel des Invalides on the left bank.

The Parc des Buttes-Chaumont offers some lovely views.

RE: St.Cirq & RonZ

I know this is subjective, but is a visit to the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont or Parc de Belleville best done on a 2nd or 3rd time visit to Paris? Does it take long to get to them and is there something nearby that you can combine on the same visit?

Degas:

I didn't get to the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont until about my 35th trip to Paris, so to answer your question I guess I'd have to say I wouldn't put it on the list for a first-timer, or for someone who still hasn't been to the major sites. On the other hand, it's truly lovely, and even a first-timer wouldn't be sorry to have been there.
I took maybe a half-hour to get there (I think I was coming from the 7me). I didn't combine it with any other sites, but it could easily be combined with a visit to Parc La Villette or Cité de la Musique.

StCirq - I did a quick google search and turned up lots of Parc des Buttes-Chaumont photos. You were right about the city view - the look at Sacre Coeur was superb. Loved the idea of it having lots of hills and bridges and even caves. One poster said it is a legendary place where heart-broken lovers go to commit suicide and it is also a favorite haunt of Surrealists.

The Parc des Buttes-Chaumont was a monumental effort of Baron Haussman's in the 1860s.It was formerly a rubbish dump and quarry, and the site of one of the old Paris gallows.

If you can stand the hordes of tourists and bad artists, the view from Butte Montmartre at the Sacre Coeur is great from all directions. Take the metro up to Abbessess and walk up to the Funiculaire.

Any sidewalk cafe/bistro for an hour or so on a nice day just watching the world go by.

Beside those you have listed, I like going to Luxemburg Gardens & watching the people there, including the kids & others sailing the boats on the ponds. One thing that intrigues me from the Arc de Triomphe is looking at all the rooftop gardens on the buildings.

There's a very nice view of Notre Dame from the garden behind St. Julien Le Pauvre across the river on the left bank.

I always try to climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and watch the sun set and the lights come on across the city. The view from up there always makes me appreciate Baron Haussman's grand vision.

The view from the Montparnasse Tower is the best in Paris because it's the only place in the city that you can't see it.

As for ground-level views, standing at the northeast corner of the Tuileries so that the Place de la Concorde, the Obelisque, the Assemblee National and the Eiffel Tower are all in sight is priceless, day or night.

There is an extremely interesting view from the third or fourth floor of La Samaritaine looking east almost directly into and onto the roof of the church almost next door. Extremely dramatic, the church looks old ( maybe it isn't) and this is from a department store. ( at least a 20th century invention).

I'd have to second the Parc de Belleville recommendation. I don't remember how to get there by métro because I walked. In any case, walking up next to the Maison de l'Air on a clear -- or even mildly cloudy -- day offers a wonderful view of the city. I also like sunsets as viewed through one of the arches of Pont Royal, beneath Quai Voltaire.

However, my favorite this summer has been the nighttime view from the ferris wheel (5 EUR) in the Tuileries. (This is easy to get to; get off at the Tuileries stop on Line No 1 La Défense/Châteaux de Vincennes. You won't miss it.)

My favorite view time is at daybreak.When visiting Paris I'm up before dawn to run. Each day I leave my hotel and take a different route to explore Paris. Running through empty streets and past monuments with little traffic and few people allows me to feel like I'm alone in the city. Whether running around the Ile D'Cite or down the Champs-Elysees the view is very different without people to distract you. I take my carte orange with me to ride back if I get to far off the beaten path. I like the views from the Quays along the Seine particularly the Iles as they come into view from either direction.