Tell me your favorite VIEW in Paris...
 

Please tell me where you feel is the best view in Paris...and be as specific as possible...

Thanks

The top of the Montparnasse Tower. It's the only place in Paris you can't see it. (I've forgotten who said that about the Eiffel Tower.)

My husband, standing in front of the counter at Hermes .

LOL
Well, it is! but the view that comes to mind everytime I think of Paris is the east side view of Notre Dame..
the Invalides from a distance..

Hi

The view from the top of the Sacre Ceour is very nice. You have to pay 5 € to climb all the stairs but the view is great.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Scarlett - I love you answer. Thank you. LOL

Place Concorde and the view of Eiffel Tower (not FROM tower, but OF..)

From wherever I am sitting or standing.

I agree with Gard. Sacre Coeur is especially nice at sundown.

No wonder I couldn't see the scarf I wanted, Scarlett, your husband was in the way.
Good morning everyone, My favorite view is on any bridge, sitting at any outdoor café or up at any tall building like at Georges. I'm just so grateful to be in Paris.

I like the views on top of the Arch of Triumph. You can see all the spokes of the wheel coming off the circle. ((b))

Scarlett,
You are so funny! I hope I enjoy your favorite view (with my husband, of course) when I'm in Paris in June!
Dina

I'd have to say looking across the Seine at the flying buttresses of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Thrills me to my soul every time.

The other would be on a Bataux mouches gliding past La Tour Eiffel just as it's lit. What dreams are made of.

Yours
MS

One more great view.

Several years ago I went to see the ballet at the opera Garnier. I have always wanted to go but it eclipsed my greatest expectations. We sat in the box seats right along the front. We saw the spectacular Joyeaux with costumes by Christian Lacroix.

The Chagall ceilings, the balconies dripping in gilt. That is truly the most wonderful experience I have ever had in Paris, without a doubt. It is indescribable how opulently beautiful that place is.

Yours
MC

I love it all but most memorable:

A late November view of Notre Dame alight -- through bare branches of trees, lights reflected in the Seine, as I stepped out of Shakespeare and Company bookstore.

maria callas, that is the East view of Notre Dame that I mentioned..no matter how many times I see it, I am awestruck ~

The Samaratine Department store that is not open anymore. Then just looking at the Eiffel Tower is an awsome view. Then the view from the Montparnasse Tower. Of course, there are just too many to mention.

Looking out over the Seine and Notre Dame from my pal's amazing flat on the Left Bank!

Scarlett,

Clearly you are a woman of distinctively good taste!

One more - at the far end of the terrasse in front of the Eiffel Tower, down where the fountains are - looking out over the reflecting pool all the way down to the Eiffel Tower. That one will make you a believer too. (Scarlett- I guess you're going to tell that's Invalides too? If so, we need to write a book together :)

This is a great question, becuase my family and I just returned from a week in Paris, last week in March. Each of us had our own ideas on which vantage point to view Paris from so we did on successive days, 1. top of Notre Dame
2. top of Eiffel Tower at night 3. Arc de Triomphe at dusk 4. Sacre-Coure. My favorites were the Arc and the Sacre-Coure. Some observations:
1. Notre Dame was the least impressive, as far as views of Paris, but you do get to see the stinking big bell, cool gargoyles, Gothic Archetecture, etc. up close. The line (we went at lunch time on a Sat) moved at a pace of meters/hr. So if it is not high on your agenda and the line looks long, consider an alternate view.
2. I loved the view from the Arc, and it is best seen at dusk. The above comment by Budman about the spokes is very true. Nice little military museum 1/2 way up.
3. We had the Carte Orange, so we took the funicular up to Sacre Coure which was nice, since all of our feet hurt. This is a very good view because the whole of Paris is right before you, whereas all other views require you to walk to the west to look west , then walk to the east to look east, and so forth. We found the peddlers at the bottom of the funicular to be very obnoxious, however.
4. I felt the Eiffel tower was better to look at than to be up. We went at night which I recommend if you must - cooler, the nighttime view is pretty, and the lines are less long.
5. about two weeks ago a young lady posted a thread where she observed that the Tour Montparnasse was her favorite because, as observed above, you don't have to look at it when you are in it. (The oppostie logic of why you may want to skip being in the Eiffel Tower) but also, apparently the view of the Eiffel is great from this tower. Interesting observation . .
6. In all, there are frequent questions on this site about what are "paris musts" My answer is that there are about 7 or 8 sites that have great panoramic views of Paris - pick any two, but no more than two, and do them. One during the day and one at night. My personnal favorites where the Sacre Coure (day) and Arc (dusk).
7. Finally, if you like looking at the Seine and the Eiffel Tower, but your feet hurt and you don't wanna do the bateaux, consider bus line #72. It cruises right along the right bank from Concorde to well past Radio France. Great views of the Eiffel, lots of bridges, the Trocadero, and you get to see typical Parisian traffic and commuters while you ride.

LOL, Scarlet!!!
Just for the fun of it, I went on the Hermes website and almost passed out when I saw the prices of the scarves.=-o Some of their designs were IMHO surprisingly homely.
I guess I'm spoiled at looking at the dozen or so my father bought my mother for her birthdays while we lived there in the 60's. They are so beautiful that I am thinking of having them framed.
Still, I intend to take my daughter through the store on the Faubourg when we're there in 3 weeks. My husband will surely and quickly find the nearest exit on the pretense of looking for somethng else.
Michèle

You can also cover pillows with them, and if you are thin enough, two make a lovely skirt by tying one on the left side and one on the right. They are the perfect size for that.

There is a nice view on the roof deck of Au Printemps [Maison] and a cafe too.

I had not been to Paris since I was a "lad" of 15. When my DW and I went to Paris last summer (a mere 44 years later and her first time), we booked a room at the Brighton Hotel on Rue de Rivoli - 4th floor (5th floor American) overlooking the Tuileries. When we got to our room (about noonish as I recall, after walking a bit in the Tuileries while our room was being prepared), I opened the drapes to our Parisian balcony (this one actually large enough for two to stand comfortably) and opened the door. What a glorious sight. I called my DW to join me and we were overcome by what we saw - the Tuileries, the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, Invalides, and the EIffel Tower. We thought all of Paris was at our feet. It was magic.

Of course this is all hindsight. What we did over the next 3 days and nights really represented Paris for us. But on the last morning before we left, I stood out on "our" balcony and took another look. I took pictures. I look at those pictures lots - to remind me of our time there, of the magic of Paris, and the almost surreal experience of it all.

Of course there were other great views too - from many of the same places already mentioned by others. But our view, from a room with a view, remains my fondest memory.

KC

knoxville, that is so true, the room with a view for a first timer awes you. My first over looked the Parc Montsouris and a view on one side of the Eiffel Tower. I prefer views over the roof tops than the far ranging ones.

My favorite view of the Eiffel Tower is late at night, standing very close to it, looking up..if you are close enough, it no longer looks like the "Eiffel Tower" but some unearthly sparkly thing..

:) I have such a way with words ( thing)...

Well, I can't top Scarlett's view (since it sounds wonderful to me too!), but last summer, our sweet French friend took us to the restaurant on the terrace of the Trocadero...just outside Le Musee de L'Homme. We had a wonderful meal and the Tour Eiffel was in the background...with its twinkling lights. AAHH, our last night in Paris...so memorable!

Hi

I tried to get to the roof terrace at Printemps when I was there during Easter but it seems like it was closed due to construction work.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

I really felt I was in Paris when we saw the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower at night time from our tiny balcony at our Paris Perfect apartment. Big sigh..

I think my favorite "views" are not those overlooking the city or some landmark. I love Paris at night. I recall especially walking along the river in the fall when the fading trees formed a golden canopy above. In the soft lamplight, their fallen leaves gave the streets the appearance of being paved with gold.

As I walked from near Musee D'Orsay toward Notre Dame I saw what may have been the most beautiful sight on earth: golden canopy above, golden streets left sparkling from a light rain, Notre Dame and the Iles reflected in the Seine, slow moving boats with their twinkling white lights, and the Louvre hulking on the opposite bank. A memory to treasure and one no photo could capture.