Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [77]
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TRANSPORT: EIFFEL TOWER AREA & 16E ARRONDISSEMENT
Bus Quai Branly for 82 to Trocadéro (Varsovie), Palais de Chaillot, Porte Maillot, Palais des Congrès & Neuilly; Champ de Mars for 42 to av Montaigne, Madeleine, Opéra (blvd Haussmann) & Gare du Nord & for 69 to Invalides, Musée d’Orsay, Louvre, Châtelet, Marais, Bastille & Gambetta; Trocadéro for 22 to Charles de Gaulle-Étoile, Grands Boulevards, Gare St-Lazare & Opéra
Metro & RER Alma-Marceau, Bir Hakeim, Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel, École Militaire, Iéna, Kennedy Radio France, Passy, Pont de l’Alma, Porte Dauphine, Trocadéro, Victor Hugo
Boat Eiffel Tower Batobus stop (Port de la Bourdonnais)
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The Eiffel Tower, named after its designer, Gustave Eiffel, is 324m high, including the TV antenna at the tip. This figure can vary by as much as 15cm, however, as the tower’s 7300 tonnes of iron, held together by 2.5 million rivets, expand in warm weather and contract when it’s cold.
Three levels are open to the public. The lifts (in the east, west and north pillars), which follow a curved trajectory, cost €4.80 to the 1st platform (57m above the ground), €7.80 to the 2nd (115m) and €12 to the 3rd (276m). Children aged three to 11 pay €2.50, €4.30 or €6.70. If you’re feeling fit and/or energetic you can avoid the lift queues by taking the stairs (over/under 25yr €4/3.10) in the south pillar as far as the 2nd platform.
PALAIS DE CHAILLOT Map
place du Trocadéro et du 11 November, 16e; Trocadéro
The two curved, colonnaded wings of the Palais de Chaillot, built for the 1937 Exposition Universelle held in Paris, and the terrace in between them afford an exceptional panorama of the Jardins du Trocadéro (named after a Spanish stronghold near Cádiz captured by the French in 1823), the Seine and the Eiffel Tower.
The palace’s western wing contains two interesting museums. The Musée de l’Homme (Museum of Mankind; 01 44 05 72 72; www.mnhn.fr; 17 place du Trocadéro et du 11 November, 16e; adult/4-16yr & student €7/5; 10am-5pm Mon, Wed-Fri, to 6pm Sat & Sun), straight ahead as you enter, focuses on human development, ethnology, population and population growth; it’s a branch of the Musée National d’Histoire Naturelle.
The Musée de la Marine (Maritime Museum; 01 53 65 69 69; www.musee-marine.fr; 17 place du Trocadéro et du 11 November, 16e; adult/student & 18-25yr €6.50/4.50, under 18yr free; 10am-6pm Wed-Mon), to the right of the main entrance, examines France’s naval adventures from the 17th century until today and boasts one of the world’s finest collections of model ships, as well as ancient figureheads, compasses, sextants, telescopes and paintings.
In the palace’s eastern wing is the new Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine ( 01 58 51 52 00; www.citechaillot.fr in French; 1 place du Trocadéro et du 11 November, 16; adult/student & 18-25yr €8/5, under 18yr free; 11am-7pm Mon, Wed & Fri-Sun, to 9pm Thu), a mammoth 23,000 sq metres of space spread over three floors and devoted to French architecture and heritage. The Galerie d’Architecture Moderne & Contemporaine (Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Architecture) on the 2nd floor examines current trends in France but the highlight (and core) of the museum is the collection of 350 wood and plaster casts (moulages) of cathedral portals, columns and altars, and replicas of murals and stained glass originally created for the 1878 Exposition Universelle. The views of the Eiffel Tower from the windows are equally monumental.
CINEAQUA Map
01 40 69 23 23; www.cineaqua.com; 2 av des Nations Unies, 16e; adult/13-17yr/3-12yr €19.50/15.50/12.50, under 3yr free; 10am-8pm
On the eastern side of the Jardins du Trocadéro is Europe’s newest and most ambitious aquarium, with 500 species ‘tanked’ in more than 3500 sq metres of space. The aquarium is divided into regions (Indo-Pacific, Caribbean