Page 212 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Paris

210  P ARIS AREA B Y AREA

with a riot of Art Nou veau
ironwork. The enormous glass
roof (15,000 sq m/160,000 sq ft)
has Récipon’s colossal bronze
statues of flying horses and
chariots at its four corners. The
metal structure supporting the
glass weighs 8,500 tonnes,
some 500 tonnes more than the
Eiffel Tower. Today, the restored
Grand Palais hosts contemporary
art exhibitions and other events;
major temporary and touring
exhibitions are held at the
Pont Alexandre III Galeries Nationales in the
same building.
1 Pont Alexandre III
75008. Map 11 A1. q Champs- 3 Palais de la Entrance to the Petit Palais
Elysées-Clemenceau. Découverte
This is Paris’s prettiest bridge Ave Franklin D Roosevelt 75008. Map 4 Petit Palais
with its exuberant Art Nouveau 11 A1. Tel 01 44 43 20 20. q Franklin Ave Winston Churchill 75008.
decoration of lamps, cherubs, D Roosevelt. Open 9:30am–6pm Tue– Map 11 B1. Tel 01 53 43 40 00.
nymphs and winged horses Sat (to 7pm Sat), 10am–7pm Sun. q Champs-Elysées-Clemenceau.
at either end. It was built Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 14 Jul, 25 Dec. Open 10am–6pm Tue–Sun (to 9pm
between 1896 and 1900, in & by permission. = - Fri for temporary exhibitions). Closed
time for the Universal Exhibition, ∑ palais-decouverte.fr public hols. & 8 for exhi bi tions. -
and it was named after Tsar ∑ petitpalais.paris.fr
Alexander III, whose son Opened in a wing of the Grand
Nicholas II laid the foundation Palais for the World Fair of 1937, Built for the Universal Exhibition
stone in October 1896. this science museum is a in 1900, to stage a major display
The style of the bridge much-loved Paris institu tion. of French art, this jewel of a
reflects that of the Grand Palais, Demonstrations and displays, building now houses the Musée
to which it leads on the Right including a planet arium, des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de
Bank. The construction of cover many subjects and Paris. Arranged around a pretty
the bridge is a marvel of explain such phen omena as semicircular courtyard and
19th-century engineering, electromagnetism. garden café, the palace is similar
consisting of a 6-m (18-ft) high in style to the Grand Palais, and
single-span steel arch across has Ionic columns, a grand porch
the Seine. The design was and a dome, which echoes that
subject to strict controls that of the Invalides (see pp188–9).
prevented the bridge from The Cours de la Reine wing,
obscuring the view of the nearest the river, is used for
Champs-Elysées or the Invalides, temporary exhibitions. The
so today, you can still enjoy Champs-Elysées side of the
magnificent views from here. palace houses the permanent
collections: Greek and Roman;
medieval and Renaissance ivories
2 Grand Palais and sculptures; Renaissance
Palais de la Découverte clocks and jewellery; and 17th-,
Porte A, Ave Général Eisenhower
75008. Map 11 A1. Tel 01 44 13 17 17. Exhibition space Iron supports
q Champs-Elysées-Clemenceau. Grand Palais
Open for temporary exhibitions
(check website for opening hours).
Closed 1 May, 25 Dec. & ^ 7
8 usually 6pm Wed–Fri, 11am &
4:45pm Sat but call to check. 9 -
= ∑ grandpalais.fr
Built at the same time as the
Petit Palais and the Pont
Alexandre III, the exterior of this
massive palace combines an
imposing Classical stone façade

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