Pont Alexandre III

Stand here for a moment and look around. Every gilded surface, every winged horse, every cherub and sea monster was placed with obsessive care, because the designers were under strict orders: a person standing on the Champs-Élysées had to see the dome of Les Invalides without anything in the way. That single rule shaped everything.

The result is the most extravagantly decorated bridge in Paris, with 32 bronze candelabras, copper reliefs of river nymphs on both sides, and four towering pylons crowned by golden Pegasus figures. When it opened during the 1900 World's Fair, it also introduced something Paris had never seen before: electric street lighting. Fifty million visitors crossed it that year, in the same era that the World's Fair unveiled escalators, talking films, and wireless telegraphy.

Look closely at the sculpted lions near the base. Some of them still carry the marks of combat damage from the liberation of Paris in August 1944.

One more detail worth finding: the nymphs on the upstream side carry Paris's coat of arms, while those downstream carry the symbols of Imperial Russia.

This bridge is actually the starting point of our route through the 8th arrondissement, leading all the way to the Champs-Élysées. Enjoy the walk!