Walking route along the Seine: from Pont de la Concorde to Pont Neuf

Start: Metro Concorde
End: Metro Pont Neuf
Distance: 4 km
Duration: 1.5 – 2 hours
Last update: November 3, 2022

Overview

Description

The octagonal Place de la Concorde is an immense square full of traffic. It is almost impossible to cross, but you can also walk around it. The square is a beautiful point with impressive buildings around it. The Champs-Elysées ends on the west side, on the other side is the Jardin des Tuileries with the Jeu de Paume and the Orangerie. On the north side are two beautiful buildings, the very expensive Hôtel Crillon and the Ministry of the Navy, both built by architect Gabriel. To the south of the square flows the Seine with the Pont de la Concorde.

The square was built in 1775 as Place Louis-XV, but in 1792 the statue of that king was pulled down and the square was renamed Place de la Révolution. A year later a guillotine was set up and within a short time more than 1300 people were beheaded here.

After the Revolution the square was called Place de la Concorde (Place of Concord). In the middle, an obelisk from Luxor, a gift from Egypt, was erected. In the eight corners of the square are statues of the French cities of Brest, Rouen, Lille, Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes.

Route information

1. Cross the Seine via the Pont de la Concorde, partly built with stones from the destroyed Bastille.

On the other side is the Palais Bourbon, which houses the Assemblée nationale (roughly the French House of Representatives). This building was built in 1726 for a daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. The gardens ran in terraces down to the Seine. It was later enlarged and merged with the adjacent Hôtel de Lassay, where the President of the Assembly now lives. In 1806, Napoleon had a new façade added, which was to resemble the Eglise de la Madeleine, which was located directly opposite on the right bank. The interior is magnificent, but not often seen.

2. Walk down to the Seine quay in an easterly direction.

Here, in 2013, the highway on the Seine quay between the Pont Royal and the Pont de l’Alma was closed and transformed into a pedestrian promenade with all kinds of entertainment: walking, playing games, picnicking, walking into the floating gardens or making music yourself. You can eat and drink something on one of the terraces or get something to eat and eat along the Seine, sitting on the wooden Mikado benches, which look a bit like Kapla blocks. Under the Pont de la Concorde you can plug in your own musical instrument via Bluetooth and start playing. Five different green floating islands with plants and flowers are connected to each other by wooden paths and on each island there is different furniture to sit on.

3. Take the Passerelle Senghor pedestrian bridge to the right bank and follow the Quai des Tuileries.

The bridge is named after the first president of Senegal. From the benches on the bridge you have a beautiful view of the Jardin des Tuileries. It is the oldest and largest park in Paris, laid out in 1564 at the initiative of Catherine de Medicis as an enclosed garden at her Tuileries Palace. Until then, there were roof tile factories (tuileries). A hundred years later, Le Nôtre turned it into an open garden and between 1991 and 1996, the garden was completely renovated. It is a real strolling garden, lots of trees, flower beds and lawns with terraces, statues, ponds and benches in between. You can eat or drink something in various places.

4. Cross the Seine via the next bridge, the Pont Royal from 1689, and turn left into the quai Voltaire.

On your right is the Musée d’Orsay, the former Gare d’Orsay. The station was opened in 1900 for the World Exhibition. It only served as a station for a short time, because from 1939 onwards the platforms proved to be too short for the new long trains. Since 1986, it has been a museum for art from the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.

The Quai Voltaire has many beautiful mansions from the 17th and 18th centuries. At no. 27, the writer and philosopher Voltaire lived the last months of his life in 1778 in the house of his friend the Marquis de la Villette. This marquis later ensured that the quay was called Quai Voltaire. When Voltaire’s remains were transported to the Panthéon in 1791, 500,000 mourning Parisians were on their feet.

5. Continue along the Quai Voltaire and cross the Seine via the Pont du Carrousel.

The bridge is decorated with four statues on the corners representing prosperity, industry, the Seine and the city of Paris. There are also street lamps that used to be extendable up to 22 m high. You walk up to the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, built by order of Napoleon I in 1805 to celebrate his victories. The statue group with the goddess of Peace has been there since 1828.

On the right is the Louvre, once a medieval fortress for the French kings and since 1793 a world-famous museum for art from prehistory to the 19th century. Until the 19th century, the Palais des Tuileries stood here with a view of the Jardin des Tuileries. It burned down in 1870 and was demolished in 1887.

6. Continue along the Quai du Louvre and cross the Seine via the footbridge, the Pont des Arts.

From here you can take beautiful photos of the Ile de la Cité and enjoy the view over the Seine. Parisians picnic here when the weather is nice. Note the locks that couples in love used to attach to the bridge here.

As you walk back you will come across the Institut de France. It was founded in 1795 and comprises five academies, including the famous Académie française. The building was built in 1661 at the request of Cardinal Mazarin. It is built in the Baroque style and has a beautiful dome, under which stands the mausoleum of Cardinal Mazarin. This is where the members of the Academies hold their meetings.

A little further on is the neoclassical Hôtel des Monnaies (the Mint) from the 18th century, a building that is 117 metres long. Only medals and commemorative coins are minted here. The building also houses a museum.

7. Turn left onto the quai de Conti. Cross the Seine via the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris, built in 1603 during the reign of Henri IV.

The bridge runs over the westernmost point of the Ile de la Cité. On the left is a statue of Henri IV and behind it is a romantic park, the square du Vert-Galant. From the tip of this park you have a great view of the Seine and the Pont des Arts, the Pont du Carrousel and the Pont Royal. The park and the quays are popular picnic spots.

8. From the statue, walk right via the rue R.H. Robert to the place Dauphine.

The square is named after the crown prince (‘dauphin’) Louis XIII in the 17th century and was designed according to an idea of ​​Henri IV. This is a quiet triangular square with benches in the middle. The chestnut trees that were here were cut down in 2009 because they were affected by the chestnut disease. But there are now 25 new red chestnuts. Only a few original facades remain (no. 14 and 26), the rest are of a later date. Singer/actor Yves Montand and actress Simone Signoret once lived on this square.

9. Walk back to the Pont Neuf and walk down the bridge to the Pont Neuf metro station.