1.5.09

Avenue d'Iéna


One way to walk from Place l’Etoile and its Arch of Triumph (see previous post) in direction of the Eiffel Tower (see previous posts)

...or vice versa of course, could be to use Avenue d'Iéna. This is a large avenue, quite calm.


On the way you find a small square, Place de l’Uruguay and the quite bigger square, Place des Etats Unis, with a little park, a playground and a number of statues referring to the US–French relations. There are a number of nice buildings around the place. One of them hosted the US Embassy during part of the 19th century, several were (or are) inhabited by some famous personalities or today occupied by smaller embassies. You can here also find a Baccarat Gallery (museum, shop, restaurant), certainly worth a visit.
Among the statues on the place, there is one to the memory of fallen American soldiers during WW I, one of Lafayette and Washington, one of a former much appreciated ambassador, Myron T. Herrick, and one of an American dentist, Horace Wells, “innovator of chirurgical anesthesia”. I already made a post about this statue and about him almost two years ago; a rather short and complicated life. A model of the Statue of Liberty (see previous posts) - which was offered by Americans to the city of Paris and which you now can find at the Ile de Cygnes (Swan Island) a bit downstream from the Eiffel Tower - was obviously originally placed in the middle of this place.
There are another number of embassies, museums and interesting buildings along the avenue. One smaller museum is a subsidiary to the great Calouste Gulbenkian museum in Lisbon; his Paris home was here. (A lot to be said about this man and his museum, but no space here. Maybe our blogging friends GMG or JM can complete?). The German cultural “Goethe Institute” is also to be found along the avenue. When you are at the end of the avenue in the direction of the Eiffel Tower, Place d’Iéna, there is a museum definitely also worth a visit, the Guimet Museum with one of the largest collections of Asian art outside Asia. A bit further up the avenue you can find a very nice “Buddhist Pantheon” , a subsidiary to the Guimet Museum.

As a last tribute to the United States, you will at Place d’Iéna discover a statue of George Washington.


I wish you again a nice weekend!

41 comments:

Cezar and Léia said...

wow so much invaluable information!
Great post Peter!
Now, I will come back to read more and see all details pictures!
Have a wonderful weekend!
I will be "on the road"with my family. We are going to see my mommy who lives far away from here.And guess what !!!! I will have the fantastic opportunity to play "MY PIANO "there !!!!! yahoo!!!
So...See you next week!
Take care okay!
Léia :-)

Blind Fly Theater said...

Another fine post, Peter. Merci Beaucoup! I loved the experience you gave us of the walk between la Tour Eiffel and the Arc de Triumph, with introductions to the small and large squares and the monuments to French/American relations. Very Impressive...

Dakota Bear said...

Peter thank you for the tour as usual.

Mona said...

Its interesting to know that Americans offered a statue of Liberty to Paris. I thought it was just the other way round!

Love the pictures. The Avenue does not appear quite as 'calm' as you say :D

James said...

Thanks again for the wonderful lesson and photos. I really enjoy your blog.

Azer Mantessa said...

That a museum is a subsidiary to another museum is something new to me.

Have a nice weekend.

hpy said...

Have a nice long weekend you too. (Although your weekends always last for seven days!)
C'est un très beau quartier que tu nous montres aujourd'hui.

SusuPetal said...

Rolig valborg, Peter!

alice said...

Je me souviens bien d'avoir appris, grâce à toi, l'existence de cet inventeur de l'anesthésie, un bienfaiteur de l'humanité cet homme! Et le musée Guimet, il faut vraiment que j'y aille.
Ton Paris printanier est très agréable, c'est bon de voir tout ce vert. Et merci pour le muguet, tu ne me croiras pas mais il embaume ;-))

Cergie said...

Avenue d'Iéna... Avec un arc de triomphe en coin of course (j'aime bien mais tu as pris des risques au milieu de l'avenue).
Et une ville allemande à l'honneur pour une fois à Paris (il y a tant de rues qui ont été débaptisées et pas une seule staion de métro... Alors qu'à Berlin les noms français pullulent). Une victoire napoléonnienne of course !
Tous les chemins mènent à l'Etoile qui est la place dont il est dure à un automobiliste étranger de s'échapper.
Bonne fin de fête du travail à toi, heureux retiré !

Ruth said...

It is a nice quiet area, and very distinguished and stately. I feel childish and insignificant there.

Anonymous said...

Nice post, Peter. The colors are really striking in some of the photos. Have fun this weekend.

GMG said...

Hi Peter! Another great post with lovely pictures!!
Calouste Gulbenkian, Mr. Five Percent, had his Paris residence at the Iena Av. building where the museum is nowadays. He moved to Lisbon in 1942 and stayed here until his death in 1955 at the Aviz Hotel (1931-1962), which was demolished after his passing away... In 2005, a new Hotel Aviz opened in Lisbon on the 50th anniversary of the death of Gulbenkian with suites named after Gulbenkian, Marcello Mastroianni, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Eva Perón and Maria Callas, former guests of the old one...

The Gulbenkian Foundation, created by his will, is an outstanding institution and was considered to be our substitute of a non-existing Ministry for Culture until 1974...

Have a great day!

Delphinium said...

rhooooo tu fais de la pub pour Peugeot! Cf première photo.

:-)
Tu m'apprends qu'il y a une place des USA à Paris. Je ne savais pas. Mais tu sais, pour la petite Suissesse que je suis, Paris demeure une trop grande ville qui ne dévoile pas facilement tous ses secrets.
heureusement que tu es là, fidèle au post, ton APN en main, pour nous faire tout découvrir. Bon WE!

Marie Reed said...

I had no idea that there was a statue of Georgie at Place d'Iéna! I read recently that Lafayette named his son George Washington... I want to slide down that slide! Joyeux 1er Mai Peter!

Thérèse said...

Interesting as always. I had no idea the statue of Liberty was on this place before having moved to "l'île aux cygnes"...
Bon week-end!

Alain said...

Tu ne t'arrêtes jamais, même pour le 1° mai ?

Unknown said...

GMG said it all on his accurate comment. Now I have to go to the Gulbenkian Museum, to get some shots (where I'm allowed...) and post them. :-)
Wonderful post, as allways, Peter!

april said...

Ah, in Paris, too, there is a wonderful green on the trees. Nothing compares to spring green.

Parisbreakfasts said...

I've tried on several occasions to find the Baccarat Gallery and failed miserably.
But that was before Google maps!
Thanks for reminding me to try again.
Bon Week-End

Cheryl said...

Wish I was there instead of the rainy SF bay area

Starman said...

The Musée Guimet is quite the place. When we were there I could only walk around the first level. I'm hoping in future visits to take in the rest of the musée.

Catherine said...

Je m'arrêterai à la partie espaces verts.
Bon week-end Peter.

krystyna said...

Very beautiful as always! I like your combination of photos to be displayed together!

I wish you the best weekend
and
this is a dedication for you:

"Write it on your heart that everyday is the best day of the year." - R.W.Emerson

Virginia said...

Well we Americans are always appreciative to any nods our way! :) Karen and I walked from la tour to the Arch but this doesn't seem familiar! Quelle surprise!
20 Days and counting!! It is hard to believe that it's almost here. My list is long but I'm hoping you will be the excellent advisor one more time! What to do first???
V

claude said...

Oui, Hélène a raison un beau quartier de Paris.
Quand j'étais petite fille, danseuse débutante,avec ma petite tuniqie satinée bleue claire et ma ceinture à pointes en velours bleu nuit et mes ballerines blanches, j'ai dansé un ballet à la salle d'Iéna, Je suppose que cette ancienne salle de spectacle etait dans ce quartier, mais existe-t-elle toujours.

lasiate said...

Parsi reverdit ! Ca doit être agréable ces marches à la fraiche !

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

I wish I had found your blog before I went to Paris...I saw lots of great places which my friends took us too, and told us about...it is great getting another persons views on Paris...

I am trying to write a list of markets, museums, gardens etc to visit next time ..

Olivier said...

C'est beau Paris au printemps, ton blog est une vrai publicité pour Paris, voila pourquoi tous les bloggeurs, qui viennent sur Paris, passent par toi...

PeterParis said...

Léia:
The first one again! :-)
I hope you will have a relaxing time ... and some nice piano playing! :-)

SparkleMirror:
A proof that the French-American relations have been good. Nice to see that they are again getting better! :-)

Dakota Bear:
Happy if you liked it! :-)

PeterParis said...

Mona:
It was of course the other way around, but some kind (and rich) Americans offered a smaller version to the Parisians! :-)

James:
I hope you will continue enjoying! :-)

Azer:
Well, it's administered by the Lisbon museum, but the expositions are basically temporary, promoting Portugal. :-)

PeterParis said...

hpy:
It's difficult to take longer weekends than seven days! :-)

SusuPetal:
Tack sà mycket! :-) Detsamma!

Alice:
Bravo, quelle mémoire! Oui, Guimet vaut le déplacement! C'est pour quand? :-)

PeterParis said...

Cergie:
C'est vrai ce que tu dis, tous les noms allemands sont disparus. ... Avec toutes les victoires de Napoléon il fallait bien faire de la place! :-)

Ruth:
It's nice stay a bit childish! :-)

Abe:
Yes, the fresh spring colours are fantastic! :-)

PeterParis said...

GMG:
I also read about him, but I'm very greatful that you took over in a more authorised way! :-)

Delphinium:
... et pourtant, Peugeot ne me paye rien! :-(

Il existe bien une rue des Suisses, une rue de Berne... Pas de rue de Lausanne! Désolé! :-)

Merie Reed:
There are so many statues and you don't often think of reading the names on the base! :-)

PeterParis said...

Thérèse:
It was new also to me! :-)

Alain:
Mon week-end dure depuis deux ans! :-)

JM:
That would be nice! :-)

PeterParis said...

April:
Probably a week or so earlier than in Cologne! :-)

ParisBreakfasts:
So, now you know where it is ... and you have the map! :-)

Cheryl:
Still waiting for you! :-)

PeterParis said...

Starman:
You should! :-)

Catherine:
Donc, tu restes Place des Etats Unis! Tu m'attends? :-)

Krystyna:
Thanks for the nice dedication! Will try to live up to it! :-)

PeterParis said...

Virginia:
Every road leads to... :-)

Claude:
Je ne connais pas cette salle! Dommage que j'ai raté le spectacle! :-)

Lasiate:
Un peu plus frais que chez toi! Tu reviens à Paris cet été? :-)

PeterParis said...

Anne:
Nice to have the confirmation that you already plan for the next visit! :-)

Olivier:
Pas tous (toutes) malheureusement! :-(

Marie-Noyale said...

Un vrai plaisir de revoir cette avenue que j'ai fait 2 fois /jour en allant conduire et chercher les enfants a l'Ecole Bilingue de Monceau,pendant un an.

PeterParis said...

Marie-Noyale:
Je vois bien cette école à l'entrée du parc! Ils ont eu de la chance tes enfants! :-)