Place du Trocadéro

Welcome to the Place du Trocadéro, or Plahs doo Troh-kah-day-roh, situated in the elegant sixteenth arrondissement of Paris. You are currently standing on what is arguably the most famous, most photographed balcony in the entire…

Let us walk out onto the vast, flat expanse of stone that separates the two curved wings of the palace. This is officially named the Parvis des Droits de l'Homme, or the Esplanade of Human Rights. …

Now, walk directly to the marble balustrade at the very edge of the esplanade and look straight ahead. This is the moment you came for. …

Let us turn our attention to the massive curved building on our right side as we face the Eiffel Tower. This is the Passy Wing of the Palais de Chaillot. …

Now, let us walk across the wide esplanade to the opposite curved building, the left wing as you face the tower. This is the Paris Wing. …

From the balustrade, let us look down at the massive, sloping green space cascading toward the river. These are the Jardins du Trocadéro, or Trocadéro Gardens. …

For our final exploration section, let us walk slightly down the grand staircase toward the gardens, turning our heads to look back at the curved walls of the Palais de Chaillot. I want to share an architectural secret with you. …

As our tour of the Place du Trocadéro comes to an end, I invite you to walk back up to the main esplanade and take one final, lingering look at the Eiffel Tower framed by the vast sky. We have explored the deep history of this…