EIFFEL TOWER, PARIS. This is the highest structure in the world, being three hundred metres or nine hundred and eighty-four feet in height, as against the five hundred and fifty-five feet five and one-eighth inches of the Washington Monument, which comes next in altitude among all the edifices of man. The tower was constructed by Alexander G. Eiffel for the Paris Exhibition of 1878. Its foundations are sunk to a depth of fifty feet in the sandy soil of the Champs de Mars, and the four massive piers, which form the first stage of the tower, are so planted as to distribute the enormous weight of the structure (sixty-five hundred tons) in the best way possible. In spite of this weight the general impression is one of grace and lightness. The summit is crowned by a cupola with an exterior balcony, whence a magnificent panorama of Paris and its surroundings is unveiled. Elevators carry passengers up to the summit, the time consumed by the ascension being from six to seven minutes.
TROCADERO, PARIS, FRANCE. The Eiffel Tower is not the sole remaining monument of the French Exposition of 1878. Overlooking the Champs de Mars is the Trocadero, which was begun in 1876 for the same exhibition. It is a fantastic structure in the Byzantine style. The central portion consists of a circular edifice one hundred and eighty feet high and one hundred and eighty-nine feet in diameter, crowned by a dome, and flanked with two minarets two hundred and seventy feet high. On each side extends a wing in the form of a curve, six hundred and sixty feet in length, giving the entire edifice the appearance of an imposing crescent. On a level with the spring of the dome is a terrace adorned with thirty statues. The view of Paris from the terrace or the towers is superb. Below the balcony, in front of the central building, gushes a large cascade, which descends to a huge basin one hundred and ninety-six feet in diameter. Afternoon concerts are often given in the elaborately decorated Salle des Fetes, which seats six thousand persons. There are also collections of sculptures and antiquities.
CHATEAU DE FONTAINEBLEAU, FRANCE. Fontainebleau is a small town thirty-five miles south-east of Paris. It is famous for the royal palace, which is situated in a magnificent park or forest, fifty miles in circumference, and covering an area of forty-two thousand five hundred acres. The building itself is said to occupy the site of a fortified chateau, built by Louis VII in 1162. But it was Francis I who transformed the mediæval fortress into a palace of almost unparalleled extent and magnificence. Henry IV did much towards its embellishment. Here his successor, Louis XIV, revoked the Edict of Nantes. It was a favorite residence of Napoleon I, whose sentence of divorce from Josephine was pronounced here. Louis Philippe and Napoleon III spent large sums in restoring it. The exterior of the building, with the exception of several pavilions, is only two stories in height. The interior is a splendid example of decorative work. Some of the greatest French and Italian artists of the epoch of its creation were employed upon it. Especially beautiful is the chamber of Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV, and Queen-regent in his minority, who made Fontainebleau her favorite residence, and spent money lavishly in the decoration of her chamber.
GARDEN AND FOUNTAINS, VERSAILLES, FRANCE. The Palace of Versailles is in the town of the same name, ten miles from Paris, was built by Louis XIV in 1661, and became a royal residence in 1681. As such it has held a great place in the history of France. It is now used as a historical museum. The garden which surrounds it is justly celebrated for its extreme beauty. Among its chief marvels are the fountains, richly adorned with bronze statues, and from the centre of each rises a column of water to the height of forty feet, encircled by sixteen inclined jets of water, the whole forming a sort of basket. The water which feeds the fountains is brought from the Seine by the machine of Marly, constructed at enormous expense after the failure of the plan to turn the River d’ Eure from its course.
GRAND TRIANON, VERSAILLES, FRANCE. A charming residence near the palace of Versailles, built by Louis XIV in 1688 for Madame de Maintenon, but chiefly interesting for its associations with Marie Antoinette, whose favorite residence it was. Here she amused herself with her Swiss village, and here, as well as in the adjacent Petit Trianon, she and her court played at shepherds and shepherdesses. The Grand Trianon is built in the Italian style, with the rooms all on one floor. The interior is exquisitely furnished and adorned. In the surrounding gardens are cottages and artificial “mountains” (some nearly ten feet high) and glens and grottoes and pebbly-bottomed brooks.
