The River Connection

The Seine binds tower and neighborhoods in liquid embrace:

The Bridges: Each bridge offers unique perspectives. Pont d'Iéna carries the main tourist flow. Pont de Bir-Hakeim frames movie shots. Pont Alexandre III provides distant elegance. Passerelle Debilly, newest and least known, offers photographers' favorite angles.

The Quays: UNESCO World Heritage designation protects riverbank development. Summer brings Paris-Plages—artificial beaches where tower views come free with sand between toes. Winter floods remind everyone that nature ultimately controls this landscape.

The Islands: Île aux Cygnes, artificial island supporting Pont de Grenelle, holds a quarter-scale Statue of Liberty—gift from Paris's American community in 1889. The two great ladies face each other across centuries and cultures, sisters in iron ambition.