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Last Updated: 30 January 2022

On a Sunday morning in February I caught the RER A from Maisons-Laffitte to Paris. I had planned on the previous day an itinerary from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre. The weather forecast had been quite optimistic. Although chilly in the morning, la météo was forecasting a beautiful sunny day and it was not at all wrong!


A Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre

Accompanied with my 2-year-old daughter, I went on a photographic walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre via some of Paris’ most famous landmarks: Esplanade des Invalides, Pont Alexandre III, Champs-Élysées, Place de la Concorde, and the Tuileries Garden. It seems like Paris invites us to walk without end, from one monument to the other. It took us more than 8 km to find our way from the Bir-Hakeim métro station to the Glass Pyramid of the Louvre (and as you can guess I pushed Aimée in her stroller all the way!)

  • Start at: métro station Bir-Hakeim (line 6), boulevard de Grenelle (15th arrondissement)
  • Arrive at: métro station Palais Royal Musée du Louvre (lines 1 and 7), place du Palais Royal (1st arrondissement)
  • Distance: approximately 6.5kms (4 miles).

Champ-de-Mars and Eiffel Tower

How many times have we seen the Eiffel Tower? Maybe a thousand times… still we’re always tempted to take tons of photos each time we see it! On Sunday morning, the Iron Lady was enhanced by the beautiful light of a February sun.

View of the tower from avenue de Suffren (15th arrondissement):

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
At the intersection of Avenue de Suffren and Avenue J. Bouvard © French Moments

Entering the Champ-de-Mars:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Avenue du Général Marguerite in the Champ de Mars © French Moments
Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Champ-de-Mars, a walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments

 A classic view of the Eiffel Tower from the Champ-de-Mars… look at that deep blue sky:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Eiffel Tower from the Champ-de-Mars in Winter © French Moments
Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Souvenir shop in the Champ de Mars © French Moments

The top of the Eiffel Tower spotted through thorns made of leaf-less trees:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Winter in the Champ-de-Mars © French Moments

Even in the middle of Winter, this is a lovely Parisian place…

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Winter in the Champ de Mars © French Moments

The Eiffel Tower in all its glory:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
The Eiffel Tower from top to bottom © French Moments

Aligned with a Parisian lamppost:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
In the Champ-de-Mars © French Moments

For great photos, stand by one of the four pillars of the tower. This one was taken on Avenue Gustave Eiffel:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
The Eiffel Tower on avenue Gustave Eiffel © French Moments

A view of the Eiffel Tower from the lane in the Champ-de-Mars known as avenue Jean Paulhan. With these fir trees, it is hard to believe we are in the centre of one of Europe’s most populous cities!

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
In the Champ-de-Mars © French Moments

 One of the two ponds that makes up the English garden near the feet of the Eiffel Tower:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
The pond of the English garden of the Eiffel Tower © French Moments

Let’s leave the Champ de Mars at rue de l’Université. At the intersection with avenue de la Bourdonnais (7th arrondissement), turn back to catch this great view:

From the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
From the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments

Turn right to avenue de la Bourdonnais and walk until you reach rue Saint-Dominique. You’ll discover some pretty fun views of the Eiffel Tower towering the roofs of Paris:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Avenue de la Bourdonnais, Paris © French Moments
Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Avenue de la Bourdonnais © French Moments

Rue Saint-Dominique

The picturesque rue Saint-Dominique in the 7th arrondissement of Paris links the Champs-de-Mars to the Esplanade des Invalides and gives a great perspective onto the Eiffel Tower. The shopping street is lined with restaurants, bistrots, boulangeries-pâtisseries, grocery stores and other interesting bookshops. I used to work as a French teacher in a language school based in the neighbourhood!

At number 131 rue Saint-Dominique, the Neo-Classical “Fountain of Mars” dates back to 1806-1808 under the reign of Emperor Napoleon:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Fountain of Mars, Rue Saint-Dominique, Paris © French Moments

Photos taken at the intersection of rue Saint-Dominique and avenue Bosquet:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Haussmann building in the avenue Bosquet (7th arrt) © French Moments
Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Haussmann buildings avenue Bosquet/rue Saint-Dominique © French Moments

Make sure you look back from time to time, particularly when you reach the intersection with rue de la Tour Maubourg:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Rue Saint-Dominique and the Eiffel Tower © French Moments

Pont Alexandre III

Rue Saint-Dominique takes you to the Esplanade des Invalides, a vast lawn that stretches between the Hôtel des Invalides to the River Seine.

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Esplanade des Invalides © French Moments

Once on the Esplanade des Invalides, we turned left towards the River Seine and the Quai d’Orsay.

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Quai d’Orsay, Paris © French Moments

There we crossed one of my favourite bridges in Paris. Pont Alexandre III was built for the 1900 Paris World Exhibition and takes its name from the Russian Tsar.

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Pont Alexandre III, Paris © French Moments

Spanning River Seine, the bridge connects the 7th to the 8th arrondissements. With its beautiful candelabras and lamp-posts, Pont Alexandre III offers superb views to the Eiffel Tower and the big glass and iron cupola of the Grand-Palais. Here are a few shots:


The bridge leads to avenue Winston Churchill where two grand buildings are found on each side of the street: Grand-Palais and Petit-Palais.

Grand-Palais

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
The façade of Grand-Palais, Paris © French Moments

The monumental Grand-Palais seems like it has been there for many centuries… but the structure is relatively recent as it was built for the 1900 Paris World Exhibition.

The frescoes, the statues, the columns… everything looks majestic. The Grand-Palais is topped by the mast bearing the French flag.

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Grand-Palais © French Moments
Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Detail of Grand-Palais © French Moments

Petit-Palais

Opposite the Grand-Palais stands the Petit-Palais and its remarkable wrought-iron gate.

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Gilded portail of Petit-Palais © French Moments

Avenue des Champs-Élysées

When we arrived on the Champs-Élysées, the traffic was not at all heavy. In the distance, behind the leafless trees, we glimpsed the windows of the Palais de l’Élysée (Élysée Palace), the official residence of the French President. Back then, François Hollande was President of France…

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Elysée Palace © French Moments

In the morning, the sunlight falls on the façade of the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the Champs-Élysées. With good eyes (or with binoculars) you can spot visitors enjoying the view from the top of the triumphal arch!


Place de la Concorde

The Champs-Élysées ends at the majestic Place de la Concorde.

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Place de la Concorde © French Moments

The Place de la Concorde is a treat for the eye, particularly for the one that takes the time to explore every little details: the monuments dedicated to eight cities of France, the extravagant lamp-posts, the statues of the two fountains by Jacques Ignace Hittorff and the hieroglyphics that decorate the Egyptian obelisk of Luxor.

The Ferris Wheel that stands on the Historical Axis that runs between the Louvre and the Grande Arche was due to close on the 15th February but was still open and running.


Tuileries Garden

The last stage between arriving at the Louvre is the Jardin des Tuileries. We entered the garden through beautiful gilded gates.

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Detail of the railing gates at the Tuileries © French Moments

The exquisite Tuileries Garden was crowded by the time we reached the garden. Two of our favourite places are the terrasses (Orangerie and Jeu de Paume) offering a fine view over the busy Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Élysées and the Eiffel Tower.

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
The Eiffel Tower seen from the Tuileries © French Moments

The Grande Allée of the garden that runs along the Historical Axis gives spectacular views to the Grande Roue westwards and the Louvre eastwards.

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
The Paris Ferris Wheel and the historical axis from the Tuileries © French Moments

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Historical Axis of Paris © French Moments

At the end of the garden stands a monumental triumphal arch. The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel was built by Napoleon in the early 1800s to commemorate the victory of the French Imperial Army in Austerlitz. Marking the limit between the Tuileries and the Louvre, the triumphal arch was once facing the Tuileries Palace. Since the dismantlement of the palace in the 1880s, the monument has been part of the Historical Axis.

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
The top of the Carrousel arch © French Moments 

The Louvre Palace and the Glass Pyramid

Our walk ended there… where the Kings and Queens of France had resided for centuries. The façades of the Louvre opening onto the Napoleon Courtyard and Cour Carrée are adorned with millions of Renaissance little details, reminiscent of the chateaux of the Loire Valley: chimneys, window-frames, classical statues…

The Glass Pyramid in the centre of the Cour Napoléon is unmissable. By the time we arrived there, the museum was already opened with a long waiting line at the entrance!

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
The Louvre and the glass pyramid © French Moments

When the Eiffel Tower shows up behind the Louvre:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
When the Eiffel Tower meets the Louvre © French Moments

We ended our walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre at the métro entrance “Palais du Louvre” where a man was blowing huge bubbles to the amazement of tourists and children passing by:

Winter walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre © French Moments
Place du Palais Royal © French Moments

Eiffel Tower to the Louvre: practical Info:

Hope you’ve found this walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre interesting! If so, please do share this article on Facebook or twitter!

Gems of Paris by French Moments
About the author

Pierre is a French/Australian who is passionate about France and its culture. He grew up in France and Germany and has also lived in Australia and England. He has a background teaching French, Economics and Current Affairs, and holds a Master of Translating and Interpreting English-French with the degree of Master of International Relations, and a degree of Economics and Management. Pierre is the author of Discovery Courses and books about France.

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  1. I absolutely loved this tour, as my husband and I did this ourselves about 20 years ago, and even though the weather was rather grey, we still marveled at the beauty of everything. Thank you. Dian Francesca

  2. Hi Pierre,
    Thank you for the armchair trip through Paris and the delightful pictures. Wishing you and your little family lots of happiness in your next home in the mountains.
    Caryl

  3. Well done, Pierre, both for the itinerary and for the excellent photography. I wonder if the authorities will really remove the ferris wheel, as announced, to improve the view along the Historical Axis?

    1. Thank you Keith! I’m pretty sure they will remove the Ferris Wheel… but when is the question! I heard May 2018 but other sources indicated July 2018. We’ll see who’ll won the battle whether the City of Paris or Marcel Campion (known as ‘the king of fairground entertainers’) 🙂

  4. Thank you Pierre, I am travelling solo to France from Australia in August to celebrate my 50th birthday, I will be spending August in Paris doing day trips to other areas (Rouen, Amiens, Epernay, Versailles etc). Your walk from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre is definitely on my to do list!! Thank you for sharing your experience and photos ?? Mimi x

    1. Thank you very much Melissa for taking the time to comment. I am very thrilled for you about your upcoming French journey. I really hope you’ll have an unforgettable time here in France! All the best!

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