The Grand Palais has a rink inside for the first time ever (I think). Pierre took the girls to check it out.
Here is a little history of the Grand Palais from its website:
As from 1867, Paris organised Universal Exhibitions at eleven-year intervals. The French capital witnessed a succession of ephemeral buildings, but some were so popular that they were saved for posterity: the most famous is of course the Eiffel Tower, though it should originally have been demolished when the Universal Exhibition was over. The Grand Palais, on the other hand, was designed to last.
The success of these World Fairs, as they are also known, can be gauged by the ever bigger areas occupied over the years: the Champ-de-Mars at the foot of the Eiffel Tower; the Esplanade des Invalides further up the Seine; a section of the Champs-Élysées; and then both banks of the Seine between the Trocadéro and the Champs-Élysées. The figures speak for themselves: the area used grew from 40 acres in 1855 to 335 in 1900, the year when the Grand Palais was built.
Over this same period, the exhibitions drew ever-bigger crowds, over 50 million people flocking to the event in 1900.
The success of these World Fairs, as they are also known, can be gauged by the ever bigger areas occupied over the years: the Champ-de-Mars at the foot of the Eiffel Tower; the Esplanade des Invalides further up the Seine; a section of the Champs-Élysées; and then both banks of the Seine between the Trocadéro and the Champs-Élysées. The figures speak for themselves: the area used grew from 40 acres in 1855 to 335 in 1900, the year when the Grand Palais was built.
Over this same period, the exhibitions drew ever-bigger crowds, over 50 million people flocking to the event in 1900.
Petit Palais across the street was also built for the Universal Exhibition in 1900
After they grabbed some lunch at the Christmas market on the Champs-Elysées
Merry Christmas!
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