Hey everyone, I'm Joel on the Road, and today my UNESCO World Heritage Journey is in Paris,
on the Banks of the Seine.
Now I'm here on the Pont Neufe, one of the main bridges across the Seine, and it's right
in the heart of the World Heritage area here.
Because as you float down the Seine, you can really see why Paris has been such an important
city for the last thousand years.
You have impressive Gothic churches and cathedrals like Notre-Dame and Saint-Chappelle, and then
incredible examples of town planning from the 18th and 19th centuries, and of course
at the end, the crowning glory of the Industrial Era, the Eiffel Tower.
Behind me you can see the Notre-Dame Cathedral, and it's one of the most famous and influential
cathedrals in the world.
It was a template for Gothic architecture, and the style developed influenced right across
the continent, starting in the 11th century.
So this is the Louvre Museum, and it's the largest museum in the world, and of course,
the number 1 tourist attraction in the entire world as well.
It was built in the 14th century as a royal palace, and was converted into an art museum
in 1793, during the French Revolution.
There's not really a whole lot more I can say about it, other than that it has an enormous
collection, and is somewhere you definitely should visit!
And this is the Tuileries Gardens, and it's one of the central axes of Paris; you have
the Louvre at this end, and the Arc de Triomphe at the other.
And it's an absolute landmark of the development of public spaces and city planning and that
sort of thing, it's just so beautiful and such a great open urban area for everyone
to enjoy.
Now this is the Place de la Concorde, and it's the absolute heart of Paris.
We have two very important buildings either side, the Tuileries Gardens just here, and
on my other side is the start of the Champs Elysee.
Now the obelisk behind me is a very interesting story, because it was "borrowed" from Egypt
during the time of Napoleon.
Now they took it from the outside of Luxor Temple which is actually a World Heritage
Site and somewhere that I've been before.
At the front, there's one obelisk standing and a plinth just next to it, but no obelisk.
Now one other interesting story from this space is that it was the absolute hotbed of
the French Revolution, and King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and many many others met
their fate at the hand of Madame La Guillotine right here.
Now this marina on the banks of the Seine is the last remnant that you can find of Paris's
working river port.
There's not really much left other than this small smattering of houseboats behind me, but it
really gives you a little glimpse into what the wharves and the docks must have been like
hundreds of years ago.
The only boats these days are tourist boats, up and down the river.
Well you can see where I am, and it's the end of the World Heritage area here on the
banks of the Seine in Paris.
And it's just such a classic example of early Industrial Era design and technology.
It's huge, it's beautiful, it's powerful, it's the symbol of a nation.
I absolutely love it.
Well it's been a really interesting day here, because we've started over on the western
edge of the World Heritage zone where the Notre Dame and the Ile-de-Cite and Ile-de-Saint-Louis
are, and you can really see the development of Paris, as it's gone from a small, tightly
packed city, further and further west, into the huge open spaces you can see behind me
of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, like the Champ de Mars and La Tour Eiffel behind me
It's been really interesting to see.
Anyway, that's it from me here in Paris, thank you very much for watching, don't forget to
Like and Subscribe, I'm Joel on the Road, and I'll see you at the next World Heritage Site!