The View of Avenue de l'Opéra from the Loggia

Remember the "loggia" I mentioned at the start of the tour, when we looked at the front facade from Place de l'Opéra? This is it: the spot where you're standing now. Back then we looked up from Avenue de l'Opéra; now we're looking down the avenue from the opposite direction, and it feels quite different.

Avenue de l'Opéra runs from the Tuileries Palace, where Napoleon III lived, to the Opéra Garnier. The palace stood where the Louvre and the Tuileries Garden are today, but a fire in 1871 destroyed it entirely, so it can no longer be seen. You may notice there isn't a single tree along the avenue. Napoleon III reportedly forbade planting any, which leaves the view of the Opéra Garnier wide open.

The front facade with the loggia was actually unveiled before the Opéra Garnier was completed in 1875. That was at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris, and Napoleon III reportedly ordered it shown there.

It's also a great place for photos with Paris as your backdrop.