one of the major public areas in Paris. Here they were preparing for the Bastille Day celebrations

A fountain in the Place de la Concorde, created by Jacques Ignace Hittorff in 1836. Hittorfff was entrusted with redesigning the Place de la Concorde in 1833.

The fountain is the Fontaine des Mers. One of the two Fontaines de la Concorde.

The Maritime Fountain, to the south, closer to the River Seine, represents the maritime spirit of France. Large semi-nude figures supporting the vasque represent the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Other figures beneath the vasque represent the industries of the sea; Coral, Fish, Shells and Pearls. [4]

The figures are seated in the prow of a ship, the symbol of the City of Paris, and they are surrounded by dolphins spraying water through their nostrils.

Above the vasque, supporting the mushroom-shaped cap, are figures representing the spirits of Maritime Navigation, Astronomy and Commerce. Next to them are swans which spout water into the basin below.

In the basin, tritons and nereids hold fish which spout water upwards to the rim of the vasque.

The Luxor Obelisk is in the middle of Place de la Concorde, standing where the guillotine used to be in the French Revolution

The Luxor Obelisk is a 23 metres high Egyptian obelisk standing at the centre of the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France. It was originally located at the entrance to the Luxor Temple, in Egypt.

In 1829 the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Mehmet Ali, offered two obelisks to France from the entrance of the Luxor Temple. The obelisk now in Paris arrived in 1833, and three years later in 1836, King Louis-Philippe had it placed at the centre of the Place de la Concorde, where a guillotine used to stand during the revolution. The other one stayed in Egypt, too difficult and heavy to move to France with the technology of the period. The French President (Francois Mitterrand) of the early 1990s gave the second obelisk back to Egypt.

The obelisk is made of red granite. It is decorated with hieroglyphics of the reign of the Pharaoh Ramses II. Missing it's cap (possibly stolen in the 6th century BC), the French Government added a gold-leafed pyramid to the top of the obelisk in 1998.

On the left is the Hôtel de Crillon.

The Hôtel de Crillon in Paris is one of the oldest luxury hotels in the world. It is located at the foot of the Champs-Élysées on the north side of Place de la Concorde.

The five-star Crillon, with 103 guest rooms and 44 suites, occupies one of two identical stone buildings, divided by the rue Royale, constructed in 1758 under the auspices of architect Louis François Trouard as a result of a commission from King Louis XV. Initially, both structures were built as government offices, and the eastern one continues to this day as Headquarters of the Royale, the French Navy.