Tunnel Beneath the Place de l'Alma

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This is a photograph of the entrance to the vehicular underpass beneath the Place de l'Alma in Paris. This nondescript underpass, a 100-metre tunnel allowing vehicles to pass directly beneath the Place de l'Alma without encountering traffic lights, is now famous as the tunnel in which the chauffered car of Princess Diana became involved in the accident that ultimately caused her death in 1997. I’ve included this picture somewhat incongruously in my collection because a number of people seemed to be linking to or visiting my site specifically in search of information about the place where Diana was killed, morbid as that may seem.

Anyway, this tunnel is part of an expressway running along the Right Bank (northern bank) of the Seine River. The eastern end of the tunnel (seen here) connects with the Cours la Reine segment of the expressway; the western end connects with the Avenue de New York, also part of the expressway (you can see the western entrance into the tunnel off in the distance through the tunnel itself). Although this is an expressway in the sense that it includes no traffic lights or major intersections, the speed limit is still 50 kilometres per hour, which is the standard speed limit for city streets in France, unless otherwise posted.

This picture was shot from the median between the expressway and an on-ramp on the north side of the eastern entrance to the underpass. The bank of the Seine is roughly 50 metres ahead and to the left of the camera. The Place de l’Alma, a major surface intersection above the underpass, is just behind the concrete portal of the underpass (you can see some of the streetlights that illuminate it in the background). The Eiffel Tower is off to the upper left and not visible here; I have another photo that situates the Tower with respect to the underpass more clearly, if you are interested. Behind the camera and slightly off to the right, at a distance of about 1.5 km, is the Place Vendome and Ritz Hotel, on the other side of the Place de la Concorde.

The lanes in the foreground are the westbound lanes leading into of the tunnel, the lanes in which Diana’s car entered the tunnel. This was a cloudy day, but that is just as well, since the sun is rarely positioned conveniently with respect to the tunnel entrance.

I also have a more detailed picture of the westbound portal, if you are interested. I also have a picture similar to the one above, but taken at night, showing how the tunnel looked on the evening Diana’s car entered it—click here to see it.

If you choose to visit this spot in person, get off at the Alma-Marceau Métro station, which opens directly onto the Place de l’Alma.

The Place de l’Alma is perhaps known best as the embarcation point for the Bateaux-Mouches, the famous sightseeing boats on the Seine that are historical landmarks of a sort in themselves. It also has another landmark of interest: an exact copy of the gold-plated “flame” that the Statue of Liberty holds in her hand. For years after 1997, this flame was constantly vandalized by Diana's fans, and was covered with graffiti and posters (it had previously remained unscathed by vandalism for years—apparently Diana’s groupies were particularly ill-behaved). It has now been restored to its former glory. I have a picture of it, if you'd like to see it. There is also a small-scale copy of the Statue of Liberty right in front of the Pont de Grenelle west of the Eiffel Tower, of which I have a photo. Finally, I have a picture of a human being pretending to be the Statue of Liberty.

Photographed on April 25, 1999.