Pont Alexandre III

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This is the pont Alexandre III /põ alɛksɑ̃dʁ tʁwa/ (the Alexander III bridge), which most people consider to be by far the most beautiful bridge in Paris.

This bridge was built for the Exposition Universelle of 1900; the first stone was placed four years earlier, by Nicolas II. The bridge is encrusted from end to end with sculpture, gold leaf, and the like, and it looks wonderful from just about any angle. Part of the bridge is in pink granite, although that’s hard to see here. It often appears in movies and other multimedia materials set in Paris to help capture that “Paris look.”

A few years ago, this bridge was completely refurbished, after a long period of minor neglect. Today it looks exactly as it did when it was dedicated, right down to the colors of the paint.

Each of the lampposts along the bridge includes globes of hand-blown glass. The statues on the granite pillars at each end of the bridge are covered with pure gold.

Behind the camera in this photo and off to the right (aligned with the bridge) is the esplanade des Invalides, which adjoins the Hôtel des Invalides itself. At the other end of the bridge and just barely visible at the edges of this photo are the Grand Palais (on the left) and the Petit Palais (on the right).

Its hard to get a good shot of this bridge from the banks of the river. This is the best I have at the moment. There was an itty-bitty cloud drifting across the sun off to my left as I took this picture, which is why the picture looks a bit cooler on the left side (it is in very diffuse shade). I have another picture taken at night from a spot exactly opposite this one, on the other side of the bridge, if you’d like to see that.

Photographed on October 31, 1999.