Formerly the tallest building in France, the foundation stone of Tour Montparnasse was laid in 1970 and it was inaugurated in 1973. The project to build a skyscraper in central Paris came in for a lot of criticism at the time and the tower continues to attract criticism because of its disproportionate height when compared to the rest of the buildings inside the city. It is 210 metres tall and contains 53 floors of prime office space in which 5,000 people work on a daily basis. It lost its title as the tallest skyscraper in France in 2011 to the First Tower in the La Défense business district west of the city, but remains the 17th tallest building in the European Union.
The building is also a shopping, public transport and visitor hub. Built above the métro station, the ground floor of the building contains a shopping centre with a number of brand name stores including the famous Galeries Lafayette department store. The 56th floor is the only one open to the public and it offers a gastronomic restaurant with panoramic views. There is also a space that can be rented to private or corporate events.
Most visitors prefer to take the lift to the very top of the building – the 59th floor - to discover the highest panoramic terrace in the French capital and the great views it offers of the city. On a fine day, the view extends over distances that reach up to 40 kilometres. In Paris je t’aime Carol may find it hard to suppress a yawn as she rides the lift to the top of Montparnasse Tower, but the view from the summit is really quite breathtaking.
Photo credit - By Jiro31600 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
The building is also a shopping, public transport and visitor hub. Built above the métro station, the ground floor of the building contains a shopping centre with a number of brand name stores including the famous Galeries Lafayette department store. The 56th floor is the only one open to the public and it offers a gastronomic restaurant with panoramic views. There is also a space that can be rented to private or corporate events.
Most visitors prefer to take the lift to the very top of the building – the 59th floor - to discover the highest panoramic terrace in the French capital and the great views it offers of the city. On a fine day, the view extends over distances that reach up to 40 kilometres. In Paris je t’aime Carol may find it hard to suppress a yawn as she rides the lift to the top of Montparnasse Tower, but the view from the summit is really quite breathtaking.
Photo credit - By Jiro31600 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons