Explore the Trocadero and the Palais de Chaillot
Just a hop and a jump away from the tower stands the grandiose complex known to Parisians as “La Trocadero”. It consists of a long garden complete with fountains, lawns for sprawling out on blankets, playgrounds and ice cream vendors; and the Palais de Chaillot. Perched on the Trocadero hill, the latter was built for the Universal Exposition of 1937 and houses cultural institutions including the Cité de l’Architecture and the National Chaillot Theatre.
The Palais de Chaillot and its large “esplanade” overlooking the Tour Eiffel has a rather dark and complex history: Adolf Hitler posed for an official photo here after occupying Paris in 1940 during World War II. In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly gathered here to officially adopt the Universal Declaration of Human rights, partially in response to the atrocities committed during World War II.