Paris Webcam – Watch the Eiffel Tower Day and Night

The Paris Webcam looks south from the roof of the Palais d’Iena, home of France’s Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), toward the Eiffel Tower about 700 meters (2,300 feet) away. The tower rises on the left of the frame above the trees on the Trocadero side. In the middle distance stand the high-rise towers of the Front de Seine, and on the right the pale stone east wing of the Palais de Chaillot closes off the shot. The Palais d’Iena’s own rooftops run across the foreground, and more than half of the picture is open sky, so clouds, sunsets and incoming rain are easy to follow. After dark the tower glows gold, its beacon sweeps over the city and, for five minutes at the start of every hour, 20,000 lights make it sparkle.

About the Palais d’Iena and the View

The camera belongs to the CESE, France’s third constitutional assembly. It began as the National Economic Council, created by decree on January 16, 1925, became the Economic and Social Council in 1958 and added “Environmental” to its name in the constitutional revision of July 23, 2008. It has 175 members.

Auguste Perret designed the Palais d’Iena in reinforced concrete, and work began in January 1937. The first wing opened on March 7, 1939 as the Museum of Public Works, and the rotunda was finished during the war, in 1943. The museum closed in 1955 and the council moved in four years later. Inside are a 300-seat hemicycle under a double dome and a suspended horseshoe staircase. The building has been a listed historic monument since July 5, 1993.

The east wing of the Palais de Chaillot stands about 200 meters (660 feet) southwest of the camera. It was built for the 1937 International Exposition and now holds the Cite de l’architecture et du patrimoine. The Eiffel Tower was completed on March 31, 1889 for the Exposition Universelle. Its iron structure is 300 meters (984 feet) tall, and a radio antenna added on March 15, 2022 brought the total to 330 meters (1,083 feet). About 1.7 kilometers (1.1 miles) from the camera, the Front de Seine is a group of about 20 towers, most of them around 98 meters (322 feet), built on a raised pedestrian deck between 1967 and 1990. Paris itself had 2,103,778 residents on January 1, 2023, according to INSEE.

Weather and Climate in Paris

Paris has mild, changeable weather, with rain spread through the whole year. At the Paris-Montsouris station, the 1991 to 2020 normals give January an average high of 7.6 C (45.7 F) and a low of 3.2 C (37.8 F). In winter the camera usually shows flat gray skies and bare trees on the Trocadero side, and the top of the tower can disappear into low cloud. Darkness falls in the late afternoon, so the sparkle starts early in the evening.

July averages a high of 25.7 C (78.3 F) and a low of 16.2 C (61.2 F), and heat waves can push far beyond that: the city’s record is 42.6 C (108.7 F), set on July 25, 2019. The station records about 634 millimeters (25.0 inches) of precipitation and 1,717 hours of sunshine a year. Summer evenings are long, so the lights come on late and the last sparkle runs at 1 a.m.

Things to Do Near the Paris Webcam

Place d’Iena is a museum district. On the same square as the camera, the Musee Guimet at 6 place d’Iena holds France’s national collection of Asian art, which Emile Guimet opened in Paris in 1889. A short walk along avenue du President-Wilson, the Palais de Tokyo, built for the same 1937 exposition as Chaillot, holds the Musee d’Art Moderne de Paris in its east wing and a contemporary art center in its west wing. In the middle of the square stands a bronze equestrian statue of George Washington by Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter, dedicated on July 3, 1900 as a gift from the women of America.

A few minutes southwest is the Trocadero. The west wing of the Palais de Chaillot houses the Musee de l’Homme and the National Maritime Museum, and the terrace between the two wings is where most people take their photo of the tower. Below it, the Trocadero Gardens cover about 9.4 hectares (23 acres) around the Warsaw Fountain, the largest fountain in Paris, whose 20 water cannons fire 50 meters (164 feet) toward the tower. Cross the Seine on the Pont d’Iena, finished in 1814 and named for Napoleon’s victory at Jena in 1806, to reach the foot of the Eiffel Tower and the Champ de Mars, a 24.3 hectare (60 acre) park. The Bateaux-Mouches cruises leave from the Port de la Conference below the Pont de l’Alma.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Paris Webcam located?

On the roof of the Palais d’Iena, 9 place d’Iena, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, the seat of France’s Economic, Social and Environmental Council. It faces south toward the Eiffel Tower on the far bank of the Seine.

What can you see on the Paris Webcam?

The Eiffel Tower on the left, the Front de Seine high-rises in the middle distance, the east wing of the Palais de Chaillot on the right and the rooftops of the Palais d’Iena in the foreground, under a wide stretch of sky. The view is fixed, day and night.

When does the Eiffel Tower sparkle?

For five minutes at the start of every hour from nightfall. Outside summer the last sparkle is at midnight, when the lights go off. In summer the tower sparkles until 1 a.m., then the gold lighting and the beacon switch off and a final sparkle runs for a few minutes.

What is the searchlight on top of the Eiffel Tower?

That is the tower’s beacon, first lit at midnight on December 31, 1999. Four motorized projectors of the kind used in lighthouses send out two rotating beams that can be seen up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) away.

How tall is the Eiffel Tower?

It is 330 meters (1,083 feet) including its antennas, a height it reached when a new antenna was fitted on March 15, 2022. The iron structure alone is 300 meters (984 feet).

Can you see the Seine on the Paris Webcam?

Not really. The river runs between the camera and the Eiffel Tower, but from this angle it is hidden behind the buildings and trees on the Trocadero side. The Pont d’Iena crosses it at the foot of the tower, out of view.

What is the weather like in Paris?

Mild and changeable. January averages a high of 7.6 C (45.7 F) and July a high of 25.7 C (78.3 F), with about 634 millimeters (25.0 inches) of precipitation a year.

What is the Palais d’Iena?

A listed reinforced concrete building by Auguste Perret, opened in 1939 as the Museum of Public Works. Since 1959 it has housed France’s Economic, Social and Environmental Council, which advises the government and Parliament.

Source: Vision-Environnement