The Concorde balcony
A view over the square from a height open to no one else.
Lionel Allorge — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jean-Pierre Dalbéra — CC BY 2.0 · Rijksmuseum — CC0 · DiscoA340 — CC BY-SA 4.0
One of the two matching buildings that close the **Place de la Concorde** on its northern side — you have walked past it dozens of times if you have been in Paris, but it was not open until **2021**. It was built in the eighteenth century to a design by **Gabriel**, Louis XV's architect, originally as the **Crown furniture repository**: the place where the king's furniture, the crown jewels, his carpets and his arms were kept. It then housed the French **Ministry of the Navy** for more than two centuries, until it moved out in 2015. Great events happened in front of its balcony: from it the **guillotine** on the Place de la Révolution was watched, and in this building the decree **abolishing slavery** in the French colonies was signed in 1848. It underwent a vast restoration lasting years and opened to the public in 2021, and what you see today is a precise recreation of the eighteenth-century apartments of the **intendant of the Crown repository**: rooms furnished entirely, with their colours, textiles and vessels as they were. ⚠ The visit uses a **smart audio headset** that follows your position through the rooms and plays sound and scenes — an unusual experience in a historic house.
A view over the square from a height open to no one else.
18th-century rooms furnished exactly as they were.
Here the abolition of slavery in the French colonies was signed.
2 Place de la Concorde, 75008 Paris
place de la ConcordeThe largest square in Paris, and the one with the greatest historical shiver: he2 minutes walk4.7
Musée de l'OrangerieIn the western corner of the Tuileries, inside a former royal orange-house, wait4 minutes walk4.5
Tuileries GardenThe Tuileries is the green line connecting the Louvre to Place de la Concorde, a5 minutes walk4.5
Petit PalaisThe best cultural bargain in all Paris stands opposite the Grand Palais, and mos8 minutes walk4.6
Pont Alexandre IIIParis has thirty-seven bridges over the Seine, and only one everybody agrees is 10 minutes walk4.7Looking for halal food near Hôtel de la Marine? There are several options nearby, from Moroccan and Indian kitchens to quick casual spots and places with a view. Confirm the halal status and opening hours before you go — these can change.
New JawadHalalNew Jawad is an Indo-Pakistani restaurant on Avenue Rapp, a short walk from the 22 minutes walk · $$$4.4
Ministry of SpiceHalalModern halal Indian cooking, the sit-down option for an unhurried dinner. About 24 minutes walk · $$$
Berkeley GardenHalalHalal Indian cooking that suits families and group dinners, about eight minutes'21 minutes walk · $$$
NouraHalalNoura is not a discovery; it is the institution every Arab visitor to Paris has 21 minutes walk · $$$4.5Al AjamiHalalAl Ajami is a name that goes back to Beirut in 1920, and the Paris branch is an 16 minutes walk · $$$3.8Because it **wasn't open**. The building housed the **French Ministry of the Navy** for more than two centuries and was not a public building; the ministry left in 2015, a vast restoration followed over several years, and it opened to the public only in **2021**. So you won't find it in older guidebooks or in "top ten sights" lists. That works in your favour: it is **far less crowded** than the great Paris museums despite standing on the city's most famous square.
Two things. First, the **smart audio headset**: it follows your position through the rooms and automatically plays sound, conversation and effects tied to exactly where you are standing — you hear the household's servants and the eighteenth-century street noise instead of reading a label. Second, the **balcony**: you step out over the Place de la Concorde from a height available to no one but the building's visitors, and see the obelisk, the Champs-Élysées and the Louvre in one line. Those two alone justify the ticket.
