Views from the Tour de Montparnasse
Thursday, April 10, 2008 
The church on the right is St-Sulpice, the Louvre is the huge building to the upper left, with the Tuileries gardens.
The Tour de Montparnasse is that ugly black skyscraper sitting all alone at the bottom of the 6th arrondissement, crowning the Gare de Montparnasse (train station). After it was built in 1969-1972, and at 210-meter (689-feet), it's the largest building in Paris. The locals were appalled by its ugliness and the way it cast a long shadow over the city, and immediately banned the new construction of all tall buildings. According to rumor, it supposedly is lined with asbestos and is being "cleaned", although I didn't see any evidence of this on my visit.
I can see my house from here! That's Montparnasse Cemetery on the right, and the 13th arrondissement straight ahead, with the Chinatown towers.
In the mean time, it does have one redeeming factor. You can visit the 56th floor for rooftop panoramic views of the city. There's an indoor area with a gift shop and café, a, actual restaurant, and a viewing platform outside. I was actually quite impressed with the views, even on the cloudy spring afternoon.
This is the view over the 6th, with Luxembourg gardens in the foreground and the Bois de Vincennes that dark spot in the far distance to the right. See the shadow of the Montparnasse Tower?
Reader Comments (3)
First, you don't see the Montparnasse tower when you're on top of it, and just for that, it's worth it...
Also, you do see the Eiffel Tower if you're a tourist and obsessed with it...
As for the asbestos, it's not the Montparnasse Tower that is being "cleaned" (understand: torn down little by little) but the Jussieu Tower...
Thanks a lot to sharing this nices picture from the Montparnasse Tower for this wanderful view on Paris :))
Have a nice Week-end :)) +++
Others pictures on http://www.trivago.co.uk/paris-36103/lookout/tour-montparnasse-32740