Parc du Champ de Mars

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  • Address
    Av de la Motte Picquet, 16e
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  • Transport
    underground rail: Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel or École Militaire

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Running southeast from the Eiffel Tower, the grassy 'Field of Mars' (named after Mars, the Roman god of war) was originally used as a parade ground for the cadets of the 18th-century École Militaire (Military Academy), the vast, French-classical building (1772) at the southeastern end of the park, which counts none other than Napoleon Bonaparte among its graduates.

On 14 July 1790 the Fête de la Fédération (Federation Festival) was held on the Champ de Mars to celebrate the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. Four years later it was the location of the Fête de l'Être-Suprême (Festival of the Supreme Being), at which Robespierre presided over a ceremony that established a revolutionary 'state religion'.

The Marionettes du Champ de Mars stage puppet shows (around €3 ) in a covered and heated salle (hall) in the park at and on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.