Île des Cygnes (former island)

The Île des Cygnes is a narrow, man-made dike that stretches for nearly a kilometer down the middle of the Seine. Built in eighteen twenty-seven to protect the port of Grenelle, it sits low against the water, acting as a quiet spine beneath the city bridges. A replica of the Statue of Liberty stands at the downstream tip, staring toward the Atlantic. Bartholdi, who sculpted the famous version in New York, gifted this bronze cast to Paris three years after his original work debuted.