Peter's Paris

Renovated Printemps facade

2009-11-27T00:01:00.008+01:00

There are a number of department stores in Paris. I have already posted about some of them, more especially about “Le Bon Marché” and about Christmas decorations (not this year’s) at “Galeries Lafayette” and “Printemps”, as well as their glass domes, of which you can see the one at “Printemps” here. So far I have not written anything about other larger ones like e.g. “BHV” or the regretted “La Samaritaine” – closed since 2005. Most of these stores have a long history and were founded during the 19th century. “Le Bon Marché” dates from 1838 and competes (with one at Newcastle-upon-Tyne) about being the oldest in the world.

Today’s post is about the partly newly renovated facade and rotundas of “Printemps”, said to have the largest beauty department in the world. It was founded in 1865, the glass dome dates from 1923. I showed you in a previous post the “false facade” that was put up during the renovation works.

There is a bar on the roof, from where you have a fabulous view, which I showed in a previous post. The top picture offers the view towards the Opera Garnier. Below you can see some day and night shots taken from the street.

The locations you see on the below map are the major sites of these department stores; some of them have branch stores elsewhere in the city.

I wish you a nice weekend!

Sun dials

2009-11-25T00:01:00.010+01:00

You can find a great number of sun dials in Paris, maybe 50 or 60. Here are a few.

Starting from the top left and following the sun on the below patchwork: One can be found on the northern slope of Montmartre (4, Place Dalida, from 1924), one in a courtyard beyond the Bastille (around 80, rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, from 1751) and one close to the St. Gervais St. Protais Church (rue des Barres, from the 17th century?). This church has by the way some more sun dials on its walls. The last one here is from the backyard of the Institute (where the French Academies are housed, Quai de Conti, from the 19th century?). This was the only one I got in sunshine and it was actually about 4.30 pm when I took the photo, so it seems to be fairly correct.

A rather surprising and recent one is the one you can also see on the top picture. It’s made by Salvador Dalí in 1966 for some friends who had a shop here those days. You can find it on 27 rue St. Jacques. The shape is a scallop, obviously referring to the name of the street; a scallop is called “Coquille Saint Jacques” in French.

Finally, the best sun dials might be some of the towers you find in Paris and some efforts have actually been made to transform the obelisk on Place de la Concorde to one. You can, with good eyes, find some lines and figures on the ground. I wrote about this in a previous post.

Urban art - indoors

2009-11-23T00:01:00.009+01:00

I’m back. Only a short post today.

Just before leaving for a week I visited a recently opened art gallery (La Gallerie Ligne 13), close to where I live. It seems to be specialised in “urban art” which more and more also gets indoors. At present there is an exhibition of “Mesnager” and “Mosko & Associés”, some of the well-known urban artists.

I have several times found and shown what they and some of their colleagues have produced in the Paris streets (see previous posts). Here are a few examples.

I guess I should probably have resisted, but I didn't, so I bought a small picture, cosigned by "Mesnager" and "Mosko".

Where Alfred Nobel wrote his testament

2009-11-13T00:01:00.005+01:00

The Swedish Club in Paris (Cercle Suédois, Svenska Klubben) is situated on rue de Rivoli, just in front of and with a view of the Tuileries Gardens (see previous posts). The club was founded in 1891. Those days it was a Swedish-Norwegian club; the two countries formed a Union between 1814 and 1905. The Norwegians later had their own premises, but today the Swedish and the Norwegian clubs share the same facilities.

It’s a very nice place and location with its restaurant and bar, open to anybody and of course used for a lot of events. I was there the other night – for wine tasting and took a few photos – before the tasting started!

Alfred Nobel (1833 – 1896) was one of the first club members and this is the place where he actually wrote his testament in 1895. (Born in Stockholm, he lived in Paris for some 20 years, died in San Remo.) The desk can still be seen with a facsimile of the hand-written document. As you may know, the Nobel Prizes are attributed by different Swedish academies and institutions, with the exception of the Peace Prize, which is attributed by a committee of members of the Norwegian parliament. This is of course explained by the fact that Sweden and Norway formed a Union when Nobel wrote his testament.

I wish you a nice weekend ... and a nice week! I’m off to Sweden again for a little bit more than a week.

Pigalle

2009-11-11T00:01:00.011+01:00

Pigalle is a district which basically would include the Boulevard de Clichy and part of the Boulevard de Rouchchouart and some of the adjacent streets, passing Place de Pigalle as a central point and Place Blanche, all just south of Montmartre.

Place Pigalle and rue Jean-Babtise Pigalle were given their names in the honour of a sculptor (1714-85). He is the man in the middle here, surrounded by two of his works, one a naked Voltaire (at the Louvre) and one a Virgin Mary (at the St.Eustache church).

Pigalle had its peak during the last decades of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries. A leading “star” has of course been the “Moulin Rouge”, opened in 1889. I have already referred to Moulin Rouge in a number of posts, especially the story behind its name. (You can find such information e.g. here, here and here, with further references to other posts.) A number of books and films have given an image of this area with its artists, its gangsters, its prostitutes (who even have their chapel here – see previous post) ...

Today, the area is dominated by a fading sex shop industry, there is an erotic museum... and hardly any prostitutes to be seen ...

... but there are also a number of theatres, clubs, discotheques... Some examples are the 19th century “Elysées Montmartre” (where it seems that the French Cancan was invented..., where boxing was pupular), ”Le Trianon” and “La Cigale” (Mistinguett, Maurice Chevalier...), now open for today’s music performers. ”Les Deux Ânes” and “Théatre de Dix Heures” are theatres where you today especially meet politically satirical artists.

Along Boulevard de Clichy, there are also a few other interesting addresses. I have already posted about no. 48 ("Cité du Midi"), no. 58 ("Villa Platanes"), no. 94 ("Cité Véron") and no. 104.

Belleville, Menilmontant ... something more

2009-11-09T00:01:00.006+01:00

I have already made some posts about rue Belleville, rue Menilmontant and the adjacent parts of Paris which were incorporated in 1860, traditionally and area of workers and lower middle-class - often active in the different social movements during the latter part of the 19th and earlier parts of the 20th centuries.

Last Saturday I was invited to a varnishing (obviously wrong word: vernissage in French means - also - e.g. the opening of an exhibition) at the “Bellevilloise” (rue Boyer) by an artist friend (KEJ – see previous posts). The “Bellevilloise” was created as the first cooperate association in Paris in 1877. It counted 9000 members in the beginning of the 20th century and offered shops, restaurants, libraries, a chance for the members to meet and to get educated... After a few decades of decline, today the place is living again as a very active cultural centre.

Another example of early social initiatives in this area is the group of “buildings for workers” (rue d’Annam - see also top picture) which you can find close to the “Bellevilloise”. This complex was ready in 1906 and, as you can see on the inscription under the entrance arch, with the intention to offer “cheap accommodations with all kind of hygienic guarantees”. This is just an example of several similar complexes which were built in what were those days the outskirts of Paris.

On the way home, I made a stop at Parc de Belleville which offers one of the best views of Paris, a place from where you can capture the Pantheon, the Notre Dame and the Tour Montparnasse or the Eiffel Tower and the Grand Palais on the same photo.

Walking down rue Bonaparte...

2009-11-06T00:01:00.018+01:00

On your way from Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés (see previous post) with its abbey, its little park with a Picasso statue of Appolinaire, the café “Les-Deux-Magots”, its Zadikine statue, its Wallace fountain, some remarkable buildings...

... and its old cobblestones (notice the used metro ticket)...

... you will probably take rue Bonaparte if you head for the Seine.

On the way and before reaching the “’Ecole-des-Beaux-Arts”, definitely worth a visit (see previous post), I recommend a closer look on the courtyard of no. 21 of rue Bonaparte – see also top picture...

... and I guess that you will not miss Ladurée and its macarons.

I would then recommend that you turn to the right and take a look at an insignificant little narrow street, rue Visconti (named, not after the Italian film director, but after the sculptor Louis Visconti, who among other things made Napoleon’s tomb at the Invalides – see previous post - and the fountain on Place Saint-Sulpice – see previous post).

Behind these walls and doors, some remarkable personalities have lived and worked: Honoré de Balzac tried to make business as a printer here for two years (1826-28), at no. 17-19. Eugène Delacroix had his studio in the same building for almost ten years (1836-45) and painted among others Georges Sand and Frédéric Chopin. Jean Racine died here in 1699 – there is a “dispute” about in which building, but the plate is on no. 24. The most famous actress in the early 18th century, Adrienne Lecouvreur, held “salon” at her home, at no. 16, and received among other visitors Voltaire...

Today the street is full of art galleries.

Again, if you look to the right and the left, you will find some very nice courtyards and the smallest Paris public park.

Behind the buildings, between rue Visconti and rue Jacob, is a small “forest” and, hidden on private ground, in a garden, a small “temple” with uncertain origins. A rich American lady, Natalie Barney, held during the first decades of the 20th century “salon” at her home, garden and "temple" and she had among other guests Hemingway, Joyce, Proust... You can see Miss Barney in front of the Temple here (photo from an excellent and very complete site about rue Visconti).

I wish you a nice weelend!

Obelisk, Obelix...

2009-11-04T00:01:00.007+01:00

To celebrate the 50 years of Asterix ... and Obelix, the Place de la Concorde (see previous posts) has got some temporary special decoration. The Egyptian obelisk has been completed (fortunately not replaced) by a French version, a menhir.

There is more of Asterix and his friends to be seen at seven other strategic points in Paris, but it was raining....

A new album was just published: “Asterix and Obelix’s Birthday – The Golden Book”.

Eiffel Tower - 120 years

2009-11-02T00:01:00.008+01:00

The Eiffel Tower (see previous posts) can take different colours, including the fact that it’s repainted every seven years. The colours are also brought by light. Here you can first see what the Tower normally looks like during the dark hours. Since a few years, you have now also a blinking light for 5 minutes, every dark hour. We remember that the Tower got the European Union colours (see previous post) during the second half of 2008, when France had the leadership of the Union.

... and now we can see what has been done to celebrate the 120 years of the “lady”. Every evening until December 31, after the five minutes of blinking lights, during twelve minutes, the Tower takes all colours (at 20.05, 21.05, 22.05, 23.05).

Avenue Victor Hugo

2009-10-30T00:01:00.009+01:00

Today I propose a walk along one of the 12 avenues leaving from La Place de l’Etoile (Place Charles de Gaulle), Avenue Victor Hugo. The walk is relatively long, some 1.8 km (1.2 miles) and may take a while, depending on curiosity, wish to shop, to eat or drink....

It’s a typical Parisian avenue with trees all along, with a lot of Haussmannian buildings, but some smaller “hôtels paritculiers” (private mansions) remain. It crosses the Place Victor Hugo.

One of the private mansions that have disappeared is where Victor Hugo spent his last years. It’s now replaced by an apartment building from the beginning of the 20th century, decorated, over the entrance door, with a sculpture of Victor’s face. The avenue got its present name already when Victor lived here and he could receive mail addressed ” Mr. Victor Hugo, In his avenue, Paris”. Very popular and appreciated, when he died in 1885 it was decided to reinvent the Pantheon (see previous post) as a place for homage to great French citizens. The funeral procession from his home to the Pantheon was followed by some 1,5 million people.

I’m not going to tell the life story of Victor Hugo here, but everybody may not be aware that in addition to being a great novelist, poet and politician, he was also a surprising and talented painter. Consider that these paintings were made in the mid 19th century, well before the impressionism.

An original bronze monument to Victor’s honour at Place Victor Hugo disappeared during the Nazi occupation, as many other Paris statues; the material was needed for the war. There is now a water fountain. A statue made by Auguste Rodin (he made several of Victor) has later been placed at the extreme end of the avenue (see also top picture).

Place Victor Hugo is surrounded by some nice bars and restaurants, shops, a church...

Here and there you can find some openings, to the left or to the right. One of them is the Square Lamartine, where is also situated one of the three remaining Paris spring water sources (see previous posts).

There is also a gallery (at no. 111), “Cité l’Argentine”, created by Henri Sauvage, a remarkable architect with some interesting buildings also elsewhere in Paris (I will revert) – Adam / “Paris Invisble” wrote about one of them.

All along the avenue you will be tented by a large number of elegant fashion, antique, jewellery, cigar, gourmet shops and patisseries, bars, restaurants.... The avenue is very “chic”.

I wish you a nice weekend!

Ernest Hemingway in Paris - "A Moveable Feast"

2009-10-28T00:01:00.031+01:00

This is a try to follow the trace of Ernest Hemingway in Paris.

Ernest made a short visit to Paris during WWI, but he really arrived here in December 1921, together with his then wife, Hadley, as a reporter for "Toronto Star", but with the ambition to become a real author. They stayed for a short while at "Hôtel d'Angleterre", 44 rue Jacob...

... and immediately discovered a favourite restaurant, the close by "Le Pré-aux-Clercs", 30 rue Bonaparte.

They soon settled down in a simple flat on the third floor of 74 rue Cardinal Lemoine, close to rue Mouffetard, just behind the Pantheon. They stayed here for a couple of months.

It seems that Ernest also rented a room to be able to write in peace, 39 rue Descartes, just round the corner. (This is also the building where the French poet Verlaine died.)

The couple later moved to 113 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs...

... very close to "La Closerie-des-Lilas", which also became a bar and restaurant to which he often returned. Ezra Pound was a neighbour and friend.

Ernest ("Hem") managed quickly to get introduced to some of the leading writers and artists who then worked in Paris. He visited regularly "Shakespeare & Co", the famous library, at its preceding address, 12 rue d'Odéon, close to the Odeon Theatre, then owned by Sylvia Beach, who published "Ulysses" by James Joyce in 1922. Joyce became also a very good friend of Ernest, like other frequent visitors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald. ("Shakespeare & Co" run by Sylvia Beach was closed in 1941 as she refused to sell a book - by Joyce - to a German officer. The buisness was taken over after the War by George Whitman, who opened the "Shakespeare & Co" we know today, rue de la Bûcherie.)

The same and other authors also met at Gertrude Stein's flat, 27 rue de Fleurus.

These were the days when these friends also discovered "Le Select", "Le Dôme", "La Rotonde", "La Coupole"... not too far from "La Closerie-des-Lilas", all on Boulevard Montparnasse...

... and "Les Deux-Magots", at Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

The couple moved to Toronto for a a while (the son John -"Bumby" - was born) and came back to Paris a few months later... divorced in 1927. Toghether with a new wife, Pauline, he settled down at 69 rue Frodevaux, just behind the Montparnasse cemetery...

... and then at 6 rue Férou, just between the Luxembourg Palace and the Saint Sulpice Church... before leaving Paris and moving to Key West.

Ernest later never really lived in Paris, but he was in and out frequently during the 30's, obviously mostly staying in hotels, one of which was "Hôtel-du-Mont-Blanc", 28 rue de la Huchette.

He was of course present during the liberation of Paris in 1944 and then back again and again...

Although it seems that his working and living habits were concetrated to the left bank, his drinking habits seems to have spread also the right bank. When we think about Hemingway and Paris, we automatically think of "Harry's Bar", 5 rue Daunou - also formerly regularly visited by Coco Chanel, Rita Hayworth and Aly Khan, Humphrey Bogart, the Duke of Windsor..., where George Gerhswin composed "An American in Paris" and where the "Bloody Mary" was invented...

...and the bar which later even got his name at the very fashionable "Hôtel Ritz", Place Vendome.

During his Paris years, Ernest quit his job as a reporter for the "Toronto Star" and started "real writing", like "In Our Time", "The Torrents of Spring", "The Sun Also Rises", "Men Without Women"...

To conclude this "study", I thought it would be nice to have a drink at the "Bar Hemingway" at the "Ritz", so a couple of days ago, together with some friends, including Karen, we went there. The bar is supposed to have some of the world's best drinks ... and bartenders; you can see one on the top picture.

In a complete disorder...

2009-10-26T00:01:00.011+01:00

I started to clean up my photo files and discovered a few things that I should perhaps show you... in a complete disorder.

The top picture is showing a small corner of the Pantheon (see previous post) and the Saint-Etienne-du-Mont church (see previous post)... and of course, the moon. Together with Karen from Florida (Kissimmee DP and Collage Maven’s Haven) - we were on our way to enjoy the “Nuit Blanche” (see previous post).

A long time ago I promised Terrie (Feasting with pixels), living close to Chicago, with strong Paris attachments and an excellent guide especially for good eating, to take some photos of Square-du-Cardinal-Wyszynski, Paris 14. The famous cardinal was a relative of hers! The square is just in front of the interesting church Notre-Dame-du-Travail (see previous post). I tried a few times, never felt I could get the pictures I wanted, but anyhow, here are a few examples.

I thought that our NYC macaroon expert, Carol (ParisBreakfasts) may have missed this patisserie with the inscription “Bourbonneux – ses macarons”, to be found rue Monge, Paris 5? ... and I’m also rather sure that these flower shops are in her taste, one in the Belleville area (see previous posts). The other one is “my” flower shop, in the Batignolles area (see previous posts).

Serge Gainsbourg, famous songwriter and singer, Gauloise smoker, closely “related” to Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Adjani..., died in 1991, but the wall in front of the house where he lived, rue de Verneuil, Paris 7, is still covered by graffiti. Also the decoration of his grave at the Montparnasse cemetery (see previous post) is a bit surprising.

To park in Paris requires sometimes some difficult exercise. Better avoid Hummers.

This may look as if some old foundations have been kept when this house, rue Pierre Nicole, Paris 14, was built in 1979. It seems however that it was all just added as a decoration.

Oscar Wilde died here, Hotel d’Alsace, rue des Beaux-Arts, Paris 6. His grave is at the Père-Lachaise cemetery (see previous post).

Well, I may have to continue the “cleaning” another day!

Temporary decoration

2009-10-23T00:01:00.007+02:00

In a recent post I referred to the yearly “Nuit Blanche” (White Night), the sleepless night, when different artists get the opportunity to create something related to the night and to light. This decoration of the Pont Louis-Philippe and the surrounding quays of Ile-St.-Louis was part of the event. Huge eyes of women from different parts of the world had been photographed (by “J.R.” – nothing to do with Dallas) and then glued on the bridge and the embankments. All this was supposed to remain there until November 2, but large parts have already disappeared. I should have been out earlier!

Added October 25:

Based on what some of my visitors have commented - more particularly Patrick and Yaëlle - I should have said something more about the background of this manifestation. I highly recommend that you visit the site Yaëlle indicated, giving you much more complete information about the fascinating project "Women are heroes"!

The facades of a building, close to Notre Dame, the Paris Police Headquarters, are being refurbished. In the meantime, the facade towards the Seine is covered by large portraits, illustrating different professions within the police force.

During my walk around the area, I noted some oil, or something similar, on the wet pavement (yes, it was raining). I thought that, framed, it may look quite nice, and I photographed some samples.

What I suppose is some kind of power box on one of the quays was covered with ads for different musical events. It’s amazing to see the number of concerts which always are proposed, often in churches, often free of charge.

I wish you a nice weekend. (I will meet bloggers again!)

Tour Saint-Jacques

2009-10-21T00:01:00.008+02:00

This beautiful tower is all that remains of the ancient late-gothic church Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie (Saint James of the Butchery), built 1509-23. This was obviously a butchery area some centuries ago. The church building was demolished in 1797 – during the revolutionary years - and the stones were used as building material elsewhere, but fortunately the tower was saved.

It has been restored recently and has been under tarpaulins for years, completely visible again since a couple of months.

The 17th century physicist - and philosopher - Blaise Pascal is supposed to have used the tower for some studies on barometrical variations here, the reason why his statue can now be found under the lower arches of the tower. It was later also used for other physical experiments, measuring speed of falling objects etc.

Queen Victoria passed under the lower arches during a visit and one of the adjacent streets bears her name.

The church was (the tower still is) one of the major starting points of the pilgrim walk St. James’ Way (Camino de Santiago, Chemin de St. Jacques, Jakobsweg....) to Santiago-de-Compostella, where the apostle St. James is supposed to have been buried.

Some alleys along Rue du Faubourg Saint Denis

2009-10-19T00:01:00.006+02:00

Thank you so much for being patient with my absences. I’m back again, for a while I hope.

The day before I left for Sweden, I had a luncheon at the Brassereie Flo with Carol – “ParisBreakfasts”, at Cour des Petites Ecuries, which stands for the Small Stables Court. Around here you could until the end of the 18th century find some stables and all the equipment you needed for your horses, carriages... It’s actually a tiny alley and you enter it from the Rue du Faubourg St. Denis (at no. 63). Flo is one of the most typical Paris brasseries you can find and it has not much changed since its opening by the end of the 19th century. It has now given its name to a number of other "Flo Brasseries".

This is not one of the more fashionable areas of Paris, but it has a particular charm which you may appreciate. Just on the opposite side of the rue Faubourg St. Denis (no. 54), behind some sometimes closed doors, is another little alley, Passage Reilhac; perhaps not very spectacular, but nice and calm, with some statues and fountains. Now it’s basically a backyard to some restaurants, but it seems that about a century ago you could find a dance academy here (run by Eugène Giraudet who obviously published much appreciated dance manuals which included instructions of “etiquette” and “appropriate behaviour”.)

You can also push the doors at no. 65 and find this small alley or passage. There are many more of them along the street, if you look to the right and to the left and push some doors.

This is where you can find these places (with the Saint Denis Arch of Triumph - see previous post - in the background on the photo):

Tour Montparnasse

2009-10-07T00:01:00.009+02:00

I have to leave you again for some ten days, back to Sweden.

In the meantime, you can have a general look of Paris. Anne in Oxfordshire recently made a post about the Tour Montparnasse, which reminded me that after 35 years in Paris I had never gone to the top of it (had made some professional visits on lower floors), so I thought that I just had to do it also.

Tour Montparnasse is the only (and last) real skyscraper we have in the centre of Paris, 210 m (= 689 ft), finished in 1972. The Eiffel Tower is of course higher, 324 m (=1063 ft) including antennas, but your visit ends at 309 m (=1014 ft). On the other hand Tour Montparnasse is on some 30 or 40 m (some 115 ft) higher ground and you have the impression to be on a similar altitude. The queues are much shorter than for the Eiffel Tower, but... of course, this is not the Eiffel Tower.

The “French Spiderman” (Alain Robert), climbed the Tower three times, without any equipment... I took the lift (Europe’s fastest).

You can thus visit the roof (level 59). The weather looked promising, but once up, I noticed that it was a bit too misty for the nice and clear photos I wished. Anyhow, here you have a 360° view (actually maybe 400°; the Eiffel Tower is back a second time).

I could not help making some zooming. I’m sure you will recognise most of the zoomed places.

Take care during my absence!

Avenue de l'Observatoire

2009-10-05T00:01:00.011+02:00

The Luxembourg Gardens (see previous posts) are somehow extended towards the south. There is a green park like stripe leading to the Paris Observatory (Observatoire) (see previous post). The green space is surrounded by streets and it all is rather referred to as Avenue de l’Observatoire, but the green space goes also under the names of the Marco Polo and the Robert Cavelier de la Salle Gardens.

I have several times referred to the French Prime Meridian (the “Rose Line”), preceding the Greenwich one, and in 1884, after some international negotiations, abandoned - with a promised compensation that the metric system should be the universal way of measuring. During our walk here we can follow this historic line.

Placed on the “line” are also a large number of statues. A major one - from 1874 – (ten years before the Paris Meridian was abandoned) represents the globe being turned by four personalities of different sexes and races. One statue represents Michel Ney, one of Napoleon’s Marshals, who we executed here in 1815.

The park and avenue is surrounded by a number of interesting buildings, one in a Moresque style, built in the 20’s, and which houses university activities under the name of the Institute for Art and Archaeology. Another one was previously a Colonial School or Institute, known under the name of “Colo”. It replaced a Cambodian school, which can somehow be recognised in its architecture. Today it’s occupied by some activities of ENA, the National School of Administration, where most of the leading French personalities have been students. There is also a Faculty of Pharmacy.

On the way, where the Avenue de l’Observatoire is crossed by the Boulevard Montparnasse, you will also find one of the more famous Paris restaurants, “La Closerie des Lilas”, which was a second home for Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, as well as for Baudelaire, Verlaine, Apollinaire... Here you can also see a different type of metro (RER) station.

Among the nice buildings, during the 60’s someone decided and an architect (?) managed to introduce a building, a residence for university students with restaurants and sports facilities.

This weekend we got an opportunity to watch the Luxembourg Palace by night. There is annual event called “Nuit Blanche”, translated to White Night, but the expression means also in French a night without sleep ... and there were obviously 1,5 million people strolling around Paris the whole night. The “Nuit Blanche” offers the opportunity for contemporary artists to create something related to the light and the night. Walking around together with Karen from Kissimmee in Florida, who also has a Paris blog, we went into the Luxembourg Gardens to watch the world’s largest disco ball, spreading reflected lights.

Seine bridges - more night shots

2009-10-02T00:01:00.001+02:00

Referring to my post last Friday with night shots of Paris Seine bridges, I promised some more, weather permitting. The weather last weekend was excellent - full summer, so here are some more! These bridges are the ones linking Ile de la Cité and Ile Saint Louis with the right and left Seine banks (plus one between the two islands).

Some of these are among the oldest and perhaps the most romantic in Paris. Unfortunately for a night photographer, they are not all so well lit up, so in some cases I had to wait for some of the river cruising boats and their floodlighting to get some of my photos.

I concentrated a bit on the Pont Neuf (also the photo on the top), the oldest, early 17^th century bridge, which fortunately is well lit up!

As said, it was a real summer night, and the banks were crowded with people, dining, singing...

For more details about these bridges, please refer to my previous daylight Paris Seine Bridges posts.

I wish you a nice weekend!

Val-de-Grâce

2009-09-30T00:01:00.008+02:00

Anne of Austria was the wife of Louis XIII. When she after 23 years of marriage – at the age of 36 - at last gave birth to child, a son, the future Louis XIV, she decided in gratitude to build a chapel as part of a Benedictine convent she had previously founded. It seems that the seven year old son laid the cornerstone in 1645. The Val-de-Grâce church stood ready in 1667. One of the two architects was François Mansart. The roof painting is by Pierre Mignard (who gave the name to “mignardise” – a French word for delicacy), close friend of Molière. He later became “first painter” of the Royal court.

The Benedictine convent was used as a military hospital during the revolutionary years and the church was one of the few which escaped from vandalism. It remains therefore as it was and is certainly one of the best examples in Paris of baroque architecture. To make sure to have the marble floor saved, a sacristan had it covered by plaster; it was rediscovered only some decades later.

After the Revolution, the convent was converted to a military hospital and it still is, although open also to non military. Large modern buildings have been added in the 70’s. The hospital is normally the one where the French top officials are brought in case of need.

The old convent buildings have been transformed to a museum (photos not allowed) for French army medicine. They also house the Army Medical School.

How to get rid of old stuff

2009-09-28T00:01:00.001+02:00

When I left my flat Saturday late morning, there were deviations and some smoke in the surrounding streets... Finally, there was nothing to worry about. The deviation was due to a large “vide grenier” sale and the smoke came from some sausage grilling. (I have a problem to translate the word “vide grenier”, which actually means emptying the attics, but different sources indicate “yard sale, car boot sale, bric-a-brac sale...”.) Anyhow, it was organised to allow the people in the neighbourhood to get rid of old stuff. The bus stop was closed.

It was an important one and was planned for the whole weekend. The ones selling Saturday would be replaced by others Sunday and the area covered by stands was large.

You could find almost anything ... and at very reasonable prices. I returned home with nothing except some photos.

Every hour there was a concert and some other musical entertainment.

As there are a number of bars and restaurants around, it was fairly easy to get restored. The weather was summer like.

Seine bridges - night shots

2009-09-25T00:01:00.004+02:00

My two last posts have been a bit long to read. So, as a compensation, here is one with basically photos only.

Some ten months ago I made a number of posts on the Paris Seine bridges, with all photos taken daytime. I thought I could complete this by some night shots.

Some bridges are more or less illuminated and some are quite spectacular when the daylight is gone.

I made a tour along the Seine the other night going upstream. I took photos of some 15 bridges. I concentrated maybe on the Pont Alexandre III (also on the top photo).

Here is a small collection, more or less in order, going up the river. In some cases I took also pictures of the immediate surroundings, like of Place de la Concorde, of Grand Palais...

When I reached Pont des Arts, I gave up with a last shot of the next bridge, Pont Neuf, which may be part of a series of the remaining bridges; one night, when the weather is nice, I will continue the tour.

I wish you a nice weekend!

Freemasons

2009-09-23T00:01:00.010+02:00

As mentioned in my previous post, I decided to stay in my area (Batignolles, Paris 17) during the Heritage Days, hoping to avoid the longest queues. I was a bit curious about the freemasonry and took the opportunity to visit the “Grand Loge de France” (rue Puteaux). As you can see, I could not quite avoid the queuing and it took a small hour to get in.

The building dates from the end of the 19th century and was first a monastery, then, after the separation of the State and the Church in 1905, a cabaret, until the freemasons bought the building in 1910. During WW II, the building was confiscated by the occupants.

The visit was very well organised and we got some very qualified guides who took us through the library, the “temples” (a smaller one and a bigger one, the old monastery chapel having been cut in two) and some other places.

We got thus some qualified explanations of the freemasonry movement and I also read through a bit of documentation. I’m not a freemason and had everything to learn. Maybe some of you would be interested to learn a bit of what I have gathered?

The origin of the freemasons is rather unclear. There are different tendencies linking it to some very ancient traditions, but you may conclude that there are links to guilds (or lodges) of the Middle Ages and possibly also to the Knight Templars who were executed or fled to Scotland around 1300. The word “free mason” may be linked to “franc maçon” (masons, church builders, who were free of taxation). The freemasons pretended to be builders, not of churches, but of more moral issues.

The foundation of today’s masonry rules seems to have its origins from 1717 – in London – and the constitution rules were published by a Scotsman, James Anderson, in 1723. One of the (two?) still existing copies of this document was shown during our visit.

Freemasons have played significant roles in society during especially the 18th, 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, basically in favour of the Revolutions, in the separation of Church and State, against fascism...

There have been and are today different tendencies of freemasonry, of more traditional obedience (ancients or “antients”) or referring to a more “modern” version. There is a certain separation between the Anglo-Saxon / American lodges and the European ones (often referred to as “orients”). Some are more neutral, like the one I visited, “Grand Loge de France”.

Today most lodges pretend to be in favour of free thinking, are not religious or clearly political, just open to free discussion and personal development, interpreting their mason symbols....

There seem totally to be some 5 million adherents in the world, whereof some 2 millions in the US and some 150 thousand in France, the biggest one, “Grand Orient de France” having some 47 thousand, the “Grand Loge de France” some 28 thousand.

I found a list of famous freemasons, which include most US presidents, until Gerald Ford and also an impressive list of personalities like: Christopher Wren, Bartholdi (Statue of Liberty), Eiffel, Chagall, Mucha, Citroën, J-H Dunant (Red Cross), Churchill, Conan Doyle, Goethe, Kipling, Walter Scott, Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, PG Woodhouse, Nelson, Wellington, Alexander Fleming (penicillin), Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Liszt, Mozart, Schiller, Darwin, Allende, Bolivar, Garibaldi, King George VI, Napoleon, Franklin, La Fayette, Buffalo Bill (Cody), David Crocket, Henry Ford, Gilette, Hoover, DeMille, Al Johnson, Harpo Marx, John Wayne, Mark Twain, McArthur, Irving Berlin, Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Fats Waller, Jack Dempsey, Arnold Palmer...

Victor Jacquemont

2009-09-21T00:01:00.013+02:00

In 1991 the European Council launched the European Heritage Days. Throughout Europe, thousands of sites, normally closed to public, open their doors for a few days in September, normally during a weekend. In France, these days took place this weekend.

I could have gone to the Elysée Palace (and have greeted Nicolas and Carla) or to the Paris Town Hall (and have greeted Bertrand), but the queues are enormous. I made the National Assembly two years ago, but this year I chose some more local and modest sites.

Different associations take the opportunity to create some local events. I went to one organised in the area where I live, Batignolles, Paris 17. My friend and historian Rodolphe Trouilleux, author of the bestseller Paris Insolite et Secret (just appearing in a new edition) had, together with actor and director Jean Grimaud, written a play about Victor Jacquemont, botanist, geologist and writer, who travelled to India in 1828 and died there of a disease at the age of 31, in 1832.

Many of us have regularly passed on the small rue Jacquemont, but hardly anybody of us would know anything about the person behind the name. We now know that it was worth learning something about him. His life was told in a number of scenes, played by some professional but mostly by amateur actors along the street and in the courtyards.

In a few words, what we learned about Victor Jacquemont: Excellent student of medicine, geology, botany, he was also highly interested in music and literature. He established friendship with Stendahl, Alexandre Dumas, Prosper Merimée (who wrote “Carmen”, which later gave the opera)... and got into an obviously too one-sided love with an Italian female singer. He was advised that the best way to forget was to travel. He travelled first to the U.S. (recommended by La Fayette, friend of the family) and Haïti. There he got a proposition to travel to India on a mission for the Jardin des Plantes (the Paris Botanical Gardens) - see previous post.

In India he visited Pondichéry, Calcutta, Lahore (met the emperor), Ladakh, Bardhaman... During the three and a half year he spent in India, he collected thousands of plants, stones, naturalized animals... all shipped back to France. His friends, especially Prosper Mérimée, saw to it that his work became known. The collection is today still preserved at the Jardin des Plantes and his wide and well written correspondence with family and friends has been published and the originals can be found at our National Library. A small temporary exhibition with samples had been organised – unfortunately I was not allowed to make any close-ups (copyright issues). There was also a small exhibition of especially embroidered art made by an Indian community.

Here you can get an idea of what Victor Jacquemont looked like, one portrait made by the wife of Propser Mérimée and another one by Claude Monet.

PS, added: It seems that Prosper never married (although he liked women). So, the portraitiste can not be his wife, which my source indicated. ? As Adam remarked, the portrait made by Monet must be made after the death of Victor; he started painiting some 30 years later.

Added: September 28: There is an error: The Monet paininig is well of a Victor Jacquemont, but another one!

Back in Paris

2009-09-18T00:01:00.005+02:00

Back in Paris – at least for a while. Sorry for being absent from blogging for a too long time.

In Sweden, I was too busy to have the opportunity to do some real photographing, but at least here is a proof that I was there.

This is a statue, called “Poseidon”, which you can find in front of the Gothenburg Art Museum (and the Hasselblad Centre). The statue (by Carl Milles) which stands here since 1931 has become something like a symbol of the city.

I wish you a nice weekend!

Pause

2009-08-31T00:01:00.006+02:00

I’m afraid I will have to close the “shop” for a while once more. I will be absent and busy – in Sweden again – for some two or three weeks.