Rambler in Paris: Buildings and Grounds

It’s almost impossible to be in Paris very long without starting to accumulate images, memories, moments, that you want to share. And I find that each time I visit Paris, I get a mix of those memories, and new ones, occasionally seeing what I’ve seen before in a new way.

1060660

On my most recent visit, for instance, I started to become obsessed with what had been only a curiosity before: masking construction and restoration work on buildings with illustrated curtains, sometimes mimicking the building behind, as above at Saint-Eustache church near Les Halles. But note that it’s also become an occasion for giant ads!

P1060840P1060645

Here are two more: One on the river facade of the Louvre, and the other nearby on the finally-being-reconstructed and turned-into-giant-upscale-mall former building of the Samaritaine department store. On a store, alright, but the ads on museums and churches seem a bit too much.

P1070901

Obviously, of course, not all the big illustrations on buildings are ads; this wistful character hangs out near the Canal Saint-Martin.

P1060577

Perspectives that put buildings together, or in odd views, are another favorite for me. Here’s the east face of the Pont Neuf, with the dome of the Institut de France, 500 meters away, and the Eiffel Tower, another 3.5 km past that. Below, two views of Sacre Coeur, one a long telephoto shot from the balcony of the Musée d’Orsay, and the other from a street below the hill.

P106071720170910_174220_001

Here’s another look at the scene in the title image of the imposing gates of the Palace of Justice on the Île de la Cité; here the imposing height and windows of the Sainte Chapelle stand out (as do the crowds waiting in sometimes long lines to enter.)

P1060583

Not all my favorite, or at least noticed, buildings are famous or monumental. Here’s one in the Clignancourt district of the 18e. And while yes, it is that narrow, there’s a wider section at the corner. But not much.

20170922_155204

And here are a pair with narrow facades. The McDonald’s on Rue Saint-Lazare is in an 1892 building listed as a historical monument, and was built in 1892 as an Alsatian-style bierstub. The narrow building at right, on Quai Voltaire, is said by some to be the narrowest private house in Paris. It’s actually a ‘spite house,’ built by the owner of one neighbor to block access by the other through what was an alley before it was a house!

P1070779P1070612 (2)

Moving along to sturdier constructions: I’m always amazed at the power that can be expressed just in massive structures, even without facades or decoration. An obvious one is the Eiffel Tower, seen from almost any unusual angle, but the bridges of Paris offer a variety of interesting shots, too.

20170915_115729_001P1060944

Elegance attracts, too, whether it is the ornately-simple (I know, but just look at it!) Petit Palais, built for the 1900 World Exhibition or the careful lettering and logo found on a public bathhouse near the former Les Halles markets, or the elegant simplicity of the national symbol on an exterior wall.

P1070091P107079820170928_150557

And since we’ve come to a national symbol moment, here’s one that I’ve seen over and over just to the right of the entrance of Notre Dame, without ever stepping over to see who it was. This time, however, a school group was gathered around it with a teacher, and I found that it is Charlemagne. The teacher was quite critical because the 19th century statue shows him with the imperial crown he assumed in 1800, accompanied by a vassal who died in 778 and carrying a 14th-century scepter. Always a damned eyewitness in the crowd!

P1060600

And just for the end, because it has to go somewhere: my favorite yarn-store sign of all time, at fil’Odette in the 20e. We visited it on the last day of our month in France. We were ‘forced’ to eat a pleasant café lunch and explore a new neighborhood while waiting for it to open. C’est la vie!

20170927_134727

Share the Post:

Comments

0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Featured Destination

recommended by TravelGumbo

Gumbo's Pic of the Day

Posts by the Same Author