Europe - France - Paris
The City of Lights and its river Seine
(photos of June 2010)
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Downstream along the Seine
Paris
(Wikipedia,
map), the capital of France,
offers great sights, fabulous culture, a rich history and many other attractions.
Let's follow Paris' "lifeblood", the river Seine,
as it wends its way through the city center. We start on the terrace of
the Institut du Monde Arabe
(map),
with a scrollable panorama that sweeps from the cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris
at left upstream toward the right past the island of Saint-Louis.
The next view shows Notre-Dame
(Wikipedia,
map), built from 1163 to 1345, on the island of La Cité.
The next scrollable panorama looks from a boat on the opposite side
of the Seine toward Notre-Dame and the island of La Cité
(from here; downstream is to the right).
How many bridges can you see?
Perfect inspiration for artists of all kinds.
The Seine is bordered on its left bank by the Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter)
(Wikipedia,
map),
with its abundant life, students, tourists and food from many parts of the world.
Characteristic along the banks of the Seine are the bouquinistes
(Wikipedia),
which trade books and all manner of printed wares.
We now sail under the Pont au Change ("Exchange Bridge", named after
a former bridge on which goldsmiths and money changers plied their trade),
followed by the Conciergerie, a former royal palace and then prison,
now housing law courts
(Wikipedia,
map).
Further downstream we reach the Musée d'Orsay,
built in a former railway station and opened in 1986
(map).
Soon we pass under the flamboyant Pont Alexandre III,
a gift of imperial Russia,
named after the Russian Tsar and finished in 1900
(map). Here we get a good view of the Eiffel Tower.
The Eiffel Tower
Completed in 1889 for a World's Fair,
the Eiffel Tower (324 m or 1,063 ft tall,
Wikipedia,
map) is possibly the most recognized icon of Paris and France.
It was planned to be torn down 20 years later,
but owes its survival to its value for communications,
and its top is indeed festooned with telecommunications gear.
Getting to the top on a clear day requires very much patience,
as it "is the single most visited paid monument in the world"!
The following scrollable 360-degree panorama of Paris was taken
from the middle floor of the Eiffel Tower, 128 m above ground.
(The broken fences in the foreground are artefacts of panorama stitching.)
Visible in the above panorama are, from left:
- the Pont d'Iéna,
a bridge leading northwest to the Trocadero park with the Palais de Chaillot
built for the 1997 World's Fair, and, on the horizon,
the business district La Défense (see also below);
- far on the horizon about a third of the way to the right,
the Butte Montmartre,
a hill on which stands the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Coeur
(also shown further below);
- the golden-domed Les Invalides which primarily houses military museums
and tombs of war heroes (also shown below);
- the isolated Tour Montparnasse, the tallest office building of Paris,
beyond the Champ de Mars, a park at the foot of the Eiffel Tower
Next are zoomed views on La Défense, the Butte Montmartre,
and Les Invalides (together with the gray dome of the Panthéon,
containing tombs of famous French citizens), all seen from the Eiffel Tower.
Paris style
The next view shows a building at the foot of the Eiffel Tower
in classic Parisian upper-class architectural style.
Next (at left below) we combine the classic style
(now in a more middle-class neighborhood)
with more recent apartment architecture.
Note also in the foreground the stand of "free bicycles"
(nicknamed Vélib’ meaning vélo libre):
with a cheap subscription these bicycles can be used free for up to half an hour,
and for a fee thereafter
(Wikipedia);
Paris offers thousands of these very popular bicycles and
hundreds of such bicycle stands.
And finally (below right), Parisian fashion: this model is being photographed
on the cobblestones in the middle of the Champs Elysées,
the famous avenue on the right bank.
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© Copyright 2010 Michel Van Hove
