Pont Neuf (the "New Bridge," which is actually the oldest in Paris now) crosses from the Left Bank to the Right Bank with a section of it crossing the Ile de la Cite near the tip of the island, and becoming one, for a while, with the island. As you leave the island on the bridge, you can look down into this part of the working city where bikes and wagons are left and where the tourist boats that dock here can be boarded. The tall wall to the left shows how high the
Place du Pont Neuf and the street itself is above the
Square du Vert-Galant below.
Here we're crossing further toward the Right Bank, looking west toward the Louvre and the Pont des Arts. The span of the Seine on this side of the island is wider than the one between the island and the Left Bank.
Pont Neuf has large half-circular parapets or whatever they're called that give pedestrians a wonderful vantage point and make the bridge look attractive. Each parapet has a lamp where the arc meets the sidewalk.
I took this photo looking back toward the Palais de Justice with the wonderful round towers of Henri IV's palace.
I like this shot of the Samaritaine department store from the bridge with the base of the lamp in the foreground. The lamp posts have nice decorative bases with the face of a bearded guy who might be Neptune.
What a gorgeous deco sign. You can see it better if you click on the photo. The building started out in Art Nouveau style and was later redone, largely in Art Deco.
Still on the bridge, but near the Right Bank is this sign saying that Pont Neuf was begun under Henry III and finished under Henri IV. The dates are from 1578 to 1607.
Bikes only in this lane! You can also get an idea of the cobbles. I was just wishing that I'd taken an overall picture of the bridge from the vantage point of being a pedestrian, when I realized that nobody else had done that, either! I looked all over Google for topside pix of the bridge. I found only
this one, a painting by Renoir. It's beautiful, but of course from an earlier time. And I also found this interesting vantage point. Well,
here's one from the top of the Samaritaine. And
here's another.
These bikes are parked on the Rue de l'Arbre Sec. We've come off the bridge and walked along the front of the Samaritaine, then turned away from the river on the first street past the facade of the department store. I like the colors here. You can see it's Fall. And I like the purple pant leg with the red strap. As we passed the Samaritaine, I noticed the absence of the lamps I've always loved. Since the building is being refurbished, I hope their removal is temporary. You can see what they look like in
these poor photos from an earlier trip to Paris. Well, darn, I'll have to remember to make the link later, because my web site is invisible to me right now - there's something weird in the connection to the site (for us) periodically - everyone else can see it, which is good.
Pont Neuf (the "New Bridge," which is actually the oldest in Paris now) crosses from the Left Bank to the Right Bank with a section of it crossing the Ile de la Cite near the tip of the island, and becoming one, for a while, with the island. As you leave the island on the bridge, you can look down into this part of the working city where bikes and wagons are left and where the tourist boats that dock here can be boarded. The tall wall to the left shows how high the Place du Pont Neuf and the street itself is above the Square du Vert-Galant below.
Here we're crossing further toward the Right Bank, looking west toward the Louvre and the Pont des Arts. The span of the Seine on this side of the island is wider than the one between the island and the Left Bank.
Pont Neuf has large half-circular parapets or whatever they're called that give pedestrians a wonderful vantage point and make the bridge look attractive. Each parapet has a lamp where the arc meets the sidewalk.
I took this photo looking back toward the Palais de Justice with the wonderful round towers of Henri IV's palace.
I like this shot of the Samaritaine department store from the bridge with the base of the lamp in the foreground. The lamp posts have nice decorative bases with the face of a bearded guy who might be Neptune.
What a gorgeous deco sign. You can see it better if you click on the photo. The building started out in Art Nouveau style and was later redone, largely in Art Deco.
Still on the bridge, but near the Right Bank is this sign saying that Pont Neuf was begun under Henry III and finished under Henri IV. The dates are from 1578 to 1607.
Bikes only in this lane! You can also get an idea of the cobbles. I was just wishing that I'd taken an overall picture of the bridge from the vantage point of being a pedestrian, when I realized that nobody else had done that, either! I looked all over Google for topside pix of the bridge. I found only this one, a painting by Renoir. It's beautiful, but of course from an earlier time. And I also found this interesting vantage point. Well, here's one from the top of the Samaritaine. And here's another.
These bikes are parked on the Rue de l'Arbre Sec. We've come off the bridge and walked along the front of the Samaritaine, then turned away from the river on the first street past the facade of the department store. I like the colors here. You can see it's Fall. And I like the purple pant leg with the red strap. As we passed the Samaritaine, I noticed the absence of the lamps I've always loved. Since the building is being refurbished, I hope their removal is temporary. You can see what they look like in these poor photos from an earlier trip to Paris. Well, darn, I'll have to remember to make the link later, because my web site is invisible to me right now - there's something weird in the connection to the site (for us) periodically - everyone else can see it, which is good.
No comments:
Post a Comment