Oct 17, Part 7 - Paris: Crossing the Ile de la Cite

After the wonderful brunch at Cafe le Zimmer, we trekked back in the direction of the bateaubuses, which meant crossing the island back to the Left Bank. I already mentioned the wonderful old palace with the pointed towers (sroll to the bottom of the post). Obviously, I can't get enough of this. Here follow a few more pictures of it.

A new angle, as we cross the Seine on the Pont au Change.

This brings us to the intersection of the bridge and the Quai de l'Horlogue behind us with the towers. Ahead, we're looking back toward the Hotel de Ville, where we were this morning. Directly behind us is something that - as big as it is - is easy to miss in the bustle and excitement of the street.

It's the Tour de l'Horlogue - the ancient clock tower. Built in 1370, it was the first public clock in Paris. During the Revolution (1793) its silver bell was melted down. I've never been on a tour of it (which is just one of about a million reasons to go back to Paris), but the 4th floor contains the room of the royal clockmaker. It's said that Charles V liked to visit in order to get away from the pressures of state and watch the clockmaker at work. Here he also had a nice view of passers-by in the streets below.

And here's the well-preserved old clock. I love the light blue Medieval pattern behind the ornate images. You can just see the underside of the arched roof. The whole clock is full of nice details.

Moving on down the Blvd du Palais. The tall Gothic church sticking up behind the office buildings is Ste-Chapelle, which we didn't visit this trip. It's amazing, but . . . again, I will have to come back. I found a great photo on Google Earth taken from across the street that puts these buildings and gates into perspective. And the lighting is very dramatic. (Kudos to the photographer.) I don't know whose hand that is, but it seems we had a similar idea.

Here's a close-up of the ornate gates. I think the first time I came to Paris, they weren't pained gold, but one year a lot of gold paint was used to brighten the city for a centennial or something, and it's been kept up. It's a little gaudy, but I actually like it.

Looking back the way we came.

Now we've walked past the palace completely and are crossing the bridge to the Place St-Michel. This building, on the island, is the Prefecture de Police. You can see it on another day from about the middle to the bottom of this post. I think it looks nice in this light. It's part of the whole justice complex that was originally a royal palace.

Go to Next Post

Oct 17, Part 11 - Paris: On the Batobus (Boats and Bridges on the Seine)

In the previous post, we were waiting on the Quai de Montebello at the base of the Pont au Double, which is the first of the three bridges you can see in the photo above. The second is the Petit Pont, and the third is Pont St-Michel. First we go downriver toward the Ile St-Louis.

Although this is out of focus, I loved the expression on the little girl's face. How often do we put ourselves in the place of a child and remember just how exciting it is to see a boat? Many of us like to look at boats, but for her it's a total thrill.

And for me it's a thrill to see the bridges from this perspective. They have an entirely different feel, of course. I can't describe it.

This boat has large plants on it. It it someone's home?

A long boat.

Looking back at Notre Dame against the sky.

In a hurry, or just having fun?

Leaving the Ile de la Cite behind for the moment.

Passing the Ile St-Louis. The architecture here is neither as old nor as varied as it is on the Ile de la Cite or the Left Bank, but it can be elegant.

This is the Pont de la Tournelle, connecting the Ile St-Louis to the Left Bank.

It's nice to have scale markers.

A nice pastime on the island - watching the boats go by.

The Pont de Sully crosses both parts of the river at the tail of the Ile St-Louis.

An interesting-looking cupola.

Some rare brick architecture.

Entrance to the Canal St-Martin and the Arsenal - more places I haven't explored yet.

I think we must be coming back to the Ile St-Louis and crossing over to the side of the river next to the Right Bank. I should have blogged this while I still remembered what it looked like.

Interesting curves.

I think these buildings are on the Ile de la Cite.

Moving upriver between the Ile de la Cite and the Right Bank, we're approaching Pont Louis Philippe.

It has distincting round medallions above the piers.

This is still one of my favorite sights - the towers of Henri IV's palace.

Passing under Pont Neuf, here's a different angle of a familiar location - the eastern end of the Ile de la Cite with the statue of Henri IV and the brick buildings marking the point of the Place Dauphine. There's a nice boat here, too. I'm sorry the lighting is not so good. When I brightened the image, I lost the clouds, so I used the original.

See Previous Post

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Oct 16, Part 7 - Paris: Views from Pont Neuf

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.

Go to Next Post