10.11.08

... and even even more Seine bridges


Tomorrow is public holiday and in France many "font le pont" (make the bridge) by not working today, making it to a long holiday including the weekend. Finally (as I'm not working anyhow) I decided to take care of the bridge issue differently.
In addition to the Pont des Arts, two other bridges lead directly from the Louvre to the southern (left) bank of the Seine: Pont Royal and Pont du Carrousel.
A first Pont Royal from 1632, partly wooden, replaced a ferry service. The street leading to this bridge on the left bank is still called Rue du Bac (Ferry Street). Several incidents with this bridge led to the need to construct the present one, built 1685-1689 (see top picture). This is an illustration from the construction (1687) and we can see some of the same buildings as on the top photo: Sainte Chapelle, Notre Dame, the home of our Academies (l’Institut de France)... . The bridge has had different names (during the revolutionary years: Pont National, Pont des Tuileries). This bridge is one of the crossings between the Louvre and the old railway station, now the Quai d’Orsay Museum. On two of the pictures you can see above, taken through the arches of Pont Royal, you can see the next bridge, Pont du Carrousel.

From Port Royal, you have also an excellent view of the Grand Palais - with the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor in front.

The Pont du Carrousel looks also quite old, but it was actually built just before WW II (1935-39) and with efforts to make it look fairly similar to the previous one, an earlier bridge from 1831 with different names (Pont des Saint-Pères – after the left bank street leading to it -, Pont du Louvre - and finally Pont du Carrousel). Under the arches of the Louvre, the street prolonging the bridge leads on the right bank to Place du Carrousel, the central square in the middle of the Louvre Palace.
The street along the Seine on the left bank, facing the Louvre, between the two bridges, Quai Voltaire, is quite interesting, not only because Voltaire died in one of the buildings (no. 27). You can find a shop, Sennelier, which since 1887 has equipped most of the famous in Paris working painters with the material needed for their art. (Our former President, J. Chirac now lives a bit higher up in the building.) Ingres, Delacroix, Corot had their studios in one of the buildings. In a still existing hotel (at no. 19), Charles Baudelaire, Richard Wagner, Jean Sibelius, Oscar Wilde, Camille Pissarro... stayed and worked during more or less long periods. These are just examples. There are also a number of exclusive antique and art shops. (On one of the pictures you may see a very narrow building which almost could compete with smallest house in Paris (see previous post), but this one is leads to something quite bigger and fashionable behind the gate.)
You can find these photos "in full" and in a slide show on Ipernity or on Flickr.

I have had the great pleasure to receive this award from some of you, the last one being Ingrid in Cologne. Once more I'm unable to choose to whom in particular to forward it, so I make it to a common award to all my kind visitors!

35 comments:

Ruth said...

The trees along the quai, in front of the Louvre, look so soft and beautiful in the slanting autumn light.

I've walked the Seine and gone back and forth on the bridges to photograph on both sides, and I know how long this takes! It's more distance than it looks. Thank you.

Thérèse said...

Quelle richesse aussi bien côté bâtiments que côté personnages! De quoi inspirer Voltaire si il était toujours en vie.

SusuPetal said...

Good morning, Peter -a few days break is over and I'm back on the net.
Now I'll have a stroll along these bridges, later I'll stop and have a coffee by some bank. Have a nice week.

Shammickite said...

Just looking at your lovely pictures makes me wish I was planning another trip to Paris in the near future!
Meanwhile, I'm still in Florida, topping up with enough sunshine to carry me through another cold Canadian winter.

hpy said...

L'histoire de faire le pont en ne le faisant pas, c'est ça?

On ne se lasse pas de regarder tes photos de ponts, elles sont déstressantes, comme le sont les pont aussi.

Mais je trouve que tu es un peu fainéant, ou un peu pas décidant, quand tu ne transmets pas les prix que tu obtiens.

Promets-moi que tu transmettra le mien le jour où tu le recevras! Juste pour me rendre hpy.

hpy said...

PS. J'aurais du faire le pont aujourd'hui, mais le téléphone a sonné vers 18h vendredi...
La journée risque pourtant d'être calme malgré la tempête qui souffle dehors.

claude said...

Je me régale Peter chaque fois que je viens chez toi, moi qui au fond de ma campagne déprime un peu en ce temps triste et par manque de sommeil, Paris, ses ponts, la Seine, et ses bâtiments me mettent en joie !

Anonymous said...

coucou !
eh non pas de pont pour moi et pourtant la tempête qui souffle ne m'incite pas à aller travailler... sais tu que faire le pont est aussi une figure de gymnastique ? très difficile à nos âges....

Anonymous said...

Comme Mac Mahon et qui, devant les inondations de la Loire ne put dire que : que d'eau, que d'eau! je ne peux dire devant la Seine et ses ponts: que de ponts, que de ponts! ;)

Anonymous said...

Most interesting post. I agree with your award comment.

Anonymous said...

Yes, it's very nice to cross that bridge and com to Quai d'Orsay, one of the most beautiful buildings in Paris and a wonderful museum.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your award, Peter. No-one deserves it more than you!

I've learned a lot about quai Voltaire. A prestigious address and rich history!!!

(Are you starting to read about Venice?)

Karen said...

Thank you, Peter, for these bridges and pictures of the area. When I come to Paris next month I will be staying on the Rue de Valois near the Louvre and saw these bridges on the map and planned to visit them..
Now you've given me a sneak preview of what I'll see.
And thank you for visiting my blog and telling me Swedish for Cat. Do you know if it's the same in Danish?

Ming the Merciless said...

Wonderful photos, all of them. Some of the bridges are familiar to me since I visited most of the places listed on the map above.

I love that you include the little street sign details in the past collage. I always enjoy visiting your blog and seeing the beauty of Paris.

Anonymous said...

tu nous montre la une superbe balade parisienne !

Virginia said...

I hope to stroll some of these shortly. Am I correct that the Grand Palais will be close? I will need to see inside since I missed that the last time. Picasso Exhibit is there I think.! So Peter, did you take a little bateau mouche trip down the Seine to capture these wonderful shots? This time next week...
V

marie6 said...

All these magnificent bridges, just beautiful. and well done on your award.

alice said...

Je crois que les peintres recherchent une lumière du jour neutre, donc une orientation nord, peut-être est-ce pour cela qu'ils furent si nombreux à apprécier le quai Voltaire?
Aucun problème côté soleil aujourd'hui par ici, quelle que soit la direction, c'est le gris, la pluie et les rafales de vent...

Anonymous said...

bon bon peter, tu m'excuseras mais j'ai le cerveau en compote et je ne vais pas lire tout ton texte en anglais, car la compote de cerveau ne permet pas une traduction très rapide. La lecture sera donc pour un autre moment. Je remarque néanmoins que tes photos ne semblent pas avoir été prises le même jour. Il y en a où le ciel est bleu et d'autres où l'atmosphère est bien tristounette. Je t'embrasse.

lyliane six said...

Hello! Je suis venue à Montmartre Mardi dernier avec Annie et jeudi chez Bofinger, (avec les grèves j'ai pris ma voiture) Je reviens jeudi avec Grazi, on passera bien un pont ou deux si tu veux venir déjeuner avec nous. Bises.

PeterParis said...

ruth:
Yes, a few miles to do, if you do them all, but it's a nice walk! :-)

therese:
Paris inspire beaucoup de monde!

susupetal:
When can we share a coffee?

PeterParis said...

shammickite:
Florida is nice (especially during the right season), but Paris is not bad either (sometimes, like now, the sun is a bit missing)!

hpy:
Si un jour j'ai l'honneur de recevoir ton prix, je promets de te le transmettre!

hpy:
Essaye d'éviter de sortir!

PeterParis said...

claude:
Tu es toujours la bienvenue par ici! Je ne sais pas si on dort plus ou mieux à Paris qu'ailleurs, mais il faut voir!

catherine:
Cuckoo! Je crois que je vais me contenter de photographier les ponts!

lasiate:
... et ce n'est pas fini!

PeterParis said...

abraham:
Thanks once more for being such a regular visitor to my blog, busy man!

ingrid:
Happy you know the Orsay museum!

nathalie:
No reading, just dreaming!

PeterParis said...

karen:
"Kisse" is actually just some kind of popular name for cats, officially it's "katt". You can also combine the two: "Kissekatt". I'm not sure about Danish, but it's probably very similar.

ming:
Yes, you could see how the street name was engraved in the stone. The blue plates exist only since the end of the 19th century.

rem_la:
Merci d'être passé par ici et pour le compliment!

PeterParis said...

virginia:
There are always several exhibitions at Grand Palais, but most of them (like the Picasso one) are not in the big hall under the glass domes. You are lucky, because there will be an art exhibition in that part of the Palais November 21-30!

marie6:
Thanks for your kind words!

alice:
Le soleil ou non est un problème pour les artistes et pour les photographes! :-)


...and for your other question: No, just walking!

PeterParis said...

delphinium:
Compote de cerveau!! :-) Tu es géniale avec tes expressions!
Le post reste ici; tu as le temps de revenir - si tu veux!
... et tu as raison pour le ciel!
Je t'embrasse également!

lyliane:
Je pense que oui et avec plaisir. On parlera de lamas à trois! (... parce que sur ton blog...)

Unknown said...

You should publish a guide of your city! Your photos and text make such an accurate portrait of Paris, I think even those who have never been there will get the right perception and never get lost! :-)
Congrats on the fantastic work and award too.

Cutie said...

Oh I have been busy with work and had no time to be reading blogs. Well, I can see that there are plenty of bridges in Paris since you have blogged quite a lot on it.Anyway, I love the pictures. And the clock on top of the building just reminds me of the movie Back To the Future 1. hehe...

Anonymous said...

Peter, si tu avais cliqué sur son nom tu serais tonber sur son blog. Faisant partie des blogueurs de overblog, elle ne pouvait pas venir sur le mien sans ouvrir un compte google alors que moi je pouvais mettre des com sur le sien sans difficulté.
Que j'aime voir Notre-Dame, cela me fait toujours penser à notre rencontre.

claude said...

Peter, si tu avais cliqué sur le nom de perrine tu serais tombé sur son blog de chez overblog. C'est la raison pour laquelle elle ne pouvait pas venir sur le mien sans ouvrir un compte google. Par conte moi, aucune diffculté à aller sur le sien ni pour mettre des commentaires, dont la manoeuvre est un peu longue.
Toujours heureuse de revoir Notre-Dame, cela me fait toujours penser à notre renconte avec Cris et Lyliane.

Cezar and Léia said...

I need to agree with jm :You should publish a guide of your city!Better than Lonely Planet!
Congratulations and greetings from Brazil and Luxembourg
Léia

PeterParis said...

jm:
You are just too kind!!!

cutie:
... and many more bridges to come!

anonymous:
Si j'ai bien compris, vous êtes Perrine! (Voir commentaires de Claude.) Je vais passer vous "voir"!

PeterParis said...

claude:
Ja vais cliquer!

cezar and léia:
Thanks for your vist and very kind words!

Luisa Riccitelli said...

Hi! I posted the adress of your blog on my blog, and I posted one of your picture, to show the map of The Louvre. Hope you don't mind. It's a way to promote your blog too... and mostly, it's a way to promote Paris and its beauty.
www.charlesbaudelaireifioridelmale.blogspot.com
The post is about the poetry "The swan"... it'll be on line ASAP.
if there are problems, let me know. Hope you'll agree!
Luisa.