21.11.08

... and now the last Seine bridges!

We have now reached the last episode of bridge serial. Five bridges are missing: Pont Mirabeau, Pont de Grenelle, Pont du Garigliano, Pont de Tolbiac and Pont National. (There are actually two more, the ones used by the circular road, the “Périphérique”… and I will briefly mention them.)

This is where you can find the missing ones (coming back to the original plan, see the white circles):
I already made a post about Pont Mirabeau, so just a few words. As we are now already quite distant from what used to be the centre of the city, this bridge which dates from 1896 is the first one here. When it was constructed it was the longest and highest of the Paris bridges ... and I think it’s still one of the most beautiful ones. For a French citizen the name of the bridge is closely linked to a famous poem by Guillaume Appolinaire: “Sous le Pont Mirabeau coule la Seine...” (Under the Mirabeau Bridge flows the Seine...”). The bridge got its name from the Count de Mirabeau, one of the Revolution personalities. The top picture shows the Pont Mirabeau in the front line, followed by Pont Rouelle and Pont de Bir-Hakeim.
The Pont de Grenelle is recent (1966), replacing a first one from 1873. As Pont de Bir-Hakeim (see previous post) and Pont Rouelle (see previous post) it crosses the Ile des Cygnes (Swan Island) at its southern end where you also find the Paris copy of the Statue of Liberty (see previous posts), a gift by the Paris American colony in 1889, looking in the direction of its bigger sister.

The bridge got its name from the close-by Grenelle area and street. (Grenelle comes from the Latin word Garanella, meaning a wooded area with rabbits.)
Also Pont du Garigliano is a modern bridge (1966). Here you found earlier a bridge from 1865 in two levels, similar to Pont de Bercy (see previous post), the second level used by the 19th century circular railway (“Petite Ceinture”, see previous post). It was called Viaduc d’Auteuil or Point-du-Jour. No trains pass here anymore. The previous bridge was bombed twice, once in 1870, and a second time, as the only Paris bridge during WW II, in 1943. The name of the present bridge comes from another battle victory, a more recent one, in Italy in 1944.

The bridge has recently got a special decoration, a “Telephone Both” designed by Frank O. Gehry (see previous post). This was linked to an attempt to create temporary art along the new Paris tramway line (see previous post), which has one of its temporary end points here.
We are now going far upstream to the Pont de Tolbiac from 1882. It was the first bridge here and was needed because of a too long distance between the surrounding bridges. The bridge got its name from a battle – once more – but a very ancient one, in 496 (Tulpiacum, probably Zülpich in North Rhine-Westphalia nowadays).

On the northern, right bank, the bridge brings you to the Bercy Park (see previous post). An aeroplane belonging to the Free Forces crashed close to the bridge in 1943 after having been hit by the German forces.
The (almost) last bridge will be Pont National. It was originally, in 1853, built also to take care of the rail traffic for the “Petite Ceinture” under the name Pont Napoleon III, but here road and rail ran side by side. You can still see the now abandoned rails. In 1870 it got its present name (Napoleon III was not anymore in grace). It was widened during the war years, opened in 1944 with its present width.

A lot of transformation takes place at the moment between Pont de Tolbiac and Pont National, restructuring a previous very industrial area.
To finish with the Seine bridges I would just like to mention and show the two bridges that were built for the ring road, the “Périphérique”, completed in 1973. The one to the right is upstream, the one to the left downstream.
(I trust that I have now covered all the bridges!!)

You can find these pictures “in full” and as a slide show on Ipernity.

After this bridge series I need a weekend! I hope that yours will be nice!

40 comments:

Shammickite said...

Beautiful, Peter! Such elegance!
When we were in Paris in 2006, we walked all the way to the Liberty statue. It was such a hot day, and my shoe rubbed a big blister on my heel.... happy memories!

Karen said...

I think after all that work you may need more than a weekend.. I will need to come back and reread it all a few times and will not remember it all.

Thank you for all the work and time you have put into this series.. it was informative and enjoyable.

I don't know that I'll have time to visit all of these bridges but I will try to see many of them.. 25 more days..

Olivier said...

la première photo est magnifique, une vraie carte postale. tu es sur, tu n'as oublie aucun ponts ;o))

claude said...

J'ai une préférence pour les ponts anciens. Olivier a raison, ta première photo est superbe.
J'aime assez ton travazil sur tous ces posts de ponts car tu les as situés géographiquement dans Paris.
IL y a d'autres "ponts" ou plutôt passerelles que j'adore, ce sont celles du cancal St Martin.

lyliane six said...

Ah oui Claude a raison, tu devrais faire une série sur les ponts des rivières et canaux qui coulent à Paris.Bon week end bises.

Adam said...

Well done Peter - it wasn't a bridge too far!

Cergie said...

Tu ne crois pas que c'est plutôt nous qui avons besoin d'une pause après cette série ?!
Ah ! Heureusement il y a le ciel de Paris. Paris qui sera toujours Paris.
Tu postes (et poses) pour la postérité, Peter !

Cutie said...

I believe yours will be an amazing weekend as Paris is a great place to be anytime anyday. Hehe.. Will you be crossing any of the bridges you blog about during the weekend. Hehe...

Anonymous said...

At last we have a winner. That top photo gets my prize. First Place.

Cezar and Léia said...

Congratulations Peter! Perfect work!
There are several topics, accurate details, precious pictures …Certainly we will come back again to read and learn with you about this remarkable bridges chapter!

Many thanks!

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Hi Peter my friend,
Nice bridges from Paris, as how I remember them, its great to see your blog again, we have been away for my birthday therefore I did not visit, now I'm back..come and see what I/we did?

My blog is here: www.joannwalraven.blogspot.com
Good weekend wishes from me

Greetings from "JoAnn's D Eyes"

Linda Alyce said...

Amazing blog. Makes me wish I was not sick and out enjoying the city. Merci!

hpy said...

If you really tried, I guess you could find some other bridges, but maybe not going over the Seine. In the parks, maybe.

Anonymous said...

Yes, of course you need a weekend; you have done so much work to show us the 'rest' of the bridges. the first photo with Eiffel tower is great and so is the one where you see it through a detail of a bridge. And there are a lot of other interesting details, too.

So have a nice weekend, Peter.

Anonymous said...

maintenant que la série des ponts est terminée je coupe les ponts car j'ai traversé plein de ponts pendant plusieurs jours et je commence à avoir le mal des ponts. Vrai de vrai, chaque fois que je me penche d'un côté ou d'un autre du pont, j'ai envie de tomber dans la petite rivière qui coule dessous. ça doit être le vertige qui fait cela. Je vais donc retrouver la terre ferme et pon pon pon pon... (à dire sur l'air de la 5ème symphonie de Beethoven)

Starman said...

A few years ago, we stayed in an apartment en face de la BNF. Taxiing from CDG, we left the Peripherique and crossed the Pont de Tolbiac.

Anonymous said...

Yayyy ! I am back ! Now recovering.

Have been reading all your posts but won't be able to comment on all.

I didn't know river Seine has so many bridges. So fascinating to actually 'see' all of them.

Bon weekend Peter !

Virginia said...

How have you had time for all this ? Amazing! Yes, you do deserve a restful weekend. Merci!
V

Thérèse said...

Je ne sais pas si il y a un joli livret illustré qui traite des ponts de Paris comme tu as su si bien le faire. C'est vraiment un dossier de référence que l'on aimerait avoir lorsqu'on se balade à Paris.
Les photos que tu as postées aujourd'hui pourraient faire l'objet d'aquarelles. Quels cieux!
Bon week-end bien mérité!

Jill said...

Peter, I have thoroughly enjoyed this series of posts. I've read through it several times already. I find bridges quite interesting, love your photos, the history and comments. Thank you so much for all your efforts.

alice said...

Je suis d'accord avec Virginia: comment trouves-tu le temps de nous montrer tout ça? Merci pour la balade ;-)

Ruth said...

Thank you for all the work, research, gorgeous photos, on one of my favorite topics! I love the view of the Eifel Tower through the bridge curl. And that first photo is just splendid.

Enjoy some rest this weekend!

Neva said...

What a lot of work you did on the bridges! I love it! One thing I remember thinking as I was on the Eiffel Tower in '04, was how unique the city of Paris really is.....old buildings are not so mixed in with tall new buildings...amazing how they can do that......have a good weekend Peter!

Virginia said...

Peter,
Just a thought. Maybe you should do an entire series of all 37 bridges shot at NIGHT! Don't forget that fine tripod!
V

PeterParis said...

Shammickite:
Trust that you have better memoies than your blisters! (Poor women, you don't always wear he most comfortable shoes!)

Karen:
All of them are perhaps not of the same interest! How many days are you staying?

Olivier:
Je crois que le compte est bon, sauf si quelqu'un...

PeterParis said...

Claude:
J'ai déjà fait le Canal St. Martin... mais peut-être pas tous les ponts!

Lyliane:
Bon, avec cette pression...!

Adam:
Sincere thanks!

PeterParis said...

Cergie:
Je vais te laisser te reposer!

Cutie:
Maybe I will try to avoid the bridges! :-))

Abrahma:
Compliments from you are much appreciated!

PeterParis said...

Cezar & Léia:
Thanks, and thanks for your regular visits!

JoAnn:
I know the way to your blog, don't worry! (These last days I have only been a bit too busy!)

PeterParis said...

Linda Alyce:
Thanks for this vist! You have not (yet) a blog?

hpy:
... or find my bed!

April:
I'm happy if you appreciate my photos!

PeterParis said...

Delphinium:
J'ai eu peur; tu veux couper le ponts!! :-) Mais non!! :-)

Starman:
Nice to know that you know the Paris bridges!

Cuckoo:
You have read them all!!! ... and you still feel fine?

PeterParis said...

Virginia:
I must admit that I did some pre-posting!

Therese:
Aquarelles... c'est bien plus difficile que les photos! Tu en fais?

Jill:
Thanks for your efforts!!

PeterParis said...

Alice:
C'est vrai que j'ai bien travaillé! :-))

Ruth:
Thanks!! I appreciate!

Neva:
I think that we can agree that Paris is auite a nice city!

PeterParis said...

Virginia:
Maybe! A good idea, but not immediately! :-)

Anonymous said...

un NewYork Paris à domicile ! sacré pont ;)

Karen said...

Peter,
I am staying for 20 days.. I will arrive on the 16th.. My old friend from London joins me on the 23rd and she will leave on the 1st of January.. I leave on the 5th.
She thinks it's overkill for me to spend so much time in Paris and I am sure it won't be enough.

It would be nice to meet you while I am there. I could use a recommendation for a boat tour on the Seine.. I just read that there is something called the Batobus and one can get on and off of the boat the same as on the tourist bus. I'm thinking it's a good way to see more of your bridges.
I plan on wearing very comfortable shoes.

Virginia,, have a safe trip home. I am looking forward to seeing your photos and reading your stories.

Unknown said...

One more fantastic set of photos! I especially like the details of Pont Mirabeau. Gorgeous!
Peter, don't worry about the 'pay back', you are very kind.
Wish you have a wonderful time in Venice!

EMNM said...

You said: "I trust that I have now covered all the bridges"

ARE YOU SURE????

amazing job Peter

Tanya Breese said...

Just amazing! You are the best tour guide!

PeterParis said...

lasiate:
New York...?

Karen:
Yes, of course I hope to meet you!! You can send messages to peter.olson@hotmail.fr or peter.h.olson@gmail.com... phonenumber, how I can reach you etc...

Yes the Batobus can be used as you say!

JM:
Thanks!!!

PeterParis said...

Matritensis:
I'm rather sure! :-))

Tanya:
... and you give the best of compliments!