Paris - The Arc de Triomphe View II - 8me

Plate LXX – The Eiffel Tower

Without question, the most dominating landmark of the city is the Eiffel Tower. Having arranged these plates by arrondissement and if you’ve been following my daily posts, it may seem I have already been there.

I had not, but I knew exactly how to get there after this!!

Like a beacon, the tower provides you the traveller with a great reference point to determine your location in Paris. Until London got its eye, such a facility was a sorely missing feature of the English capital. It should be law that every town expecting visitors has an omnipresent notable landmark!!!.

For more information on the tower, and Gustave Eiffel you’ll need to go back through the blog archives a few days (May 13th).

Despite the overcast weather I spent quite some time above the rooftops soaking in the views.

Paris - The Arc de Triomphe View 1 - 8me

Plate LXIX - Ave de la Grande Armee …

At the end of September each year France celebrates its heritage by freely opening the doors to hundreds of buildings and museums across the country for a weekend. This includes many buildings not usually granting public access including the Elysee Palace (home of the French President). Established back in 1984 these days are known as the Journées de Patrimonie. One of the places opened during my visit was the Arc de Triomphe. The elevators were not available (a discreet Parisian crowd control device perhaps) - but not to be denied the views from atop the arch I climbed it’s narrow winding spiral steps – all 280, I counted - to once again get my bearings and the layout of the city. 

From the arch, being the centre point of Baron George-Eugene Haussman’s Etoile one can appreciate the effect that his approach to urban planning has on the daily lives of Parisians. I can think of no other world city where the consideration given to the effect of new developments on the old is as carefully thought out as in Paris so as to preserve the aspects built before. Hausmann’s boulevards are the foundation of a rational city extending far beyond the old city limits. 

In this first view I was looking back along the Ave de la Grande Armée to the Grande Arch of La Défense. This avenue together with the Champs Elysées forms the main line of Paris' incredible Axe Historique (explained in an earlier posting). The trees of the Bois de Boulogne can be clearly seen at the left of view. It is in this area that the Roland Garros stadium, the site of the renowned annual French Tennis Open tournament is found. (And it is through watching this magnificent annual event on television that I am aware of the very changeable nature of Parisian weather).
The préfecture of La Défense with its skyscrapers, so thoughtfully allowed only outside of the greater city limits (la Tour Montparnasse being the one notable exception) dominates the skyline, the Grand Arche is seen at almost picture centre.

Paris - Mort pour la Patrie - 7me

Plate LXIX - Mort pour La Patrie…

ICI REPOSE UN SOLDAT FRANCAIS MORT POUR LA PATRIE 1914-1918

Every evening at six thirty the eternal flame, first lit by war minister Maginot on Armistice Day, November 11, 1923, is rekindled beneath the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysées by veterans belonging to the Committee of the Flame. Wreaths in the national colours are laid and respect is paid to the deceased heroes of past conflicts.

There is no question that the Parisians are a patriotic people. Signs and remembrances of national events, wars and victories, heroes and heroines abound throughout the city.

On November 10, 1920 Auguste Thien selected the sixth of eight unmarked identical coffins, each bearing the remains of an unknown French soldier killed during the Great War of 1914-18. On January 21, 1921 the Unknown French Soldier was laid to rest in this place of honour.

My late grandfather was a surviving soldier of the allied forces of that First Great War. Standing before his unknown comrade, I remembered him.

(One of my all time personal favourite images)

Paris - The Arc de Triomphe - 7me

Plate LXVIII - The Arc de Ttriomphe…

I believe that two images most strongly define Paris in the eyes of the world - the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.

Perhaps through having seen in my schooldays those fractured, aging 1945 newreels of the victorious Charles de Gaulle entering a newly liberated city; or perhaps because of a lifelong fascination with Napoleon and his military prowess - this was the one particular sight I had waited for so many years to see.

For whatever reason, to me this is Paris, and Paris is the Arc de Triomphe. Prepared for disappointment by previous visits to many other celebrated world sights and landmarks, which always seem smaller than their reputation would have you expect, could the Arc de Triomphe be all that I needed it to be?

Having arranged these images by arrondissements they are not in the sequence I visited them. After time at La Défense I had taken the RER from Nanterre to Etoile. Rising through this underground mystery, that was still so new to me, to the midway Metro station and then not sure which exit to take, I fortuitously selected the escalators that rise to the very foot of this magnificent landmark. The hairs on my arms began to rise as I caught my first glimpse of the stonework carvings that decorate the Arc. Little by little, more and more was revealed – seemingly as if in slow motion. And then … there it was!

A giant Tricolore suspended in the centre of the arch greeted my arrival in Paris.

I was here at last, and I was most definitely NOT disappointed.

Paris - The Flame of Liberty - 7me

Plate LXVII – The Flame of Liberty…

Walking near the Pont de l’Alma you cannot help noticing the three and a half metres high gilded copper monument - a full sized replica of the flame held aloft by Lady Liberty in New York harbour. 

A gift to the people of Paris from the International Herald Tribune Newspaper it was given in 1989 to mark the earlier (1987) centenary of this English language Parisian publication. It was also a token of appreciation for the work undertaken by the French in 1984 during the restoration of the famous American statue – itself originally a gift to the American people from the citizens of France. 

Events in Paris on the night of August 31st 1997 were to change the meaning of the flame for millions of people around the world. It was here in a tunnel of the bridge that Diana, Princess of Wales was involved in the car accident that was to claim her life. Within hours the Flame of Liberty was to be claimed by Diana-ites as her unofficial memorial, and to this day the grey and black marble base is used for the posting of messages of memorial to the late Princess. I was fortunate to capture it after one of its many and regular cleanings, for it is sadly also often covered with the work of graffiti ‘artists’.

Paris - Gustave Eiffel - 7me

Plate LXVI - Gustave Eiffel…

Beneath the tower bearing his name is a gilded bust of the engineer Gustave Eiffel. As you stand in line to buy a ticket to ascend his masterpiece you can almost feel his gaze upon you. Not a modest man by all accounts, his slight smile seems to have an air of vindication – for the tower’s construction was not without its opponents. Forgotten too is the blame laid on Eiffel for the disaster of the Panama Canal that was to later somewhat tarnish his image.

A master of construction in metal, Eiffel was first noted for his design of bridges, initially the trussed girder railway bridges in Vichy, and his later span bridges. There are notably those in Bordeaux; the Pia Maria Bridge in Oporto in Portugal; and the 160 metre arched bridge - the Garabit Viaduct over the Truyère River near Saint-Flour in southern France, for many years the highest in the world. It was notably with his bridge design at Rouzat that Eiffel heightened his understanding of wind forces, and the design of curved towers to achieve lateral stiffness - so essential an element in the design of his tower.

It was Eiffel’s expertise that was called on to design the internal supporting structure and framework of the Statue of Liberty.

No wonder Eiffel has been dubbed ‘the magician of iron’.

Paris - The Eiffel Tower - 7me

Plate LXV - The Eiffel Tower…

It was originally planned for the Barcelona Exposition of 1888. They did not like it! As Manuel in the British television series Fawlty Towers was ready to admit - in Barcelona they know nothing.

Easy to describe, it is an iron lattice observation and radio-broadcasting tower. 
A several thousand ton one. 
And at 324 metres to the tip of its topmost antenna, it is still the tallest structure in Paris. For a while it was also the tallest in the world, and whilst others may have overtaken it (starting with New York’s Chrysler Building in 1930), it remains the most instantly recognizable monument on the planet.

It is a marvel of engineering, designed to withstand specific height variable wind resistances. The 18,000 ‘puddled iron’ pieces of the structure weigh 7,500 tonnes, and are assembled with some two and a half million rivets. It is repainted (in three different colours) as an anti corrosive measure every seven years, with some 60 tonnes of paint. Specially designed and complex lifts were commissioned to cope with the curvature and slant of the construction, and it has welcomed well over 200 million paying visitors.

It is the Eiffel Tower.

It is France.

It is Paris.

And it is still there.

That is perhaps its greatest triumph, for Gustave Eiffel’s amazing tower, completed for the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle, and to commemorate the centenary year of the French Revolution, was only intended to stand for twenty years. Surprisingly, the 1909 decision to save the Eiffel tower was not a landslide victory for the conservationists. Those opposed to its construction (and retention) included writers Alexander Dumas, and Guy de Maupassant, architect Charles Garnier, and composer Charles Gounod. Perhaps they should have gone with Manuel to Barcelona. 

Seen here in the background beneath the arch is the Palace of Chaillot, housing the Museum of Man (former home of the controversial displayed remains of Sarah Baartman - the Hottentot Venus, now returned to her home and a dignified resting place in South Africa), the Museum of the Navy and the Museum of French Monumments. The Palace was built for the Paris Exhibition of 1937 on the site of the Trocadéro.
And incidentally, due to copyright registration of the lighting design it is officially illegal to publish night time images of the tower without obtaining permission. So, here it is in all its magnificence - by day.

Paris - The Ecole Militaire - 7me

Plate LXIV – The Military Academy…

I have at least two occasional recurring dreams. One has me back at school, the other back in the army (I was part of a generation of conscripted military trainees). Neither was a time I'd voluntarily relive - so my fascination with, and visit to, a military academy (combining those two facets of life) seems a little inexplicable. But - such is the effect of the passage of time: while history was a school subject I'd rather have avoided, as I've grown older my fascination with the past has grown deeper and stronger. So, down the other notable Champs of Paris I went walking.
The panoramic Champs de Mars which lies before Eiffel’s famous tower was once the parade ground of the Military Academy (Ecole Militaire).

The academy buildings, completed by Jacques-Ange Gabriel (who also laid out the Place de la Concorde) in 1773 still house the French War College, and public visits are not generally allowed. The Ecole was built in the reign of Louis XIV on an initiative backed by the King’s mistress Madame de Pompadour, who apparently believed that young men from all walks of life, especially the lower classes, should be able to pursue a military career. It was here after his first year that a young Corsican named Napoleon Bonaparte graduated as a second lieutenant (artillery) in 1785. A later notable graduate of the école was Charles de Gaulle.

Paris - The Orsay Mona Lisa Revealed - 7me

Plate LXIII - Revealed, Mona Lisa of the Orsay…

La Gioconda is a man.

When making an offering to this Mona Lisa the reward was not a fixed, if enigmatic smile. No! Any donor was repaid for their generosity by an impossibly slow and subtle lowering of the left eyelid - so slow that it could not be called a wink. Lasting every bit of five to ten seconds, the Mona Lisa would then return to that famous fixed stare, those eyes that follow the viewer continuing to engage and to haunt you after you had taken your leave.

I have seen many ‘mimes’ in Europe, and have previously given you my thoughts about them, but I was fortunate to see this masterpiece of them all. Quite coincidentally, a few months after my return home I was telling a friend of this experience, and learned that the artist behind the Mona Lisa of the Orsay had been interviewed on television by American talk show host Connie Chung. I caught a rebroadcast of the show, and although I now forget the details I do recall that he, for despite the shadowed cleavage she was a he, was an art student from one of the eastern Europe countries, funding his entire course of studies through this ‘performance’.

On a nearby stall with tourist brochures of Paris I spotted one with the Mona Lisa on the cover. I had not previously noticed the positioning of Da Vinci’s subject’s hands. Her right hand does rest on her left, and the accurately portrayed gap between her right index and middle fingers now intrigues me as much as that smile.

No mime will ever be the same again. The envelope please? …….

Paris - The Orsay Mona Lisa - 7me

Plate LXII - Mona Lisa of the Orsay…

Whether you call her Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda, you’ll know that da Vinci’s most famous work, and perhaps THE star attraction in all of Paris, lives alone in the Louvre Museum. The most frequent comment heard when getting through the galaxy of flashing camera lights aimed at this masterpiece is dismay or even disappointment at its relatively small size. At 53 by 77 centimetres there is no real justification for this, but perhaps the scale of the only other artwork equal to the Mona Lisa in reputation and renown, Michelangelo’s statue of David, sets unrealistic expectations.

The Mona Lisa doesn’t get out much these days. Acquired for France, from the artist in around 1515 by King Francis I the portrait was presumably moved from one residence to another as the royal court set up ‘camp’ in the various palaces and chateaux in which the King chose to spend his time. Certainly, during a recent visit to Chambord it was implied she had frequent guest status there. A certain Vincenzo Peruggia, who intended returning her to Italy, famously stole her in August 1911. She was recovered and returned to the Louvre in December of 1913, and apart from being placed in secret storage during the Second World War, plus a documented visit to Washington in the New World in 1963 she has not traveled since.

And yet I was to see her here on public exhibition, in the open air square that fronts the Orsay Museum. The crowds attracted were as dense as I ever saw at the Louvre. And, beneath her frame was a small box to place one’s offerings of appreciation.

Something was amiss. Did the Louvre know?
Read tomorrow's post to find the answer.

Paris - The Orsay Museum - 7me

Plate LXI - The Orsay Museum...

Arguably the most beautiful museum in all of Europe (I certainly have not seen one I prefer) the Orsay Museum is housed in the splendour of the old Orsay railway station. With similarities in design to the Grand and Petit Palaces, Victor Laloux completed the station in three years to ensure that it was available for the Paris exhibition of 1900. Abandoned as a station only a short thirty-nine years later owing to the short platforms not suiting the increasingly long trains of the times, the deterioration of the structure placed it under threat of demolition. Many sepia postcards recording its days as a station may be found in the stalls of the bouquinistes.

It survived through serving various temporary purposes (including being used by Orson Welles as a film set), and was declared a national monument by President Georges Pompidou in 1978 with plans for its conversion to a museum being unveiled in 1977. Work on the massive project lasted from 1980 to 1986, when the 20,000 square metres of exhibition space was opened by President Mitterand on December 1st.

Currently housing exhibits of mainly 19th and early 20th century work, the Orsay bridges the gap between the antiquities and old masters of the Louvre, and the modern contemporary works of the Tokyo Palace and Pompidou Centre. Perhaps the most notable collections are of the impressionist group, works that demand the more natural lighting and airiness of the Orsay. There are collections of architecture and the decorative arts, and most notably a fine gallery devoted to the art of the photographer. 

Was there something particular I sought here? Apart from the usual suspects – too numerous to list - there were two works I specifically sought. My grandmother had always treasured a pair of prints of Millet’s works the Gleaners and the Angelus. They’re here - and did not disappoint me.  

Unlike the Louvre, you can cover the Orsay in single visit, but do take a full day!!!

Paris - The Kiss - 7me

Plate LX - The Kiss...

Rodin’s amorous pursuits were the subject of much society talk during his lifetime. In 1864 at the age of twenty three he began a lifetime affair with the seamstress Rose Beuret, finally marrying her at age seventy seven, only months before her death in Febraury 1917. Rodin was to die only nine months later.

A man of undoubted passion and ardour he conducted many affairs including one for fourteen years with his student, muse, collaborator and model Camille Claudel. The affair was ended in 1898 perhaps because of, but certainly contributing to, Claudel’s increasing madness.

Rodin completed other works of couples ‘in flagrante delicto’, but none as passionate as this 1886 highlight of the museum collection, another study for the Gates of Hell.

I took this picture specifically for a couple of friends of mine who had a small marble cast replica of The Kiss in their home (consigned to a private bedroom space). A source of debate between this husband and wife, Rodin’s work was once deemed improper and unsuitable for public display.

It remains indoors - in the Hotel Biron in Paris.

Paris - The Thinker - 7me

Plate LIX - The Thinker…

Although Rodin died before completing his Gates of Hell, two of his most celebrated and well known works were concepts for this the final commission of his life.

The Thinker was Rodin’s 1880 study for a seated image of the poet Dante, to be included in the upper part of the door. Other examples of this casting of his statue are known to exist, but this is the best known of them.

I have sometimes been accused of not including people in many of my pictures. It is true. I had to wait quite some time to get this shot of Rodin’s masterpiece without some intrusive tourist face becoming part of the composition, finally begging the guide of a busload of foreigners to grant me just one shot before they clambered one by one onto the plinth to record for posterity that they too were here.

What were they thinking?

Paris - Hôtel Biron Gardens - 7me

Plate LVIII - Gardens of the Hotel Biron

I thought I had planned a sensible itinerary for my stay in Paris. Visiting Les Invalides and the Hôtel Biron on two consecutive days, it was only when I saw the dome of Les Invalides above the hedges of the Hotel Biron gardens that I realised how close they are (very). I obviously hadn’t done a good enough job of familiarising myself with my maps of Paris.

The hotel is surrounded by some three hectares of grounds; unusual for the times, but Hôtel Biron was without question the best address in the mainly suburban neighbourhood. A 1752 plan of the house shows how the gardens were designed, with matching parterres, and gravelled, shaped compartments. Tightly clipped conical shrubs (one of which can be seen the image), a feature of French gardens popular to this day lined the central gravel walk. Some of the formality was removed by Biron in favour of a more English park like landscape, a character remaining, and providing an excellent showcase for some of Rodin’s larger works including the Thinker, The Burgers of Calais, his brilliant and brooding statue of Balzac, and a cast of Rodin’s uncompleted final work the Gates of Hell - doors commissioned for the then planned Museum of Decorative Arts - illustrating scenes from Dante’s Inferno.

Paris - Hôtel Biron - 7me

Plate LVII - The Hotel Biron (Rodin Museum) …

There is an elite group of art figures where a single name is identity enough. Rodin is one.

The Hôtel Biron, dating from around 1730 was built by Jacques Gabriel and Jean Aubert as a private residence, becoming in turn - the home of Marshal de Biron in 1753, a convent for the Nuns of the Society of Sacre-Coeur in 1820, a secondary school in the early 1900’s and then, scheduled for demolition, several rooms were placed at the disposal of the sculptor Rodin until his death in 1917.

His bequest of works, some 500 - in bronze and marble and left to the state, may be seen at the Rodin Museum today housed within and around the still extensive gardens of the Hôtel Biron. The once austere interiors, stripped of decorative ornamentation during the convent occupation have regained some of their original features, now restored to their original positions. A friend and collector of works by van Gogh, Renoir, and Monet these works once owned by Rodin are here too, as are some by his student and lover Camille Claudel.

But it is the work of (François Auguste René) Rodin you will come to see.