Paris - Bois de Vincennes - 19e

Plate XCVIII – Bois de Vincennes …

If you have left wondering what all the fuss is about with the Bois de Boulogne try a visit to the Bois de Vincennes. I found the area so much more rewarding. An unpopulated space of public land, the Bois de Vincennes was originally a hunting ground for the royal courts, and kings of France. It became a public park under Napoleon III in 1860. The proclaimed area is some 2,458 acres, three times larger than New York’s Central Park and four times the extent of London’s Hyde Park. Officially part of the greater city of Paris since 1929, I was here mainly to visit the adjoining Chateau (closed to the public at the time) and the more formal Parc Floral de Paris, a landscaped park within the precincts of the Bois de Vincennes. I obviously could not cover its full magnitude, but the parts I saw were quite enchanting, a taste of provincial countryside within the city. With long time military connections, you will still find the Redoute de Gravelle in the southwest part, and the Bois de Vincennes is also home to a zoological garden, along with a number of sporting venues and institutes. Fed by the River Marne four large lakes are also situated within the area.

What I remember best however are the butterflies. I could be wrong in my identification, but I’m sure I saw a population of (at least close relatives of) the familiar (to me) orange, black and white African Monarch species. Their fluttering amongst predominantly orange flowers was a magical sight. I was later to learn that there is an annual summer event (May to October) in the Jardin des Papillons, a greenhouse inside the Parc Floral displaying some forty lepidopterous varieties, endemic to the Ile de France.

Paris - Château de Vincennes - 12me

Plate XCVII - Chateau de Vincennes …

I have broken a self imposed rule of posting pictures by arrondissement, firstly because Vincennes is very much on the edges of the city, and secondly because, sadly, my visit here was towards the end of my stay in Paris making its placement seem appropriate. With only a few evenings and half weekend ahead of me there was still so much I wanted to do. What would it be – Disneyland Paris, Parc Asterix or Vincennes? Having been disappointed by the Bois de Boulogne, I decided that the Bois de Vincennes would perhaps bring some compensation; Disneyland was a definite no-go - I’ll keep American culture for trips to America, bad enough that I had to be confronted with both a Disney store and the ubiquitous McDonalds on the Champs Elysées. (Such, sadly, is part of the price of globalisation). The Parc devoted to the plucky little Gaul we know as Asterix was tempting, but a dip into the history of Chateau de Vincennes convinced me there simply was no contest – for it is at Vincennes that so much French royal history and culture has it early records.

The Château itself, again open to the public, was closed during my trip and so I had to be contented to admire it from the exterior walls. The towering Donjon (52 metres), started in April 1361, is certainly impressive.  The first recorded royal hunting dwelling here dates back to the early eleventh century. It was however during the reign of Louis IX (St Louis) in the thirteenth century that its royal residence status became more widely acknowledged, and it was from here that Louis set out on his crusades. Main work on the Châtelet of the donjon was probably completed in 1369 in the reign of Charles V, who was born and who died here. It was here too that the Relics of The Passion (supposedly Christ’s Crown of Thorns) were held following their acquisition from the Emperor of Constantinople and prior to their transfer to Ste. Chapelle in Paris. Vincennes fell out of royal favour during the reign of Louis XIII as attention began to focus on Versailles. Following the destruction of the Bastille during the revolution, prison overcrowding became an issue in Paris, and in 1790 the National Assembly decreed that the donjon was to be at the disposal of the city. Rumours of the construction of a new Bastille at Vincennes had workers marching on the donjon to bring about its destruction, an act prevented by General Lafayette during events known as the ‘Affaires de Vincennes’. The Château became the headquarters for the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces from 1936 until 1940 when it was occupied by German troops, who inflicted heavy damages on the buildings on their withdrawal in August 1944. Restoration of the Château has been ongoing since 1988.

A porcelain manufactory established in Vincennes in 1738 by migrants from Chantilly, was later moved to the suburban town of Sèvres under the patronage of Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour. We’ll visit there shortly.

Paris - La Géode - 19e

Plate XCVI – La Geode …

So much of what you’ll see in Paris is old. It’s not that there is nothing new or modern about the city. Whether your idea of 'new' is Sacré Couer, Pei’s Pyramid, Centre Pompidou, the Grande Arche, or even a belief that with Sarkozy’s vision of a Grand Paris will come an entirely new modernity, much of the charm of the city is the way that the ancient, the merely old and the new live so compatibly side-by-side. Paris has carefully and guardedly managed to avoid obscuring its heritage of beauty through meticulous city planning (starting perhaps with Hausmann’s strategic layouts), and our appreciation of all the city has to offer is the better for it. Simply compare the claustrophobia inducing twentieth century development of London and you’ll know what I mean.

Moving to the edges of the city’s north east is the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie better known simply as La Vilette. Apart from wanting to see the numerous permanent and temporary exhibitions I had another calling to this part of the city. My family name is Macdonald and coincidentally the Cité is found a few short metres away from a stretch of the greater Paris boulevard system known as Boulevard MacDonald. I was delighted to discover that the name means more to Parisians than hamburgers and fries! (It is of course the name of the Napoleonic Marechal, Étienne Jacques Joseph Alexandre MacDonald, 1st Duc de Taranto).

Set aside in 1979 as the world’s largest museum of science and technology, La Vilette is worthy of a couple of separate visits to take it all in. Amongst the attractions is the Imax theatre housed inside an eye catching thirty six metre diameter steel dome known as La Géode. The only Parisian cinema at the time showing this incredible format (how long before Imax 3D?) the dome is fabricated from some 6500 steel triangular plates.

With many of the exhibits aimed at the younger generation, and a plethora of thematic parks and gardens, La Vilette is rightfully a popular, but I thought somewhat underappreciated day out destination for the whole family.

Paris - Clignancourt - 18e

Plate XCV - Clignancourt - Flea Market …

Somehow ‘flea market’ does not do justice as a translation for ‘le Marché aux Puces de la Porte de St-Ouen’. It also does not convey any sense of the incredible sense of impending discovery of treasure that I felt immediately on arrival in the environs of the Porte de Clignancourt. Leaving my hotel on the Metro in the fairly early morning, I had shared a compartment with a number of women who looked remarkably like extras from the set of Irma la Douce. Not something unexpected as these nocturnal working inhabitants of the area returned from what I guessed had been another night ‘sous les ponts de Paris’. The Marché aux Puces (which some claim gave all ‘flea markets’ their name) is actually a number of adjoining markets, and typical of such trading places you will find everything from absolute rubbish to some of the most beautiful antiques imaginable. Of course the high end stuff is better displayed (and better guaranteed) in the Rue de Rivoli at the Louvre des Antiquaires, but there you know you’re going to pay top dollar, and the chances of unearthing an undervalued bargain are less than zero. In Clignancourt I browsed amongst vintage (and not so vintage) car parts and hardware, through clothing, music stalls and ultimately moved on to the antique dealers, where Lalique and Daume vases competed to catch the eye with elaborate crystal chandeliers, and that uniquely continental-European fourteen carat gold jewellery. It was here that a London based friend of mine began a lifelong infatuation with antique Toiles de Jouy, trade in which eventually became his business. Intimidated as I was by the sheer numbers of traders’ stalls and their volumes of merchandise I browsed for hours, determined not to buy anything until I had a good idea of all that was available. I landed up leaving empty handed but determined to return.

I know my weaknesses - I never did.

Paris - Sacré Coeur - 18e

Plate XCIV – Basilica Sacre Couer de Montmartre II …

As with the other two major Parisian landmarks mentioned yesterday (the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe of course) the views of Paris from the top of the central dome of the Basilica are magnificent. Access (tickets needed) is only via the long interior staircase, so if you find yourself easily exhausted perhaps you should save some energy by arriving at the footsteps of the church at the crest of the butte, by using the funicular carriages that ascend alongside the terraced stairs provided for the more energetic or younger traveller.

Formally dedicated to the lives lost during the Franco-Prussian War, the connection to the communards whose insurrectional movement started in Montmartre has not been forgotten by many. Sacré Coeur is a Roman Catholic church devoted to the Sacred Heart of Christ. Displayed in a monstrance above the high altar is an artefact known as the Blessed Sacrament, ensuring that Sacre Coeur has remained an important centre of Catholicism since 1885. The Christ in Majesty mosaic inside the apse must also not be missed.

The south facing portico is flanked by bronze equestrian statues of St Louis (King Louis IX) (pictured) and Joan of Arc. Chief architect Abadie had died in 1884 and ongoing design work was continued by five later successors. Funded entirely by private donations the basilica is estimated to have cost some several million French francs. I found it hard to leave this site and, while living in the same century the basilica’s construction, could not help wondering if we’ll ever see such magnificence created by man in devotion to his God again. It just does not seem likely.

Paris - Basilique du Sacré Coeur - 18e

 Plate XCIII – Basilica Sacre Couer de Montmartre …

If asked to name the top three icons of Parisian landmarks, Sacré Coeur must surely take its rightful place alongside Eiffel’s tower and the Napoleonic Arc de Triomphe. Dominating the Butte Montmartre and completely overshadowing the neighbouring stone church of St Pierre, often claimed to be the oldest church in Paris, is arguably the newest significant church of the city. To some, it may seem unusual to describe Sacré Coeur as new, for such is it’s dominance of every familiar view of Paris’ northern skyline that the visitor can be forgiven for thinking it has always been there. The truth is it was constructed between the laying of the foundation stone in 1875 and its final consecration in 1919. The stone used in construction of the Basilica is a lime travertine from the Seine-et-Marne region of France, and its perpetual gleaming whiteness is thanks to the stone’s property of continually exuding a form of calcite. Almost Oriental in appearance the architectural style of Sacré Coeur is best described as Romanesque Byzantine, and is mainly ascribed to architect Paul Abadie, whose design was (once again) the winner of an open public architectural competition. The impressive tall tower at the rear of the church contains a 19 ton cast bell named Savoyard, one of the largest in the world. The beautiful gardens surrounding the church are today a popular retreat for both residents and visitors, and access into the church is via an imposing grand staircase leading to the front portico featuring three entrance arches. 

Paris - Place du Tertre - 18e

Plate XCII – Place du Tertre …

Could this be just another day at the office? The social importance to the daily community of the Place du Tertre cannot be misunderstood or underestimated. I have visited this venue a number of times since this first visit, and each time I am amazed at the earnestness of the numerous conversations always underway amongst the artist society (and their visitors – as many do not seem to be ‘at work’). Perhaps amongst them is tomorrow’s van Gogh or Picasso, for you can imagine how the conversations in their time took on a similar depth and heated significance. You’ll see a painter have his say, return to his delicate brush strokes while his protagonist responds and then he’ll reply gesturing as demonstratively as his thoughts demand, before returning to momentarily and calmly continue as before with a few more strokes of his art. It gets me smiling every time. Perhaps these latter day philosophers will not change the world, but then again maybe ……

Paris - Place du Tertre - 18e

Plate XCI – Place du Tertre …

I confess I had no idea what a tertre was, or why one should have its own Place. So I looked it up. Well, a tertre is hillock, a heap or a mound. Now Montmartre is more correctly named Butte Montmartre and so I looked up precisely what my old school dictionary has to say about about a butte. You guessed then? A butte too is defined as a mound, knoll or hillock (or the butts behind a target on a shooting range). That’s it then - no more mystery - this simply is the square of the hillock or the Butte Montmartre. It certainly is the centre of life in this district, lying a few short streets away from the Basilica of Sacre Coeur and within shouting distance of the Lapin Agile. Surrounded by relaxed colourful and delightfully lively eateries (or drinkeries depending on your choice of refreshment) it is here that the artists of the area set up their easels daily to paint your portrait or their beloved city sights, and to sell their wares. It is here that you may have your profile cut out by a silhouette-caricaturist if you stand stationery for more than a few seconds. The art work varies from good quality works in oil (and priced accordingly) to the churned out commercial stuff that looks like a million mass-printed table place mats that have already familiarised you with the city scenes in the souvenir shops in the city centre. I never did work out how negotiable the artists’ prices are, but I do suspect that the one who implied I’d grossly insulted him (and his entire ancestry) by trying to negotiate his asking price down, was simply using that as his negotiation strategy to see who blinked first. If so it cost him the sale, and as you will have seen I have more ‘paintings’ of the city today than I’d ever imagined possible!! If the Basilica is the Sacre Coeur de Paris, the Place du Tertre is unquestionably the Coeur de Montmartre. No visit to Paris is complete until I’ve had  ‘des verres de rouge’ here. A votre santé!

When you have finished at the Place du Tetre be sure to visit the nearby l’Espace Salvador Dali, a museum mostly dedicated mainly to the work of the Spanish surrealist.

Paris - Moulin de la Galette - 18e

Plate XC – Moulin de la Galette …

You may have gathered from earlier posts that I have a reasonable familiarity with French art, and especially the Impressionists. I had therefore at least heard of the Moulin de la Galette through Renoir’s popular painting of a crowd of diners and revellers at the site (Bal au Moulin de la Galette). Other familiar works set here are by Toulouse-Lautrec and van Gogh. What I did not know however was that the moulin is still here, and although no longer operating, its sails attract the passer by to come and take a closer look. The Moulin as pictured is actually two mills in one, with the lower storey known as ‘Blute-Fin’ originally built in 1622, and the upper wind sail mill belonging to the later 1717 addition named ‘Radet’. A classified Paris monument since 1939, the building has an interesting history.

Regularly maintained since the seventeenth century the mill was acquired by the Debray brothers in 1809 and used for flour grinding, some of that flour being used to produce the traditional rye bread biscuits known as galettes. Attacked by Russian Cossacks during the invasion of 1814, one of the brothers was captured, killed and then nailed to the wings of the mill’s sails. The dancing room and ‘ginguette’ were late nineteenth century additions. Now a private property the mill came close to demolition in 1915, but was saved by a group of preservationists known as the Friends of Old Montmartre. Moved to its present site in 1924 the most recent restoration was in 1978. Compared to the better known Moulin Rouge, I found this mill far less a commercial attraction and more…. well, more of a mill.

Paris - Montmartre - 18e

Plate LXXXIX – Montmartre …

To the north of Paris is a hill known as the Butte Montmartre. Some 130 metres above the city and crested by the brilliantly off white basilica of Sacré Coeur it beckons the city’s visitors to come and explore the myriad winding streets and alleys that make up the district to which it lends its name. The name itself derives from a translation of ‘the mountain of the martyr’, referring to St. Denis, former bishop and patron saint of the city, decapitated here in around 250 AD. Originally outside the city limits, it owes its early public popularity to its former tax free status - and reputedly also to the wine made by the local nuns. (It remains a popular drinking area to this day, and having personally enjoyed a robust burgundy or two in it’s precincts I can highly recommend it). Long known also as a place of worship, the church of St Pierre (now dwarfed by the new basilica) is reputedly the oldest of God’s houses in the city. I had, on the day of my visit, been told of the sudden death of a dear friend back home, and it was in the silent still darkness of St Pierre’s that I lit my first ever votive candle. Despite being neither Catholic nor deeply religious it seemed the proper thing to do, and it somehow did make me feel spiritually closer to a bereaved distant family. St. Pierre’s is reputedly where the Jesuit order was founded.

Best known as the home of artists and musicians, Montmartre was inhabited by this community from the early nineteenth century right through to the middle of the twentieth. Famous names associated with the area, too exhaustive to list completely, include Baker, Brissaud, Bruant, Degas, Derain, Matisse, Modigliani, Piaf, Picasso, Pissaro, Renoir, Satie, Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh and Utrillo. Many mourn the passing of those bohemian years, so poignantly expressed in Charles Aznavour’s lyrics to La Bohème, but the often gritty reality of life in Montmartre was so brilliantly captured in the film La Môme, with Marion Cotillard in her Oscar winning portrayal of Edith Piaf. A more sanitised depiction of the area was seen in the movie Amélie.  Now designated an historical district, building development is restricted, and the character of the streets will be well preserved. Still populated by a diverse range of individuals including restaurateurs, accordionists, pick-pockets, painters, sketchers, silhouette artists, con artists and hookers, and with a vast number of restaurants and cabarets including the Moulins – Rouge, and de la Galette - and the Lapin Agile, a stroll along the steep sloping alleys cannot fail to bring back some feeling of the decadence of a past life in the city’s north.

Paris - Moulin Rouge - 18e

Plate LXXXVI – the Moulin Rouge …

I had been warned. From the street, in daylight, the exterior of the Moulin Rouge is rather boring, tired and uninviting. And it was true. Baz Luhrmann’s spectacular 2001 eponymously named film, with the hero’s quest for Love Beauty and Truth, gives the place an image way beyond reality. I therefore imagine the disappointment of more recent travellers to be even greater. My challenge then was to get a shot that somehow made it worth the time I’d taken to get there, and that came close to equalling the poster images created of the Moulin Rouge by artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. Thank goodness for the sculptural form of one of Hector Guimard’s decorative Métro arches, which I used to frame the familiar sight of the otherwise unremarkable little red mill’s exterior - the interior I am pleased to report still offers a glimpse into the romance of Paris in the Belle Epoque.

This cabaret theatre was built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, owner also of that other shrine of Parisian entertainment, the Olympia. The home of the famous and often imitated Can-Can dance, the Moulin Rouge has hosted many notable international performers since its opening including Ella Fitzgerald, Elton John and Liza Minelli, but it is for the lavishly costumed and produced adult music and dance spectacular revues that most visitors will venture onto this stretch of the Boulevard de Clichy at night. The lively and only moderately risqué Can-Can routines performed today (most often to Offenbach’s Barcarole) are somewhat ‘cleaned-up’ versions of the entertainment originally offered by the courtesans of the Moulin during its glory days as a classy brothel, when Can-Can was little more than an increasingly vulgar individual display of the lower female anatomy intended to entice their male customers.

Truth, Beauty and Love – well, maybe.

Paris - Boulevard Clichy - 18e

Plate LXXXVI - Boulevard de Clichy …

If you’re not here on ‘business’, the safest way for the curious, pedestrian tourist to walk along Boulevard de Clichy is to take the middle island in preference to the side pavements. Of course if you are there on business, and knowing the emporia of the area include such names as Love Theatre, Pigalle’s Peep Show or simply Sex Shop, you probably won’t want to do this. This is the red-light district of Paris so you then also won’t mind the continuous approaches of the pimps or mecs who ply their trade along the Boulevard - seemingly for twenty four hours a day. It started off as entertaining, but the persistence of some can start to seem annoying and then even threatening; but it does seem an unwritten code that they, with their promises of showing you a very good time, do not bother strollers taking that sacred middle ground. Of course this choice of path precludes any ‘window shopping’, and the often fading pictures of some of the performances on offer promise delivery of exactly what you’d go shopping for along certain stretches of the Boulevard. Nudge, nudge – wink, wink!

Such was my introduction to what I venture is the essential Paris - Pigalle and Montmartre. If anyone with only an hour in the city asked me where they simply had to go, this would be it. Forget the Louvre (it needs days) or the Eiffel Tower (you’ll see it from here anyway) and you’ll almost certainly pass the Arc de Triomphe en route. Montmartre is the Paris of Piaf, Degas, Lautrec, Renoir, Utrillo, Daumier, van Gogh, and Picasso, the Moulin Rouge, Au Lapin Agile and many cabarets, the Sacré Coeur and the Place du Tertre.

And of sex.

Paris - Childrens’ Carousel - 11e

 Plate LXXXVI – Childrens’ Carousel…

This picture says so much.

You could see it at face value, for what it seems to be, a none too brilliant image of a small park with a group of children happily riding an old fashioned merry-go-round, whilst a woman looks out over the fence – perhaps waiting for a few more turns of the ride before taking her child on to some new game.

On my way to yet another art gallery, I was captivated after seeing a number of the more sophisticated, mechanised carousels around the city, piping out their electronic Wurlitzer music, to find this obviously well loved hand-turned version, a relic of who knows how many years gone by. The woman was the operator, who when I first saw her was arduously cranking a handle to keep the thing turning. It didn’t seem like woman’s work to me – perhaps that makes me chauvinist. On seeing me with my camera her operational duties became of secondary concern as she ran towards the fence and started yelling abuse at me, wildly gesticulating that I had no right to take pictures. I found it all rather absurd. Intent on capturing the moment and obviously not about to leave, she had picked up a handful of gravel and stones which she flung as hard as she could in my direction. I got the message, and with this one solitary frame I departed. ‘The French’, I thought.

On later reflection, I guessed that she probably had some experience of the wierdo’s that populate every large city, and mindful of her young charges her instincts were to protect them from possibly another creep loitering around her park with mal intent; another day protecting their innocence, which is gone all too soon for many children. It seemed far fetched back then, but increasingly each day’s newspapers are filled with tales of unspeakable happenings involving the young.

I am told by a colleague now working in Paris that the carousel is still there. His child has ridden it. If she is still the operator I’d like her to know – I understand her actions. And I salute you madame.

Help stop crime against children!!!

Paris - Statue of Liberty - 11e

 Plate LXXXVI – Statue of Liberty…

Give and it will be given to you.

I’m certain that almost everyone knows that the famous Statue of Liberty (officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World) in New York’s harbour was a gift to America from the people of France. As much a political statement as a massive work of art, this is the image of Libertas the mythological Roman goddess now firmly established as the one we all reference. The statue’s history is already shrouded in fact, fiction and conjecture, despite being only some one hundred and ten years old- a period you’d expect to have been accurately recorded. Dedicated in October 1886 the monument commemorates the centennial of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence.

I had heard that the appreciative Americans (of Paris) had in return given to the donor nation, a smaller (approx 11 metres) version of their famous landmark, and determined to see it during my visit found my Parisian work colleagues, strangely, almost unaware of its existence. It’s unfathomable how much we take for granted the things we have in our own backyards. I guess the thought that they will always be there leads to such complacency.

Found on the man made island in the Seine known as the Allée des Cygnes (although I never saw a swan), this smaller Parisian version of the statue is next to the Pont de Grenelle,  a walk of some one and a half kilometres from the Eiffel Tower. It in its turn commemorates the centennial of the French Revolution and was inaugurated in November 1889. Originally sited facing the (Eiffel) Tower, the creator of the original, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, successfully insisted it be turned to face its American counterpart. This makes it somewhat difficult for the on-foot visitor to the location to photograph from the front (especially with a camera as deficient as the one I used), but with an additional walk to next Seine bridge I managed to capture Libertas.

I’m glad I got there.

P.S. There is a smaller Statue of Liberty, said to be a cast of Bartholdi's design studies, in the Gardens of Luxembourg.

Paris - Gare de Lyon - 11e

Plate LXXXV – Gare de Lyon…

One of the six major railway terminals in Paris, I simply had to get to the Gare de Lyon to catch a glimpse of a TGV train. (The station also has Métro and RER lines). My homeland, South Africa is one of the few remaining countries where you can take a trip on an old (and decidedly un-green) steam powered locomotive and exchange memories with a flourishing membership of steam preservation enthusiasts. Most young boys of my generation harboured an ambition to be a train driver at one point of their young lives, having grown up envying the seeming freedom of the world these hardy men of the iron horse seemed to have. Slowly, as the steam engines of my childhood gave way to a new generation of electric and diesel-electric engines the fascination with train travel diminished, for despite the great distances between our cities we never evolved to high speed travel such as is offered by the Trains à Grand Vitesse or TGVs.

I had heard of their development in the 1970’s, originally as gas turbine engined (a prototype named Zebulon) and ultimately electric powered units (Patrick and Sophie). I was more recently astonished at the slightly above 570kms per hour speed record set by a TGV in 2007. Inaugurated into service on the Paris-Lyon route in 1981, Gare de Lyon was the obvious choice for me to pay homage to this yet to me unseen generation of train. I was not disappointed, although it was only on a later visit I got to travel TGV class.

The station itself is also worth seeing. Another Parisian landmark built for a World Exposition (this time 1900) the clock tower has such a resemblance to London’s Big Ben that, but for its smaller scale, you may think you’d arrived in the wrong country, and the clear span interior is most impressive. In operation since the turn of the twentieth century, the Gare is still home to the restaurant Le Train Bleu - a beautiful setting to sample a little traditional French gastronomy.

This year (2010) TGV will carry its two billionth passenger – perhaps it will be one of us?

Paris - Porte St Denis – 10me

Plate LXXX1V - Porte St Denis…

The construction of triumphal arches is, it seems, a way of life in Paris, and the Arc de Triomphe de la Porte St Denis is one of two erected by Louis XIV (the other being the Porte St Martin) to commemorate certain notable military victories, this time in the Rhine and Holland. Said to be inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus and in turn itself the inspiration for Napoleon’s more famous Arc de Triomphe at Etoile  in central Paris, Porte St Denis is located at the site of one of Charles V’s earlier gates in the destroyed city fortifications. The early 1670’s monument was designed by the renowned architect François Blondel and carved by sculptor Michel Anguier. In 1848 Porte St Denis was the site of a workers barricade and bloody conflict with the National Guard, a scene documented by the Marxist, Engels.

With a frontage almost 25 metres square, and a depth of five metres, the arch is an imposing sight on the intersection of the Boulevard and Rue St Denis. Having become somewhat neglected over time, the Porte was fully restored in 1988 (unusually, they didn’t wait for my visit) and the gilt lettered inscription 'Ludovico Magno' once again proclaims the victorious Louis’ military prowess. The last recorded ceremonial procession to pass beneath the arch is said to have been that of British Queen Victoria during her visit to the Exposition of 1855.

Paris - Galeries Lafayette - Cuddlies - 9me

Plate LXXXIII - Cuddlies at Galeries Lafayette… 

I’d like to sound knowledgeable in French and say this was the pelucherie at Galeries Lafayette. But I think that was actually the name of a store stocking cuddly toys, found in an arcade off the Champs Elysées – so I’ll leave it as Cuddlies.

I was quite astounded at the range of Teddy Bears and other soft toys to be found in this section, and it is indicative of the vast extent of merchandise kept in the various departments at the Galeries. Sizes ranged from mini pocket versions to some almost life size, and included not just the traditional bears, but many members of the cat family, camels and birds - and a good representation of different dog breeds. Fancy a life-sized Rotweiller?

This is probably an appropriate time to mention the often quoted ‘fact’ that the dog population of Paris is said to be greater than that of its children. I’m not sure how true this is, I certainly noticed no shortage of younger generation humans, but it was also very evident that Parisians do like their canine companions and it is not uncommon to see them accompanying their owners on the Metro trains and in restaurants. I had been warned by friends (inexplicably they’re not fans of the city) to watch where treading when walking around Paris as it would be a rare day when you’d return to the hotel without having to do at least one shoe cleaning session to remove the ubiquitous doggy doo from the soles of your shoes. I simply did not find this so. But perhaps being a dog lover the dog-gods take care of their own!!

As an owner of the breed I was tempted here by a very lifelike velvety Rotweiller, but remembering I had limits on my luggage, I left him with the rest of his pack for another future owner – who knows - maybe even a rare Parisian child ;-)….

And will some let me know – is this officially known as a pelucherie?

Paris - Galeries Lafayette - 9me

 Plate LXXXII – Galeries Lafayette… 

If I remember things correctly the retail hierarchy in French starts with the kiosque (a stall or kiosk), rises through the boutique (what else but - a boutique?), the magasin (a store) and then top of the food chain - the grand magasin (a departmental store).

And the grandest of the grands magasins must surely be Galeries Lafayette.

Another magnificent Parisian example of Art Nouveau era architecture, the highlights of the main store building are without question the incredible stained glass domed ceiling and the elaborate staircases which you can ascend to rise through the ten floors of retail space offered by the Galeries. Comparable, in my experience, only to Harrods in London the store offers an incredible array of quality merchandise from home furnishings through books and electronics to fashion items and food. Many of France’s best known brands are to be found here including Lalique and Baccarat - and a particularly pleasurable find for me was Etains du Manoir. I have a partiality for the practicality of pewter over the eternally tarnishing qualities of silver. A small Manoir rose bowl bought from the Galeries reminds of my time browsing the wares on the Boulevard Haussman.

The Galeries, started in 1893 as a small fashion store by Théophile Bader and Alphonse Kahn, purchased the lot at 1 Rue La Fayette from where the name derives, and went on to acquire the present Boulevard Haussman site in 1905. The architecture of the present main building was commissioned by Bader from Georges Chedanne and Ferdinand Chanut and was completed in 1912. Galeries Lafayette today has stores in Berlin, New York and Dubai, as well as owning French retail chains like BHV, Monoprix and Prisunic.

A luxury spa for those requiring some retail therapy!

Paris - Opéra Garnier - 9me

Plate LXXXI – Opera Garnier…

Is there a phantom of the Opéra?

Built on notably swampy ground, above an underground lake which requires pumping some eight months of the year (yes there really is one) the site of the Paris Opéra lends itself to Gothic tales of mystical creatures and ghosts. Add the belle époque splendour, the sumptuous velvet and gilded decoration of the Charles Garnier masterpiece and you have everything needed for the location of Gaston Leroux’s spellbinding Victorian tale of the Phantom of the Opera. The subject of no less than five international film versions and of course Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s long running musical opus (but not its newer sequel), the performance arts have ensured that Garnier’s construction is familiar, at least in name, to  almost everyone.

Officially named the Académie Nationale de Musique – Théâtre de l’Opéra, at its inauguration in 1875 this was changed in 1978 to the Théâtre National de l’Opéra  de Paris. But to most it is simply the Opéra or Palais Garnier. It was designed as part of Napoleon III and Haussmann’s city reconstruction, the plan submitted by architect Charles Garnier in open competition in 1860. It remains Garnier’s grandest work, and is the inspiration of many copies and imitations around the world. Plagued with problems over the course of construction between 1861 and late 1874, the 2,200 seat 11,000 square metre opera house was formally opened in January 1875 with lavish performances of scenes from popular ballet and operas. Decorated with extensive sculptural pieces and embellishments the building consumes them all into a glorious whole with the centrepiece of the interior the massive (and legendary) chandelier above the auditorium, surrounded by a Marc Chagall ceiling artwork completed in 1964 and controversially installed over the older existing piece.

The resident performing opera company relocated to the newer Opéra Bastille building on its completion, but when reference in Paris is made to the Opéra, this is the one implied.

It’s over now– the music of the night …

Paris - Parc Monceau - 8me

 Plate LXXX – Parc Monceau… 

I can still recall the date, and even the time, of my arrival at the gates of Parc Monceau. I recall the fact that the usually bustling Metro and the very streets of Paris, were unusually quiet this day as I made my way towards upper part of the arrondissement. I recall too that the Rotunda entrance to the Parc was decidedly closed at what I understood was opening time. It was September 25^th. For those who do not live in a country where daylight savings takes place (as I do not) you would never expect to wake up with your pre-set alarm and expect to find the day a full hour younger than you expected find it – if you get my meaning. September 25^th was the date on which Parisians (and much of Europe) set their clocks and watches backwards by one hour – it becomes winter time - and the somehow noticeably different skies of the morning should have informed me that something was changed.  I did not notice the disparity between my watch and the city clocks throughout the day, and it was not until late afternoon when the Palais Luxembourg did not close at the time I expected it to do so, that I discovered what exactly that difference was.

Public property after the execution of its founder during the Revolution, the gardens of the Parc Monceau were first established in 1769 by the Duke of Chartres who, Anglophile that he was, requested landscaper Louis Carmontelle to create an English styled design. This implied randomly placed statuary along curved pathways and less formality than was found in typical Parisian gardens of the time.

Immortalised in a series of paintings by Monet, the Parc is today a semi-private estate with the city having purchased the land in 1860. This led to a redesign of the grounds by Thomas Blaikie, but many of Carmontelle’s original features remain. Baron Haussman, in his redesign of the city, preserved some half of the area as green space the remainder being allocated for private housing with direct twenty-four hour access to the gardens.

The first recorded silk parachute jump took place from a hot air balloon over the Parc in 1797, and “la semaine sanglante” in 1871 saw a massacre of Paris Communards in the Parc’s grounds at the hands of the troops of Napoleon III. The tranquil hour or so I spent wandering through the grounds of what I found to be one of the city’s most attractive open spaces with its statues of public figures and musicians gave no hint of that horror.