Paris - The Seine - 7me

Plate L – Life on the River Seine…

The river continues to define the major historical areas of Paris with the central city area, still known as the Île de la Cité, being the religious and administrative hub. The left bank or the Rive Gauche is the centre of artistic and intellectual life, with the right bank or Rive Droit arondissements being the centres of commercial and economic activities. Although these delineations have blurred somewhat over time, they still remain set in the minds of Parisians and their visitors.

As I have said before, one seems to move from one photogenic sight to another within mere metres. It doesn’t take a lot of skill to see that this image was taken very close to the previous one, and yet somehow each of these two pictures seems to capture a different mood of the river.

With the freedom allowed the photographer using today’s digital cameras and their instant image review, the only dilemma I now face is how large a memory card my camera can handle.

It was very different during this visit.

Paris - The Seine - 7me

Plate XL1X - The River Seine…

The Seine flows through the city like its aorta, and in Paris one is never far from its waters. Life on the river and its immediate surroundings appeals to the romantic visitor in us all. From the tourist laden bateaux mouches (as seen here in the river centre) that ply the waters of the central city, giving an unique view of the attractions along its banks, to the smaller privately owned craft moored along the quays, who in this city has not dreamed of sharing the freedom that the river life suggests. A dinner cruise on a bateau is a treat and the illuminated attractions of the city (if not the cuisine) still endure as a special memory of Paris.

The city started life some 2000 years ago on the island in the river, today known as the Île de la Cité . First known as Lutèce, it was inhabited by the Parisii tribes, which having made it their capital gave the city its modern name. Many of today’s landmark buildings on the island were built above the ruins of much older civilizations, Notre Dame for example was preceded by two earlier Christian churches, and they in turn were said to have been constructed on the site of a Roman temple to Jupiter.

The Seine is France’s second longest river after the Loire, but is the main waterway used for inland traffic, and is best known as the river of Paris. It rises near the town of Dijon in the Cote d’Or region of France, and flows to the English Channel near the port of Le Havre - a distance of some 780 kilometres.

Paris – Bouquinistes - 4me

Plate XXXVII - The Bouquinistes…

There is no certainty of how long the bouquinistes have been a part of Parisian city life. Some sources say since the nineteenth century, others claim from the sixteenth. It’s not important, for they are there today, and they will still be there tomorrow. There is no English word for these characters found mainly on the Rive Gauche of the Seine. Booksellers (the closest I can think of) work at FNAC or maybe at WH Smith. The bouquiniste is altogether something different. Their wares have changed over time, and today they stock compact and digital video discs (and no doubt electronic video games or, even i-Apps for all I know).

But, it is for the plethora of old postcards, posters, paintings, or pamphlets and of course those books and books and more books that you’ll want to find them. (Be warned though that their wares are mainly in French). No matter the weather, by law the licensed bouquiniste must open for business four days of every week. Those pesky intermitted Paris showers are countered with a clear plastic sheet, but they rarely stay on too long - and often trade will still be conducted beneath these temporary protective shelters. Some 250 or more of these intrepid souls are housed in wooden stalls, dotted all around the embankments of the Île de La Cité, their displays overloaded with “des choses intéressants” and if like me you love to browse the printed records of mankind, you’ll lose yourself for hours seeking out that special “je ne sais quoi”.

Maybe you’ll find it here.

Today. 

Paris – The Deportation Martyrs Memorial - 4me

Plate XXXV - The Deportation Martyrs Memorial - Entrance… 

DEDICATED TO THE LIVING MEMORY OF THE 200,000 FRENCH DEPORTEES SLEEPING IN THE NIGHT AND THE FOG, EXTERMINATED IN THE NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMPS.

Stark.

That one word describes this memorial created on the site of an old mortuary on the Île de la Cité. It commemorates the lost lives of the 200,000 men, women and children deported through Vichy to the Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. Designed by Georges-Henri Pingusson, the memorial was opened in 1962. 

Deliberately created, a feeling of claustrophobia envelopes the visitor entering the subterranean cavern, lined with 200,000 illuminated crystals. An eternal flame of hope burns before the Tomb of the Unknown Deportee.

Forgive, but never forget.

Paris - Conciergerie - 1er

Plate XXIV - The Conciergerie

Viewed here across the Seine, the fortress like stonework of the Conciergerie looks grey and forbidding. It should, for it is here that many of the 2500 victims of Madame la Guillotine (including Marie Antoinette and her King) spent the last hours of their prison days before meeting their unhappy public fates at various locations around Paris.  On a sunnier day the turreted towers can have an almost Disney like appearance belying its function as a part of the greater complex of the Palais de Justice.

It is known that the Île de la Cité has been occupied since Roman times when Paris was known as Lutèce. It was here on the west part of the isle that the Palais de la Cité was built in the Middle Ages and became a seat of the royal court of France. The Grande Salle (Great Hall) as it survives today as part of the lower Conciergerie was used as a dining hall for 2000 palace staff, as well as a meeting place for the high court of justice. Much of the original room and its furnishings were devastated by fires in 1618 and 1871, but at a length of some sixty-five and a width of twenty-seven metres it remains as impressive a chamber as you will find in all of Europe.

The palace was first converted to prison use at the end of the 14th century. There is a small chapel in the Conciergerie, reconstructed to resemble the one used by Marie Antoinette during her final moments in captivity. I found my visit there surprisingly poignant.