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 - Venus de Milo - 1er

Plate XIII - Louvre - Venus de Milo

Although there are parts of the Louvre where photography is permitted, generally it is at least discouraged. With the number of visitors passing through its doors daily the continuous popping of camera flashes can be very distracting when looking at the art. At times you’d imagine you are in a discotheque – and I pity any epileptic who ventures in. Although even I acknowledge feeling that human desire to sneak a shot, if you simply have to have a picture there is a plentiful supply of commercially available prints, slides and today, electronic media.

I also believe that protection of images of artworks is to be encouraged, and so despite the temptation to join the hordes of tourists who choose to ignore these ‘requests’ to not use flash photography I generally do comply. I have mentioned that the flash on this particular camera was of little use in any case, but I had decided (after all that sanctimony) that even I would allow myself one single indulgence in the Louvre, and even to treat the no flash rule a little like the average Frenchman treats no smoking laws. There were three prime candidates on my list. The Mona Lisa would be the obvious one; the Victory of Samothrace another; and the Venus de Milo the final possibility.

Something rather unusual made my decision for me. On the day I included the Venus de Milo in my Louvre itinerary, a team of photographers was in the museum (apparently filming for a commercial). Close public access to the statue was temporarily restricted by a series of rope barriers, and Venus was lit from almost every angle. As I authoratively made my way to the front of the curious crowd of onlookers a guard saw me, unfastened a rope cordon and waved me in. I guess I resembled one of the crew. My desire to blend-in in Paris was at its best!!! Not one to miss a chance, I approached the statue, crouched slightly, removed the camera from my pocket and had my own picture of Venus. I returned the camera to my jacket, turned and went back into the crowd, avoiding the gaze of the guard who had given me my lucky access pass.

Mine is a fairly typical view of Venus, but taken with no flash, no rules broken (I don’t think), and no (additional) inconvenience to anyone.

I felt good about that.

Paris – Carrousel Arch - 1er

Carrousel Arch (detail)

Before proceeding into the Louvre museum, which lies just beyond, it is worth taking the time to explore the workmanship of this arch.

The rose marble bas-relief carvings decorating the Carrousel Arch commemorate various Napoleonic victories, both military and diplomatic. The main reliefs depict the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon entering Vienna, the Peache of Pressburg, the Tilsit Conference, and the surrender of Ulm. Hundreds of carved rosettes adorn the interior friezes of the three arches that form the whole edifice. C’est magnifique!

Paris - Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel - 1er

Plate IX - Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

I am constantly surprised by how few first time visitors to Paris are aware that there are two Napoleonic triumphal arches in the city. I have overheard travelers commenting on how little the Arc de Triomphe is when viewing this, the smallest of the three arches along the historical axis. I have taken some delight in pointing along the Champs Elysées to the ‘real’ Arc de Triomphe, which at over twice the size of this one, I can assure them will meet their size expectations!!!

What I cannot assure them of is that the more famous Arc de Triomphe up the road can match this one in sheer beauty. Surrounding the exterior of the Carrousel Arch are eight granite Corinthian columns mounted by soldiers of the Napoleonic Empire. Reputedly modeled on the Roman Constantine Arch, the Carrousel Arch was completed in 1808 and was designed by Charles Percier and Pierre Léonard Fontaine. Decorative bas-relief friezes are carved in rose marble, and the work on the interior of the arches is breathtaking. Prior to their return to Venice in 1815 the arch was surmounted by the horses of Saint Mark’s Cathedral (a Napoleonic conquest). These were replaced by a Francois Joseph Bosio sculpture of  a chariot-riding Peace led on either side by golden Victories. Ironically the piece recognises the fall of Napoleon, and the brief restoration of the monarchy.

Paris - Tuileries Gardens Detail - 1er

Plate VIII - Thinking, reading and dreaming

For any photographer looking for studies of human behaviour I can think of no better place to venture than this city. A camera snapping at every turn means that Parisians have largely become immune to seeing lenses pointed in their direction (although I was later to experience a very strong exception to this belief).And Parisians live their city.

Wherever you go you will find them enjoying every aspect and attraction of urban life – from the parcs and the banks of the Seine to the flesh-spots of the Boulevard Clichy. Shoppers will be scurrying from boutiques to the ‘grands magasins’ to fill their desires, professionals will be striding out to get to their next appointments - and everywhere lovers abound. Tourists, for them - well, they’re just something to be endured. They bring revenue to the city, and that can’t all be bad. 

But for the citizens of Paris there is always time too to relax. This has always been a home for the thinkers, the literature students, and the dreamers. I saw them all – but seldom on one bench.

And then, Paris has statues – they are found in almost every part of the city. Coming from a country where public art is an exception more than a rule, one could make a tour of Paris devoted these figures alone, not even venturing into one of the many museums where the collections of works are so vast that a number of them are not often on display. In the Tuileries Gardens many magnificent works will be found concentrated in a relatively small area. It is a gourmet fest of the (often unidentified) sculpturer’s art ... and of people.

Paris - Axe Historique - La Défense

Plate V - Grande Arche view of the Axe Historique …

If I have one recommendation for any first time visitor to Paris it is to start your visit, whether you are here for one day or several, with a familiarization viewing of the city from the top of the Grande Arche. Although I was to make several unforgivable (but enjoyable) ‘blunders’ in planning my city wanderings, you will truly get a feeling for the siting of everything you will see or want to see during your time here. This is to Paris, what the London Eye has become to that other nearby capital across the channel.

The almost nine and a half kilometer precision of the historical axis (and indeed Haussman’s city plans radiating from Etoile) becomes apparent with the view from here. Proceeding from La Défense along the Ave. de la Grande Armée, through the Arc de Triomphe, along the Champs Elysées, throught the third arch (du Carrousel) and onto the Louvre, you will also understand the axe’s other name the Voie Triomphale (Triumphal Way). Some slight deviations from perfection do exist, (I have previously mentioned the almost negligible 6.33 degree rotation of the Grande Arche) the axis having been planned along the center of Tuileries Gardens rather than the Vieux Louvre (as the old palace was called). Cleverly, Haussman placed Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel on the fulcrum point of the Tuileries Palace to Vieux Louvre axis, disguising the ‘fault’ of the join. Further sympathy to the axis was shown by I.M Pei in placing the equestrian statue of Louis XIV adjacent to his Pyramide in the Cour Napoléon of the Grande Louvre design – marking the furthest point of the axis.

Although I did not know it at the time of my visit, a secondary axis forms along the line of the Eiffel Tower, and the Tour Montparnasse. Notice the seemingly solid lower section of the Eiffel Tower in the picture, caused by the alignment of these two landmark city edifices. It was only while questioning the strange apparent solidity of the tower that I discovered how, through fortunate chance, I had captured this placement. It would seem however that nothing about Paris happens through mere chance.

Paris - Grande Arche Focus - La Défense

Plate IV - Grande Arche elevators…

Amongst the unique features of the Grande Arche are the elevators taking visitors to the belvedere platform forming the span, or roof, of the structure. These comprise of transparent panoramic bubbles or pods. Rising from ground level with increasingly dramatic views of the Paris skyline they allow occupants a 360-degree view of the trip up the 110-metre side of the arche. Even the pod roof is fully transparent as evidenced by this look up through the scaffold-like framework guiding the elevator to the top, into the ever-enlarging aperture and then through into the viewing platform. This platform is an exhibition center, housing a permanent multi-media museum covering the history of the arche, and frequently changing exhibitions of art in the Paris gallery. The elevators run daily, from 10h00 a.m. to 19h00 p.m., with the last one going up at 18h30 p.m..  

Being alone and on business, I was to miss my wife on many occasions in this city of love - but my ascension in the pod was not one of them, for she will climb almost any number of stairs or stay at ground level in preference to taking even a regular enclosed elevator, such is her dislike of them. However, she liked the picture!!

The outlook over the city is spectacular.

Paris - Grande Arche - La Défense

Plate II - Quatre Temps, the Grande Arche, and CNIT…

La Défense is primarily a business area. Named for a statue (La Défense de Paris) commemorating the defense of Paris in the 1870 Franco-Prussian war, many of the city’s highest office buildings and large commercial premises are situated here, including the Quatre Temps shopping mall (left). Typical of modern malls a wide range of shops is to be found, the tenant mix catering for both residents of the nearby Nanterre, as well as the office workers of La Défense itself.

Although not the tallest building in the area (that dubious honour belonging to the GAN Tower) La Défense is dominated by the Grande Arche de la Fraternité (centre), constructed in 1989, the centennial year of the Eiffel Tower, and in it’s own way just as significant a landmark of Paris. Also dubbed the Tête Défense this arche celebrates humanity rather than the military victories of Napoleon’s two other Parisian arches.

An exhibition of sculptural works was in place in the spaces surrounding the Arche, one of which can be seen in the image.

It would be hard to miss the nearby CNIT (Centre des Nouvelles Industries et Technologies (right)), with its amazing shell like roof construction. Constructed in the late 1950’s France once again used designs, methods and technologies others thought unrealistic at the time. A popular venue for conventions, exhibitions and conferences the expansive 22,500 square metre reinforced concrete roof (it remains the largest of its kind in the world) is supported only at three points, each some 200 metres apart. Interestingly many of the grand landmarks of Paris are the legacy of various French presidents. Not to be outdone by his predecessors President Sarkozy has perhaps the grandest (and most controversial) vision of all with his plans today for a Grand Paris - a vision that could change the way future generations will see Paris forever.