October 7, 2007
Les flâneurs de Paris (The strollers of Paris)
Here I'm walking toward the Tuileries, crossing the Rue Castiglione near the Place Vendôme.
The first cross street there that you see in the Rue Saint-Honoré, a street of very fashionable
designer botiques and shops. The Place Vendôme is the location of the Ritz Hotel and
the Rue de la Paix is just beyond.
The beautiful Rue de Rivoli, on the right,
Les Tuileries.
Strolling, a common pastime in Paris
particularly on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
It seemed like everyone in Paris was out!
The little pond and the children with their sailboats.
The main bulding to the rear is the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, a part of the Louvre.
Another look at the Tuileries with the Louvre beyond -
so many people out, just enjoying the sun and the city.
Looking across the Seine at the Quai Voltaire and the Left Bank. Just past the
square column of the Pont du Carousel is the Rue des Saints-Pères where we stayed.
Rue des Saints-Pères
Le Pont des Arts is a pedestrian bridge. Here the Seine broadens and flows around the
Île de la Cité. In the center you can see the spire of the Sainte-Chapelle, and slightly to the right of that
is one of the towers of the corner of le Palais de Justice.
In this view, the Left Bank is on your right and the Right Bank is on your left.
Le Pont Neuf et l'Île de la Cité
A view from the Pont Neuf toward the Pont au Change.
The buildings on the right are the Conciergerie where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned
before her execution. The buildings also enclose the Palais de Jiustice and the Sainte-Chapelle,
the antechamber to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror.
On the left is the Right Bank of the Seine.
La Sainte Chapelle and the entrance of the
Palais de Justice on Boulevard du Palais.
For nine hundred years,
Notre Dame has looked down on this scene, and Parisians for even longer have walked by the river.
Your Web Master Joe posing on the Pont Saint-Michel
The late afternoon sun started to do its magic as I walked back
on the Left Bank, looking across at the Île de la Cité and the
Quai d'Orléans. The bridge in the distance is the Pont Neuf.
Residential biuildings alomg the Quai d'Orléans
the Pont Neuf beyond.
Lengthening shadows
Taken from the Left Bank, looking back toward the Sainte-Chapelle
you can see the spire on the left, the Pont Saint-Michel crossing the Seine to the Île de la Cité
l'Île de la Cité
Late afternoon on the Seine
looking across from the Left Bank to the Quai du Louvre