Yes, we'll always have Paris. Click here to start the August adventure.
TABLE OF CONTENTS TO OUR ART TOUR OF PARIS FOR CITY PLANNERS AND PAINTERS...ORIGINAL GRAPHICS, P.O.R. .
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SOME HISTORY; here is a link to some French planning maps - as in the U.S.A., government regional planning funds go mostly to transit, so it seems!
Seat of some functions of government and more history;
Churches including you know who;
Vitrail - Stained glass on the Île de la Cité;
The residential island. Very interesting history from a planner's point of view! See map here: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Map_of_%C3%8Ele_Saint-Louis_-_OpenStreetMap_2015.svg
- Is Paris the "Hub" of the European economy?
La Défense: Although there is some housing here, most of what appears to have been
built is commercial .
-
And the "left bank" for artists...and did we mention all the bridges?
How we spent our summer vacation...and as is our creative wont, we have been inspired to explore just what makes the Summer, for me, such a special time.
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*Red star is Île de la Cité . home of legal system and police and below ground the Memorial of the Deportation.
(We
visited looking for city hall, to no avail. Hôtel de Ville - city
hall - is across the Seine. Insight into its form of
government - "neighborhood governments" in each of 20
arrondissements. )
Please note the Louvre graphic
above, second from the left, available as all on this page - but here
"framed/matted" as a small version of what a "print" would look like -
P.O.R.
Our first stop, First Arrondissement. Check
in! We could have had a marvelous time without needing a transit map or going
anywhere else!
So we unpacked and then took a stroll down the
Champs-Élysées...this after arriving with jet lag, it was Paris at
night, outdoor cafe, so much
French spilling out so fast! Mon dieu!
Bonjour!
GET IN THE MOOD...
UNE VUE SUPERBE
Look to the right, look to the left. Paris is inspiring in all
directions! Out the front door, gardens, sculpture...
and streets align
geometrically, it is said, as military strategy. Seat of governmental... in the 8th.
SOME HISTORY
The "old world" or Europe, isn't called that for
nothing! Much of pre-American history began here and explains in
some ways why we are as free as we are.
Hôtel de Sens
Among the oldest buildings in Paris, on the left...in the 4th
Arrondissement - a religious institution and another! As well as a vacant building in
Le Marais.
THE SUN DOES NOT ALWAYS SHINE IN PARIS BUT WHEN THE CLOUDS DEPART...
Sacré Coeur is at the top of the hill...Montmartre. A street in Montmartre (18th
arrondissement)...graphic in the painterly style of Van Gogh - and his
building is around the corner!
Consecrated in 1919, Sacré Coeur perhaps lends itself to artistic
expression more modern, Giacometti-style, such as that above left.
MSW woodcut ? The U.S. Capitol or is it...The Taj Mahal?
Church design actually inspired by another culture's famous 17th century
mausoleum? Or perhaps more flamboyant because...it is in
Montmartre?
Some places to visit by METRO and on foot...
We begin each day always at Place des Pyramides, hard by the Louvre and the Jardin des Tuileries. which was then the place to see Impressionists (Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume
).
MY HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED...
As you may be aware, there is placed in front of the Louvre, a prominent glass structure in the shape of a of nearby named street? And (r) the Gare
d'Orsay was a train station. It is now the Musée d'Orsay.
Gardens. Trocadéro, at the site of the Palais de
Chaillot, 16th arrondissement; Champs de Mars, 7th arrondissement,
at the end of which is the Eiffel Tower...
Paris is a riot of color, which is perhaps why it
has been home to artists? And did we mention the
light? If color provides the excitement, the piercing light of
Paris adds drama!!!
JARDIN DES TUILERIES AND SCULPTURE
THE RAPE OF PARIS? WELL, NOT EXACTLY..."THE NIGHT" ONE MAILLOT THAT TRANSCENDED THE GARDENS THEMSELVES, IMHO.
Perhaps the most spectacular sculpture garden ever, thought I the first
day in Paris! And more sculpture indoors and out emerged... did we
mention that the Tuileries actually is a garden that became a routine
to visit?
Île de la Cité and Île Saint-Louis
A MAJOR FEATURE OF PARIS IS THAT A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT. TWO ISLANDS SIT IN ITS MIDDLE...Île de la Cité; AND
Île Saint-Louis
The Seine makes its way languidly across France...the courts and the police in Paris are on an island. Bridges get you to various and significant historical tombs as well.
Île de la Cité
Ten (10) bridges connect
it to both sides of the Seine - including the one to the smaller island
in the Seine, Île Saint-Louis.
BASTILLE DAY JULY 14th
"Conciergerie" (framed in red) for those awaiting the guillotine...in the First Arrondissement.
Also on the Île de la Cité;
A PRECIOUS RELIC ITSELF. AWESOME STAINED GLASS WINDOWS
Art and Architecture go together. Next door to the Conciergerie,
Sainte-Chapelle is seriously Gothic. Awesome stained glass windows
- or did we say that already? In the First Arrondissement.
One of the top ten tourist spots - which is why our snapshots are from
more original views, alas.
"Printmaking" conveys yet even more emotion, n'est-ce pas?
Perhaps the favorite church for painters to paint. And graphic art
in which to revel? Who can forget great literary usage of its
design, either...movies, black and white?
THE OTHER ISLAND...
Île Saint-Louis
:
The other island in the Seine is residential...this is the place
to go, perhaps, if you have the money, for an extended stay?
In reading about its plan, the island orients outward from a middle-spine, Rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Île with 5 intersecting streets and no fewer than six bridges to either the left or right banks.
"Quais" encircle the entire island and there is a park at each
end. As a residential oasis, it seems to be a real estate agent's
dream location - everybody has at least an obstructed water view!
BELOW
From close by the eastern end, a graphic...
BELOW
Now try adding color...
BELOW
And at the western end, is a little bridge to Île de la Cité (not shown)
- and in the distance, perhaps, we see the tower of the "Conciergerie" ...
Île Saint-Louis
RESIDENTIAL ONLY - BUT WITH SHOPPING AND DINING ON ITS MAIN STREET
Chopin stayed here.
Polish Library/museum
(If memory serves, we strolled around this smaller island and were
reminded of, for example, Riverside Drive in Manhattan - and found the
place we'd move to in a nano-second!)
Nous ne sommes pas peur
Well, we may be unafraid, but the air quality in the video link below is
reminiscent of New York in the late 1960's. Truly, the colors and
gorgeous clouds in 1971 REALLY were as I've drawn all these years later!
Since my method required looking carefully at what is on the original
material - my own slides turned into jpeg's - I am distilling what "was there"
and creating a new work of my own art. And yes, more than
anything, the sky and clouds were the most special part of my trip to
Paris. Would I go back? Not so sure as so many "planning
improvements" have despoiled its classic look and feel...
NOTE: At
2:35 into the video below is information I had not known about this, my
very favorite place in Paris!
Perhaps a place to rent? Here is one video tour - not ours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWpOtKAjgX0
FOR PLANNERS ONLY
And if you are interested, here is how the environment is discussed in France: http://www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/REE2014-EN.pdf
Napoleon's Tomb (Pont Alexandre)
ALSO LEFT BANK...ACROSS THE PONT DES ARTS...
It was an unexpected pleasure coming upon the École des Beaux-Arts...perhaps the history of Paris for me is about art!
MODERN ARCHITECTURE PERHAPS INTRUDES? OR NOT?
CITÉ UNIVERSITAIRE VISIT ON A HOT AUGUST DAY
Interestingly, perhaps the best architect and city planner was gone
too soon to save a growing Paris. Le Corbusier did contribute to
Cité Universitaire in the 18th arrondissement...
La Défense in red...
EXISTING OUTSIDE THE HISTORIC AREAS AND BEYOND THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE IN GREEN ABOVE...METRO STOP BELOW...
LANDSCAPE IS WHERE YOU FIND IT
Nice subway station. But then everything in Paris is
beautiful. Even construction cranes. dotted across the sky - it
was a magnificent day for landscape painting!
La
Défense
According to online sources, has 38 million square feet of
office space (plus shopping mall, residences, etc.) on @400 acres. Artistic license department.
Construction shown above from our visit. In the 16th
arrondissement, La Défense as shown here is before centerpiece rather squat "arch."
We note the superior concept and design of an earlier "arch" designed
post-WWII by famous architect for St. Louis, Missouri, US.A.. St.. Louis's is cool, classic and soars as a visual message, bien sûr.
CHARTRES
And for a rare treat - train trip to see Chartres. Please note
that Chartres was built and rebuilt several times - there were previous
Romanesque as well as Gothic versions
THE COLOR OF LIGHT... AND DARKS
Historic and national treasure. Windows (one example, "West Window" below) beyond
capabilitiy of About Weston to describe...
It doesn't matter how you transform it - Chartres is awesome!
