Arenes de Lutece is a Roman amphitheater constructed in the 1st century AD. It is one of the longest ever built by the Romans, and it's estimated that it once held between 15,000 and 17,000 spectators. It would have originally been used for gladiator fights, and there is evidence that several animal holding cells were located in notches below parts of the seating area. Although significant portions of the arena have been lost over the centuries, what remains has been restored and now serves as a public park.
The best part of the walk, led by Professor Reuter and his Russian nuclear physicist friend Dimitri, was that we got to see many of the quaint backstreets of Paris. While the grand avenues and boulevards are great, it is on these small streets that you get closer to the French people and the true culture of Paris.
One of the great features of Paris is it's numerous sidewalk restaurants and cafes. They have these in London too, but with a more modern twist with metal chairs and bright lights. Places likes these seem stuck in a previous time, where life was slower and it was nothing to spend time eating outside enjoying each other's company. Late at night and early in the morning you can see the owners of restaurants and storekeepers sweeping up in front of their shops. They take such pride in the businesses they keep, and their hospitality is evident as you walk by.
On each trip I tend to be drawn to a certain theme when taking in pictures. In Cambridge, for example, it was bikes. In Paris it seems to be windows. There are so many old buildings that have so much character. Aside from being fascinating architectural features, windows are symbolic of the building's history. When you think about all of the people who looked out of them for hundreds of years...you try to imagine what they saw. What did the city look like to a person looking out a hundred years ago? There will be more window pictures coming up. I also liked this building in particular because of its texture - the peeling paint on the shutters and the varying colors of the stone blocks in the wall especially.
This is a courtyard at one of the Paris Universities. Norman and Dimitri told us that the French educational system is much different from education in England, and that there is a huge emphasis on math and science. This is one of the reasons that Dimitre lives in Paris as a nuclear physicist. In fact, on Sunday we passed a massive complex that was designed as a sort of science museum to teach the public and children from an early age about fundamental scientific principles.
The Pantheon in Paris is in the city's Latin Quarter. It is an example of Neoclassical architecture and was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Originally it was a church dedicated to St. Genevieve, and since has also served as a famous burial site. Construction began in 1758 and, after delays due to financial difficulties, it was completed in 1789. Certain design flaws led to significant structural problems with the dome, and the iron reinforcements that help hold it up have started to corrode. Several measures have been taken over the years to stabilize the dome and ensure the safety of visitors below it. Among the famous people that rest here are Voltaire, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Victor Hugo.
As we walked into the entrance to a park, we looked to the left and there was a bride and groom posing for a picture. It was really funny as half of our group stopped to take pictures of our own. What a great souvenir to remember how romantic Paris is.
This is the path that took us into the park that surrounds Luxembourg Palace. The bride and groom were up and to the right from where this picture was taken. It was so nice to finally see leaves on the trees - they haven't fully come out in London yet, only the blossoming trees. The interesting thing is, because different avenues were planted with different types of trees, some streets have all of their leaves out while others are still completely bare.
Luxembourg Palace is the seat of the French Senate. It was finished in 1631, and is surrounded by large gardens full of statues and fountains. Today the gardens are open as a public park, and there are lawn chairs for people to sit, read, and relax. And below, as promised, are pictures of more windows:
I was reading in the New York Times this fall about this unique public bike sharing program that Paris has implemented. All around the city there are these bike renting stations. The bikes are locked into a post, and released when you put a deposit in the machine. The bike is then yours for the day until you return it to any other nearby bike station. I'm pretty sure that you get your deposit back. The program has been well received, and the bikes are immensely popular. Indeed, we saw them all over the place. There are certain problems though - several of the bikes have been returned damaged, and many not returned at all. The article mentioned that the program was starting to run out of money, and planners are looking at ways to keep the service viable. There is at least one major east coast city in the US looking to follow this example and start a service like this of their own.
Like in London, musicians in Paris set up anywhere from the metro to public squares. We came across this accordion player in one of the squares. I was surprised at how early he was out playing - it must have been a little after 11 am. There weren't even that many people out on the streets yet. Usually you see musicians during rush hour and in the afternoons. Not that I'm complaining - it's nice to have music any time of the day!
A little further down from the accordion player was a couple out enjoying the nice weather. It was a little colder though on Saturday, not like Friday where we were roasting in the afternoon sun in the gardens at Versailles. I personally enjoyed the cool breeze during our walk.
I don't remember what this building was...I want to say it was a museum, but I couldn't find it when I did a search online. Maybe it's just a church. Either way, we saw it for the cute little garden in the back. There is a steel sculpture in the middle of some of the plants that was pretty interesting too.
Something I've noticed in London, that's even more apparent in France, is that there are a lot more older cars on the road than in the United States. In Paris there are tons of cars that I would place from the at least in the early 90s. Obviously not as old as this Mini Cooper in the picture, but still it is very noticeable. I think that the reason for this might be a more temperate climate (being from upstate NY, I personally am used to the salt used on the roads in the winter eating through cars and preventing them from lasting too long). Also, I think the European countries have less of that "disposable society" mindset that is so prevalent in the US.
This church is distinctly French. You can tell by looking at the large window over the front door. We learned in my "history through architecture" class that windows with that flame-like design in the windows are unique to French designs. There some examples of this in London, and they are much different from the straight rectangular windows used by the English.
I have a feeling that this is near where we would have dinner later in the day. This wasn't too far from Notre Dame Cathedral, which I know we were near at dinner. There were a lot of nice narrow little streets in this section that were full of shops and places to eat.
No comments:
Post a Comment