Paris1972-Versailles2003

Ok folks lets go into higher gears in my eternal Paris. As said, a blog on its own should be more fitting but will give briefs on the wonderful things to see and do here, already with many many posts on Paris, the city I have great memories of working there while living nearby and now still visiting.

One of the places that is a must to go in Paris is the Jardin du  Luxembourg  , wonderful spots spent many afternoons with my boys there. Therefore, let me tell you about what we found best there, and I meant just the best for us. And why not start with the Fontaine Médicis.

Now, this one is world popular and heavily visited even in visited Jardin du Luxembourg; however, it is worth a look as we walk this wonderful garden. The Medicis fountain is unique in the garden.

The Fontaine Médicis fountain as the world knows is in the Jardin du Luxembourg garden. It was earlier called the cave de Luxembourg! Its construction, around 1630, was commissioned by Queen Marie de Médicis, widow of Henri IV, around the Luxembourg Palace which she had it built. Marie de Médicis wanted to install numerous caves, fountains, pools and terraces with games of water, in order to rediscover the architectural atmosphere of the nymphs of her childhood, such as the cave of Buontalenti in Florence. This fountain is the only vestige of this type of construction ordered by the Queen.

More than a cave, it is a facade 14 meters high and 12 meters wide, intended to hide the buildings on Rue d’Enfer, near which it was located. It includes three niches, separated by four columns of Tuscan style. A pediment decorated with the arms of France and the Medicis overhangs it, and framed by two lying allegorical figures, the Rhone and the Seine rivers. From the 17C to the beginning of the 19C, the pool located in front of the central cave does not include water games The cave is initially installed to the east of the Luxembourg garden, in the perspective of the alley between the Porte des Carmes and the Rue d’Enfer, thus skirting the south facade of the palace.

Like the Luxembourg Palace, the garden was rearranged after the Senate was installed in its walls in 1799. The arms of Henri IV and the Medicis were removed and, in the central niche, a small marble statue of Venus was placed. Finally, the small pool is now fed by a waterfall located under the statue. What was then only an Italian style portico becomes a fountain. In the 1850s, the walls that extended the cave on each side were demolish In the early 1860s, the fountain was moved, following the drilling of the rue de Médicis, carried out as part of the urban planning work of the prefect Haussmann in Paris ,the Medicis fountain was dismantled stone by stone in 1862 and brought closer to the palace by around thirty meters. The arms of France re-established, and built a basin fifty meters long, the railing of which is decorated with basins; two rows of plane trees line the basin. The statuary is also renovated in the central niche, the statue of Venus is replaced by a group of three mythological characters entitled Polyphemus surprising Galatea in the arms of Acis, Polyphemus, legendary cyclops, is in love with Galatea, young and beautiful sea nymph. Crouching on a rock, an animal skin on its back, it observes Galatea in the arms of Acis, ready to kill its rival with a rock The couple is languidly lying at the edge of the water. The contrast is striking between the enormous and dark mass of the cyclops and the whiteness of the pair of two young people. In addition, the very shape of the basin provides the illusion that the body of water is tilted. In the side niches are placed two statues of fauna and hunting. The rear facade of the fountain is also redeveloped alongside the Léda fountain, formerly located at the corner of rue du Regard and rue du Vaugirard, removed by the drilling of rue de Rennes. This second fountain includes a bas-relief made in 1807; and it is surmounted by a half-couple and a pediment, on which are lying two statues of naiads.

Ok so that is the description from an architecture point of view that I like. Like said, the Médicis fountain is very popular. The quickest entrance to it is by the Place Edmond Rostang  off rue de Médicis  with the water fountain on your back and can see the Panthéon. The legend of these unfortunate lovers was very famous in the 17C. In 1686, Jean-Baptiste Lully composed the opera Acis et Galatée. This grandiose pastoral was performed for the first time in front of the Grand Dauphin, son of Louis XIV. In many mythologies, the fountain is linked to the cult of trees, mysterious waters and sacred stones. A territory domesticated by man, it is also a door to the invisible. The Medici Fountain is a place of rest and romantic stroll appreciated by all. Everything seems magic: the plane trees with green gold foliage which are reflected in the water, the colorful fish, the shimmers and shadows, the voluptuous gestures of lovers whose marble skin is sometimes so alive ; it can be magical!

The Senate of France on the Fontaine Médicis in French: Senat de France on Fontaine Médicis

The tourist office of Paris on the jardin du Luxembourg in English: Tourist office of Paris on the Jardin du Luxembourg

Near the porte Edmond Rostang we have enjoyed coffees ices at Amorino Soufflot on way to the Panthéon (see post). Also, the Columbus Café a nice spot by rue Soufflot. For a full meal we had Le Choupinet on bd St Michel very nice. Enjoy it!

This is the magic of Paris, always Paris. The Jardin du Luxembourg is an integral part of this dream city, the most beautiful in the world. In the center of it all, we have the Medici fountain;: hope you enjoy the tour.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

Ok folks lets go into higher gears in my eternal Paris. As said, a blog on its own should be more fitting but will give briefs on the wonderful things to see and do here, already with many many posts on Paris, the city I have great memories of working there while living nearby and now still visiting.

One of the places that is a must to go in Paris is the Jardin du  Luxembourg  , wonderful spots spent many afternoons with my boys there. Therefore, let me tell you about what we found best there, and I meant just the best for us. And why not my favorite statue fountain of Eugéne Delacroix. One of favorite personage in the history of France and a painter’s delight.

In the Jardin du Luxembourg there is one monument dedicated to Eugéne Delacroix, the painter A complex monument comprising a fountain, a bust and decorative characters. This monument was inaugurated on October 5, 1890.  Eugène Delacroix is a French painter born in 1798 in Charenton-Saint-Maurice and died in 1863 in Paris. The times raises glory to the left, so that she lays a crown and a palm in front of the bust, on the right, Apollo, genius of the Arts, applauds this late recognition. The total height of the monument is 4.50 meters. Sculptor Dalou used a photograph of the painter by Nadar to carved his features. On the pedestal you can read  ” A /Eugéne Delacroix / 1798 – 1863 / Ses Admirateurs”  or To / Eugéne Delacroix / 1798 – 1863 / His Admirers. It is located between the Luxembourg Palace and the Orangerie behind the Luxembourg Museum.

It consists of a rectangular basin in white marble into which six water jets are poured by masks fixed on the wall of the water buffet which decorate the background. The bronze and marble monument is 4.5 meter  high and the bust of Delacroix is ​​one meter high. On a base surmounted by three steps is placed a stele, on which is fixed the bronze bust of Eugène Delacroix  who participated in the painted decoration of the Senate Palace and Saint-Sulpice Church,  a particularly abundant work and whose merits are universally known. The face of the painter marked by fatigue and illness in the last years of his life is severe and a little discouraged.

The artist is accompanied by allegories of bronze whose figures evoke Time, Glory and the Genius of the arts. Time is on the left side, it is obviously a somewhat shoddy, bearded and bald god; however, he carries in his arms a pleasant and sensual young woman, as the sculptor Jules Dalou loved them, raising him to the bust of Delacroix, to whom it offers a palm that honors and symbolizes the many merits of the painter. On the right side is the Genie of the Arts in the form of a crowned god who claps in his hands to applaud the triumph of Delacroix. At the foot of the monumental sculptures are quivers with their arrows, a Franc helmet, characters and bucranes. An inscription on the stele recalls that this monument was erected thanks to the subscription of his friends and admirers in 1890.

Ok so these are the webpages to give more info on this monument.

The Senate of France on sculptures such as Delacroix: Senat de France on sculpture such as Delacroix

I take my bus 82 by Rue Auguste Comté almost corner with Bd St Michel to do some walks around here before moving onward home by train. If come by car stop by Rue Guynemer off street parking on the other side. On the bus the nearb Le Bac St Michel is a nice place to unwind, Friends restaurant for quick snacks burgers and such is ok. My fav is on the other side Le Guynemer.

Of course I need to tell you on this post a bit on the man Eugéne Delacroix, one of my favorite painters of France. RIP

When he was born, his father, Charles Delacroix, held important positions as Minister of Foreign Affairs, then as Ambassador to Holland. He was then appointed prefect in Marseille, then in Bordeaux, where he died when the young Eugène was six years old. His mother, Victoire Delacroix, was the daughter of one of the greatest cabinetmakers of his time, Jean-François Oeben, in the service of King Louis XV.  Thanks to the support of his uncle, the painter Henri-François Riesener, Eugène Delacroix entered the studio of the painter Pierre-Narcisse Guérin in 1815. It was then one of the largest workshops in Paris, frequented by many artists.

And the rest is beautiful painting history such as at  the Salon of 1822, he was only twenty-four years old, Delacroix presented at the Salon a first large canvas, inspired by literary history, Dante and Virgil in Hell (now at the Louvre museum). He presented at the Salon of 1824 a large painting, inspired by the events of the Greek War of Independence, Scene of the Massacres of Scio (now at the Louvre museum). In 1827, Delacroix exhibited, with several other paintings, a masterful Death of Sardanapalus (now at the Louvre museum). Linked to a play by the English poet Lord Byron, the work shows the oriental sovereign seated at the top of a pyre, surrounded by his horses, his riches, his wives, whom he wished had disappeared with him, condemned for treason.  He presented at the Salon of 1831 his Freedom guiding the people, a masterful work linking ancient allegory and contemporary representation. The work is acquired by the State and exhibited now at the Luxembourg Museum.

In 1826, he had already received an order from Christ in the Jardin des Oliviers for the Saint-Paul Saint-Louis Church in the Marais. In 1834, thanks to the support of Adolphe Thiers, Delacroix was commissioned to produce the sets for the Salon du Roi at the Palais Bourbon, in the Chamber of Deputies. In 1837, he received the order for the ceiling of the library of this same in the Chamber of Deputies, devoted to the arts and sciences. In the mid-1840s, he also painted the decor of the Luxembourg Palace library, the current Senate. In the early 1850s, Delacroix was honored with the commission for the central decor of the Galerie d’Apollon, designed in the 17C by the painter Charles Le Brun, and remained unfinished. It represents the god Apollo, winner of the serpent Python. It’s the victory of light over darkness, a victory of color.

Delacroix paints a very moving Pietà in the Saint-Denis-du-Saint-Sacrement Church, in what is now rue Turenne. In 1849, he received the order for the decorations of a chapel of the very large Saint-Sulpice Church, the Chapel of the Holy Angels. This masterful work occupied him until 1861. He produced two large facing murals, The Struggle of Jacob with the Angel and Heliodorus expelled from the temple, as well as the ceiling, Saint Michael defeating the demon.

in January 1857, at the seventh attempt, the painter was finally accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts. The loyal Jenny Le Guillou, his housekeeper who joined him in 1835, was the only one to live by his side, sparing him the hassles of everyday life. Eugène Delacroix died on August 13, 1863 in his apartment on the rue de Fürstenberg ; his atelier and today museum in his honor at no. 6-8. Jenny Le Guillou takes his last breath, in the early hours of the morning.

A wonderful and well merit monument to a great painter of our modern times, one we may never see the likes again. Hope you enjoy the Jardin du Luxembourg and especially the monument of Eugéne Delacroix; always a must stop for me.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

Ok folks lets go into higher gears in my eternal Paris. As said, a blog on its own should be more fitting but will give briefs on the wonderful things to see and do here, already with many many posts on Paris, the city I have great memories of working there while living nearby and now still visiting.

One of the places that is a must to go in Paris is the Jardin du  Luxembourg  , wonderful spots spent many afternoons with my boys there. Therefore, let me tell you about what we found best there, and I meant just the best for us. And why not start with the Grand Bassin or great basin or big pool.

The Jardin du Luxembourg is one of the favorite green spaces for Parisians and tourists. It covers twenty-three hectares, twenty-one of which are open to the public. The fun part which my boys did enjoyed when came over to walks in Paris  was the rental of remotely operated boats that they maneuver on the Grand Bassin!! The majestic piece of water, octagonal in shape, was installed under the First Empire by Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin , Architect of king Louis XVI, ordering public holidays under the Consulate and designer-among other wonders of the Arc de Triomphe at Place de l’Etoile!

In front of the Senate of France in golden light, around the Grand Bassin nestles at the crossroads of two axes around which the powerful scenography of the premises revolves. At its center, it houses a fountain made up of three half-naked, half-draped cherubs, which emerge from a small landscape of stylised reeds and support a vase. From the basin a medium-sized central jet takes off and the water is poured out by two flow edges, spit out by chimeric heads. The work, anonymous, is simple and graceful. We don’t know much about it except where it comes from: the Domaine of Chantilly. The Senate would have acquired it in 1801 or 1802.

All around, on the shimmering water, the famous little sailboats frolic, childhood dreams and not only as adults enjoy it too..The Grand Bassin is also an exhibition space for majestic Canary date palms and a gallery of open-air sculptures .These date palms have long belonged to the botanical heritage of the Jardin du Luxembourg. During the winter, they are kept in the Orangerie, a building decorated with busts of great artists of the 19C. Such as Calliope, muse of epic poetry and eloquence. Calliope, mother of the poet Orpheus whose lyre she wears, wife of Apollo, god of the sun and light . The poets of Antiquity particularly liked to evoke it. The year of creation of this beautiful marble is unknown. Calliope would have been brought back to France after the siege of Sébastopol, in 1855 or 1856, by the Marshal Aimable Pélissier .She is represented in a fantastic way, the dolphin, faithful companion of the goddess of love and beauty, is associated with the fluids of life, with luxuriance but also with death and the ambivalence of water. Venus embody life but she is also, let us not forget, a psychopump goddess. Spring overlord, Flore brandishes the crown of poetic inspiration, an emblem of joy and fertility associated with the Floralies, celebrations of the renewal of nature which take place around April 15. As with Venus with the Dolphin, the author of the work is not identified. The creation date is unknown. This marble made according to the antique was visible in the Jardin du Luxembourg under the First Empire. There are two Flore marbles in Luxembourg, one located to the west and the other installed to the east of the Grand Bassin.

There is a wonderful explanation of it at the Senate of France webpage in French of course, this is a government own place. Senate of France on the jardin du Luxembourg heritage

The tourist office of Paris has some info in English: Paris tourist office on the jardin du luxembourg

In all this is a wonderful time spent with families and a great rest stop while visiting. As I go by the Rue Guynemer for off street parking and the porte de Fleurus corner with Rue de Fleurus passing by the replica of the statue of LIberty which of course did not took a photo ::) .. this takes you straight to the Grand Bassin! And on my left the statue of Anne de Bretagne! Outside there is the nice Café Fleurus we enjoyed  as well as a bit further Le Guynemer! 

Hope you enjoy the Grand Bassin of the Jardin du Luxembourg of Paris of course. And remember, happy travels ,good health, and many cheers to all!!!