Paris1972-Versailles2003

Well this is the top, I saw some very old pictures of mine in my vault and look up my blog to see a post on it. Behold, I have mentioned briefly on posts ,but never a single post on it. Shame on me, this has to be done right now. I have to tell you about the Place des Vosges of Paris !! Hope you enjoy the post as I even with old old pictures circa 1991-92 ! It’s true have not been by that part of Paris in years, but then again, Paris has a lot to offer !!!!

The Place des Vosges! Built in the 17C and lined with 36 private mansions with illustrious inhabitants, it is the oldest of the royal squares in Paris. If it was Napoleon who gave it its definitive name in 1800, it was King Henri IV, great urban planner, who had the idea of ​​creating the Place des Vosges , Taste the charms of the green lung of the Marais district, astride like the central statue of Louis XIII, the 3éme and 4éme arrondissements, is for sure offering oneself a suspended moment. Normal: upon arrival, a very special scent of eternity takes hold of the walker. Indeed sublime spot of my eternal Paris. But there is more…

The Place des Vosges was called the Place Royale until 1792. During the French revolution, it was renamed on August 19, 1792 by the Paris Commune place des Fédérés. On July 4, 1793, the National Convention changed this name to place de l’Indivisibilité, It is also named, unofficially, Place du Parc-d’Artillerie, or Place de la Fabrication-des-Armes. In 1800, by decree of the First Consul (later Napoléon I), it was renamed Place des Vosges in the honor of the department of Vosges (88), the first to have paid the tax during the French revolution and, incidentally, the sending of the first volunteers, from the district of Remiremont, to defend the homeland in danger. In 1814, the return of the monarchy gave it its original name of Place Royale until 1830 and from 1852 to 1870. It was also briefly named Place de la République in 1830. Lots of changes according to the power in charge.

The Place des Vosges is a square, designed on an almost square plan, 140 meters on each side, surrounded by two-story red brick apartment buildings with white limestone ties and very steep blue slate roofs, with small-paned windows, a large presentation unit. Indeed, a royal edict, taken in the 17C, imposed this ordered architecture, namely the unity of the composition of the buildings and the uniform height, with the exception of the Pavillon du Roi or king’s pavilion, in the center ,and the highest of all and the Pavillon de la Reine or queen’s pavilion, which faces it on the north side, which are deliberately higher. The current thirty-six pavilions ,corresponding to the thirty-six mansions of the time, structured around the pavilion of the king and queen, the only pavilions that remain today are four bays wide. They are composed of a ground floor with arcades, two square floors and two attic floors.

The original square was started in 1605, the work was completed in 1612, two years after the death of King Henry IV. The square was then inaugurated on the occasion of the engagement of King Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, The center of the Place des Vosges is today occupied by the Square Louis-XIII, bordered by rows of trees with, in the center, four fountains fed by the Ourcq. The Monument to Louis XIII was inaugurated in 1825. The first equestrian statue, dating from 1639, had been destroyed during the French revolution.

Some of the renown pavilions in the Place des Vosges are:

No 1 Pavillon du Roi, No 1 bis Hotel Coulanges, No 2 bis Hotel 2 bis place des Vosges, No 2: Hotel Genou de Guiberville, No 3 Hotel de Montmorin, No 4: Hotel 4 place des Vosges, No 5 Hotel de la Salle, No 6: Hôtel de Rohan-Guémené, No 6 bis: Théophile Gautier vocational school, No 7 Hotel de Sully, No 8: Hôtel de Fourcy, No 9 Hôtel de Chaulnes, No 10: Hôtel de Châtillon, No 11 Hôtel Pierrard, No 12: Hôtel Lafont, No 13 Hôtel Dyel des Hameux, No 14: Hôtel de Ribault, No 15 Hôtel Marchand, No 16: Hôtel d’Asfeldt, No 17 Hôtel de Chabannes, No 18: Hôtel de Clermont-Tonnerre, No 19 Hôtel de Montbrun, No 20 Hôtel d’Angennes de Rambouillet, No 21 Hôtel du Cardinal de Richelieu, No 22: Hôtel Laffemas, No 23 Hôtel de Bassompierre, No 24: Hôtel de Vitry, No 25 Hôtel de l’Escalopier, No 26: Hôtel de Tresmes, and No 28 Pavillon de la Reine and Hôtel d’Espinoy,

The place des Vosges has welcomes personalities from the political, media and artistic world to its square such as Madame de Sévigné, Bishop Bossuet, Victor Hugo, Duke of Sully, Colette, Isadora Duncan, Georges Simenon, Francis Blanche, Jean-Edern Hallier, DSK, Jack Lang, more recently Xavier Niel, As such ,the Place des Vosges is the meeting place for the powerful and the famous.

The Paris tourist office on the place des Vosges : https://en.parisinfo.com/transport/73189/Place-des-Vosges

There you go folks, a dandy and must visit in Paris. I am just glad finally have it in my blog! The Place des Vosges is one more reason to come to Paris indeed. Again, hope you have enjoy the post as I. See you around Paris, eventually.

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

Well here I go again, my extensive vault continues to amaze me and not even remember of some of them but hey I have been there and they must be in my blog. Few years back, while living in Versailles and working in Paris was taken to many places; some pictures were allowed others not. This one was and glad to have them. I like to tell you even if cannot be visited on the former Château de La Muette which today is the home of the OECD or Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development !! Hope you enjoy the post as I 

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation that works to build better policies for better lives. I had the priviledgeof assisting to meetings there on world finance and development in third world countries, This was nice and is another spot in my travels, even if cannot be visited unless in official capacity, It is a nice neighborhood and worth the walks around it at least.  The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) whose member countries mostly developed countries have in common a democratic system of government and a market economy. It essentially plays the role of a consultative assembly In 2021, the OECD has 38 member countries and brings together several hundred experts. It frequently publishes economic and social studies analyses, forecasts and economic policy recommendations, and statistics, mainly concerning its member countries.

The headquarters of the OECD is located in the 16éme arrondissement of Paris in the former Château de la Muette.The organisation was initially founded in 1948 to implement the Marshall Plan, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) saw its economic role diminish when it came to an end in 1952. The OECD which succeeded it in 1961 turned to the economic studies and widened beyond the European dimension, adding to the 18 European members the United States, Canada, then Japan in 1964, The Château de la Muette is a castle located rue André-Pascal, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the Bois de Boulogne at the level of the current Porte de la Muette, near the site where three castles existed successively since the Renaissance. The current building, the fourth Château de la Muette, was built by Henri de Rothschild in the early 1920s in the style of the 18C. It now houses the headquarters of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The fascinationg thing about this place is the former Château de La Muette, and I like to tell you and remind me of its great history, The kings of France had had a hunting rendezvous at La Muette since the Middle Ages. At the end of the 16C, this hunting lodge was transformed by king Charles IX into a small castle which he offered to Marguerite de Valois, known as Queen Margot, on the occasion of her marriage to the future Henri IV. In 1606, she donated the castle to the Dauphin, the future Louis XIII , In 1717, the Regent, Philippe d’Orléans, bought La Muette for his daughter, Marie-Louise-Élisabeth, Duchess of Berry, The Duchess of Berry settled at the Château de la Muette where she gave superb parties, notably receiving the Tsar of Russia Peter the Great. The young Louis XV made many stays there during his minority, raising animals there, learning to ride a horse, then to hunt, in the nearby woods , Between 1737 and 1745, Louis XV had the Château de la Muette completely rebuilt, In 1750 , the cabinet of curiosities of the Crown was installed, with the help of the Duke of Chaulnes, in the gardens of La Muette (at the current location of the intersection of rue de Passy and rue de la Pompe). In 1764, the Dauphin, future Louis XVI, takes possession of La Muette. This is where Marie-Antoinette, upon her arrival in France, will await her wedding ceremony. Become dauphine, she will stay there several times. When Louis XVI ascended the throne in 1774, it was at La Muette that he signed the edict in May renouncing the right of joyous advent,(the name of the tax that the kings of France granted themselves, at the end of their coronation at the expense of urban or religious communities, in return for the confirmation of existing privileges).

To save money, an edict of February 1788 put the Château de La Muette up for sale and authorized buyers to demolish them. The castle was abandoned and ceased to be maintained. In 1790, during the French revolution, the cabinet of curiosities was dismantled and its instruments were transported to the Paris Observatory. The domain is divided and sold in lots. The central building was demolished in 1793 and all the interior decorative elements were recovered and sold , In 1816, during the Restoration (monarchy of Louis XVIII) , the castle is returned to the Crown but, given the importance of the necessary repairs, the castle was removed from the Civil list (no renovations), The Countess of Franqueville restores the castle from 1889 according to the original plans, by rebuilding the main body of the building and removing the two floors. The complex was located between number 17 of the current rue du Advisor-Collignon and boulevard Émile-Augier. It was in 1922 that Baron and Baroness de Rothschild settled at this address, in their new home. In 1948, the heirs of Henri de Rothschild sold the estate to the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), which installed its seat in the castle for later this org becoming the OECD.

The official OECD: https://www.oecd.org/france/

The Paris tourist office on the Château de La Muette: https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/256586/Chateau-de-la-Muette

There you go folks, something unique in Paris, off the beaten path indeed. However ,even if the public is not allowed in, the area is worth for a walk and to look at this marvel of a building, the former Château de La Muette! Again, hope you enjoy the post as I.

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

Here is something unusual and quant of my eternal Paris. I am always in my road warrior more or walking zombie there, and came upon a beautiful red building that caught my eyes. This was many years ago and had the picture hidden in my vault until now; and its time for me to included it in my blog for me and you. Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The Maison Loo located at 48 rue de Courcelles in the 8éme arrondissement of Paris ,is a Chinese Pagoda that it is in no way a religious building, but simply the result of one man’s love for his country of origin , China , and his will to share it with his adopted country, France. Arriving in Paris in 1902, Ching Tsai Loo was a dazzlingly successful art dealer. He bought a private mansion built in 1880, in the classic French style, to carry out his activity there a few steps from Parc Monceau. The mansion is raised by 2 floors, the roof is rebuilt, and the entire building is painted red , A construction completed in 1926.

And although it was sold in 2011, it continues its activity according to the wishes of its illustrious founder , namely to be a cultural link between France and China. It is now a private museum, which offers exhibitions and fairs throughout the year ,and even spaces that can be privatized. The only opportunities if you wish to discover the magnificent typical Chinese interior decoration of this pagoda. The official Galerie C.T. Loo & Cie is today the oldest gallery of Asian art in Paris and the only real Chinese house in Paris. A unique decoration of 600 m 2 of Asian arts.

The official pagoda of Paris or Maison Loo: http://www.pagodaparis.com/pagoda_paris.html

The Paris tourist office on the Pagoda of Paris: https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71540/The-Pagoda-Paris

There you go folks, a dandy picturesque house in a nice area of my eternal Paris. The Pagoda of Paris as it is best known will make it an interesting sight if participating in a host cultural event there. Again, hope you enjoy the post as I

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