Paris1972-Versailles2003

We have driven and walked in my eternal Paris, and would like to have an imprint in my blog on the wonderful family times we had there, There is so much to see , doing my best, and glad found me these pictures in my cd rom vault ,which now transposing in my blog for you and me, This was my former worked city, so glad to post more memorable spots on it, I thank you for your readership over the years and to bear with my rants! After all, Paris is to rant, shout and yelled about, me think. Therefore, here is my take on curiosities of Paris, part LXVII !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The Musée Carnavalet (see post) of the History of Paris is the oldest museum in the City. It opened to the public on February 25, 1880, in the Hôtel Carnavalet, located in the heart of the Marais district. Since 1880, the museum has expanded significantly, with the construction of new buildings and the annexation of the Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau in 1989. Today, the museum’s architecture offers a history spanning over 450 years, spread across two private mansions. For more than 150 years, its constantly growing collections have traced the history of Paris, from prehistory to the present day. At 23 rue Madame de Sévigné, the Hôtel des Ligneris aka Carnavalet is one of the few remaining examples of Renaissance architecture in Paris. Built in the mid-16C ,more precisely between 1548 and 1560 for Jacques des Ligneris, president of the Parliament of Paris, it is one of the oldest private mansions in the Marais district. At 29 rue Madame de Sévigné, the Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau was built between 1688 and 1690 for Michel Le Peletier de Souzy Its orangery is remarkable. The buildings were incorporated into the museum in 1989. See pic by the garden grille entrance on 16 Rue des Francs Bourgeois

The official Musée Carnavalet : https://www.carnavalet.paris.fr/le-musee/lhistoire#les-dates-cles

The history of the Hôtel de Sully (see post) begins in 1624, when the Comptroller of Finances, Mesme Gallet, decided to have a private mansion built for himself in the heart of the Marais, a fashionable district at the time. It boasted a garden and an orangery, and provided access to the Place Royale (now the Place des Vosges). Maximilien de Béthune, the first Duke of Sully, former Minister of Finance and Superintendent of Buildings for King Henry IV, purchased it in 1634. The elderly gentleman completed its decoration and lived there in his final years. His grandson, Maximilien, the second Duke of Sully, added a wing to the building in 1660, to the west of the main house, facing the garden. The Hôtel de Sully still bears the name of this family, who occupied it until the 18C, It then passed through the hands of various owners… It became State property in 1944. A long restoration campaign was then undertaken, and ended with the restoration of the orangery in 1973. Since 1967, the Hôtel de Sully has housed the headquarters of the Caisse nationale des monuments historiques et des sites or the National Fund for Historic Monuments and Sites, which became the Centre des monuments nationaux or the Center for National Monuments in 2000. See pic courtyard main entrance 62 Rue Saint Antoine,

The official Hôtel de Sully : https://www.hotel-de-sully.fr/decouvrir

The Colonnade du Louvre constitutes the eastern facade of the Louvre Palace (Sully wing now Louvre museum). It was built between 1667 and 1670 and is considered one of the masterpieces of French classicism. Despite its better known name of the Colonnade Perrault, it still poses a problem of attribution, its design being the fruit of multiple influences, including those of: Louis Le Vau, architect to the king, Charles Le Brun, first painter to the king, and Claude Perrault, architect. We must therefore see it as a mixture of various inspirations between which Louis XIV had chosen the colonnade,

The official Musée du Louvre on the palace : https://www.louvre.fr/en/explore/the-palace

Located next to the Saint Germain l’Auxerrois Church, the belfry, placed between the former mairie or City/town hall of the former 1er arrondissement of Paris, and the church, and part of the Paris 1éme or now Paris Centre district, The construction of the belfry was undertaken in 1858 on the plans of Théodore Ballu who had just restored, from 1852 to 1855, the Saint-Jacques tower. In the Flamboyant Gothic style ,often mistaken for the church tower ! connected on either side to the two buildings by two doors of the same style giving access to the square that separates them, it measures 38 meters in height, and consists of four unequal floors. A turret placed on the rear facade contains the spiral staircase. The belfry is decorated with gargoyles, pilasters, flying buttresses, and ogival bays with mullions. On the first floor there are the statues of the bishops Saint Germain l’Auxerrois, Saint Landry, Saint Denis and the kings Childebert, Clovis, Pépin le Bref, Philippe Auguste, Saint Louis, Hugues Capet, Charlemagne and Dagobert. Awesome !

The City of Paris on the former City hall of the 1er arrondissement : https://www.paris.fr/pages/a-l-ex-mairie-du-1er-une-histoire-tourmentee-et-un-resultat-conteste-32220

For reference and the picture the Paris tourist office on the Church Saint Germain de l’Auxerrois : https://parisjetaime.com/eng/culture/eglise-saint-germain-l-auxerrois-p1229

The equestrian statue of Henry IV is a monument located on the Place du Pont-Neuf in Paris. It was inaugurated in 1818. The statue is situated behind the Place Dauphine, on the Pont Neuf, which extends the Rue Dauphine. Made of bronze, it depicts King Henry IV of France in armor, crowned with laurel and holding a fleur-de-lis sceptre in his right hand. Henry IV faces towards the Quai des Orfèvres, while the horse faces the Quai de l’Horloge. The statue stands on a pedestal, the sides of which are decorated with bas-reliefs. The first equestrian statue of Henry IV was commissioned by Marie de Medici. It was part of the composition of the Place Dauphine and was inaugurated on August 23, 1614. Its pedestal was completed in 1635. It originally featured a Mannerist-style statue of a slave at each corner. It was destroyed during the French Revolution, on August 12, 1792. The statues of the captives are now in the Louvre Museum. Five fragments were recovered from the Seine: the horse’s left foreleg, a piece of the king’s collar, his left hand, his left boot, and his right arm. These are kept at the Carnavalet Museum. It is perhaps at the foot of the statue of Henry IV that the first photograph of a human being was taken. Indeed, the daguerreotype of the Pont-Neuf by Daguerre and Fordos, held at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, which shows the image of two reclining figures in its lower portion, appears to have been taken during the summer of 1837. This photograph would therefore predate Daguerre’s photograph of the Boulevard du Temple with the shoeshine boy.

The Paris tourist office on Paris Centre (arrond 1-4) de Paris : https://parisjetaime.com/eng/article/explore-the-centre-of-paris-a846

There you go folks, a dandy city to explore and enjoy with the family, Memorable moments in my eternal Paris, driving and walking all over in my road warrior trails brings out sublime awesome spots with nice memorable family visits of yesteryear always remember and always looking forward to be back, eventually. Again hope you enjoy the post on curiosities of Paris , part LXVII !!! as I.

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