I have become nostalgic maybe even romantic to write about Paris again, never tired of it. Lots of beauty, romance and history on the bridges of Paris; they are sublime ! Let me tell you a bit about the Pont au Change of Paris !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I
We all have our favorites, I happened to have passed by them all either by car or on foot or both ways over the years. The Bridges of Paris or Les Ponts de Paris are sublime. One old record from the city of Paris shows that there are 37 bridges over the Seine river, 58 bridges over Parisien streets, 10 bridges used by the trains RATP, 33 bridges used by the trains SNCF, 148 bridges over the boulevard Périphérique beltway road around Paris, and 49 pedestrian bridges!! Of the 37 bridges over the Seine , 5 are pedestrians and 2 are train bridges. 3 link the Île Saint Louis to the rest of Paris and 8 do the same for the île de la Cité, and one link the Cité and Saint Louis islands.
The Pont au Change connects the Quai de la Mégisserie, the Quai de Grèves, and the Place du Châtelet to the Quai de la Corse and the Quai de l’Horloge on the Île de la Cité. It is located on the border between the 1er and 4éme arrondissements of Paris. The bridge located in its southern extension connecting Boulevard du Palais to Place Saint-Michel (on the left bank) is the Pont Saint-Michel. This site is served by metro Châtelet with lines 1, 4, 7, 11, and 14.
The first bridge, built at this location in the 9C to cross the main arm of the Seine, under the reign of Charles the Bald, was then called the Grand-Pont, as opposed to the Petit-Pont, which spanned the smaller arm of the river. In the 14C, some of the mills and buildings on this bridge belonged to the chapter of Notre-Dame de Paris. It was replaced by a new Grand-Pont, which would become the Pont aux Changeurs, rebuilt at an angle slightly upstream, and would be accompanied by the construction of a second bridge a little downstream, the Pont aux Meuniers. In the 17C, the Pont aux Changeurs was nicknamed the Pont aux Oiseaux because birdcatchers were allowed to sell there, on the sole condition that they greet the king’s entry by releasing pigeons. The two bridges were replaced by a temporary bridge called the Pont de Bois, before the Pont au Change was rebuilt with the jewelers’ and goldsmiths’ money from 1639 to 1647. The masonry bridge has seven arches and was at the time the widest in the capital at about 39 meters. In 1786-1787, the houses it supports were razed. The current Pont au Change was built from 1858 to 1860 during the reign of Napoleon III and therefore bears his imperial monogram. The Pont au Change is 103 meters long, and consists of three arches of 31 meters each with basket-shaped arches. It is an extension of the Pont Saint Michel, its twin, towards the right bank.
The Pont au Change had a monument architectural ensemble that stood at the bridge on the right bank of the Seine. Completed in 1647 and dismembered in 1787, it paid homage to the young King Louis XIV, the regent Anne of Austria and Louis XIII, represented in bronze statues by the sculptor Simon Guillain. They finally were saved and entered the Louvre Museum in 1818, where they can be seen today.
The Paris tourist office on the bridges: https://parisjetaime.com/eng/article/paris-the-Seine-with-its-bridges-and-footbridges-a025
The city of Paris leisure section on its historical bridges: https://www.sortiraparis.com/arts-culture/histoire-patrimoine/guides/173565-a-la-decouverte-des-ponts-historiques-de-paris
There you go folks, another dandy wonderful bridge of my eternal Paris, Whether you are just walking around or driving on them as I do both, it is sublime , see Paris above ground. Please walk Paris ,if still walking makes it difficult for you, then take the buses and walk walk walk Paris; as my other posts said, Paris is an open air Museum !!! Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Pont au Change of Paris as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 