Paris1972-Versailles2003

A wonderful subject for me as lived in the city of Versailles by the Notre Dame Church for 9+ years before moving on to the Morbihan. Versailles will always be in our hearts, it was our first owned home in France!  Go ahead and see the City ,but do not miss the palace/museum for anything as the Domaine of Versailles is awesome ! Let me tell you about the wonderful favorite rooms of mine, this time the Salon de l’Œil-de-Bœuf . Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The Salon de l’Œil-de-Bœuf is located south of the Hall of Mirrors. It overlooks the Queen’s Grand Apartment. in the Château de Versailles, located in the dept 78 of Yvelines,in the region of Île-de-France and in my belle France.

The Salon de l’Œil-de-Bœuf or the ox-eye second room of the royal apartment. It is a strategic point of the royal apartment: to the north, it leads to the king’s bedroom; In the West, high mirrors doors open directly to the Hall of Mirrors and allow courtiers to enter or leave the king; On the south wall, to the right of the window, a door leads directly to the Queen, while a staircase, opening on the east wall, leads to the Dauphin’s apartment, located on the ground floor.

The second antechamber of the royal apartment, the Salon de l’Œil-de-Bœuf takes its name from the rounded window that gives light to the room on the south side. Originally, this room contained two, separated by a partition: the antechamber and the King’s bedroom, whose bed was placed in the corner to the left of the current fireplace. Embarrassed by the small size of these rooms, which struggled to contain all the courtiers present when he got up and went to bed, Louis XIV decided in 1701 to have the wall knocked down, to combine the two rooms into one and to move his bedroom. in the next room which was then only a living room. The decoration which reigns in the room testifies, like that of the preceding rooms, to the evolution of the personal taste of the king, who, at the turn of the century, abandons the rich marble decorations and the painted ceilings for the white ceilings and the gilded woodwork. . A frieze of children’s games reigns at the level of the cornice.

It is indeed in this room that the personalities having the privilege of attending the small and large levies of the king waited. They entered the sovereign’s room according to a codified ceremonial, we speak of “entrances”. Each entrance was reserved for members of the King’s entourage according to his rank or function with the Crown. Six entries were thus observed daily. For example, during the first entries, called “familiar”, we welcome the doctor, the surgeon and the royal children or later courtiers chosen at the discretion of the sovereign during the fifth entries. At the Palace of Versailles, a major restoration of one of the most emblematic pieces of the reign of Louis XIV began in February 2023. Built in 1701, the antechamber of the Salon de l‘Œil-de-Bœuf has a unique decor, at the transition between the Louis XIV and Louis XV styles. This complete restoration will last one year.

The official Château de Versailles :https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover

The Versailles tourist office on the palace of Versailles :https://en.versailles-tourisme.com/documentation.html

There you go folks, a magnificent palace that all should see in your lifetime at least once, The history of France is here,and the architecture not the least , a masterpiece for the whole world to see. We shall be back eventually to my former City of glorious memories for all, Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Salon de l‘Œil-de-Bœuf as I.

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

This is a page not a post in my blog for permanently remember my dear late wife Martine ,today 5 years gone physically but never mentally RIP

This is an icon of Honfleur, and uniquely boat roof in wood only one in France! This is my beloved Honfleur and its main Church of Sainte Catherine. We make it a must to stop by each time in town and it has been many luckily ! Coming to see once again the church by the old basin or port of Honfleur is always gratifying. It offers a unique architectural experience and loving history of the locals, hard earned traditions and just a positive feeling all around it. I will split the new pictures into exterior and interior posts. Do read my other posts in my blog on it , Hope you enjoy this wonderful monument of Honfleur as I.

However, worth to tell you this is a town towards the ocean of great sailors. In 1503, Paulmier de Gonneville ventured to Brazil. A century later, explorer Samuel Champlain left the Norman port for Canada where he founded the city of Québec. Honfleur is very international, and the second most visited site in Normandie behind just MSM !!!

The Sainte-Catherine Church has the particularity, very rare in France, to be built essentially of wood. The church is located near the old basin (Vieux Bassin) , just behind the Quai Sainte-Catherine. It is the largest Church built in wood with a bell-tower separated from it in France. This choice of material is due to the lack of resources of the inhabitants of the time. But with a drawback, the local Honfleurais were able to make it an asset. With their knowledge of shipbuilding, they built the Church, with two separate naves, in the manner of a ship, with the help of wood from the forest of Touques. The result is breathtaking. Not to be missed.

The Church is dedicated to Sainte Catherine of Alexandria as recalled by a wooden sculpture above the porch of the bell-tower separated from the two naves. She is depicted wearing a wheel and a sword. At the beginning of the 19C, the interior of the church received a plaster coating and a neoclassical porch with Greek columns replaced the primitive porch. Major restoration work was undertaken from 1879 with, in particular, the disappearance of the plaster coating from the nave and the replacement of the Greek porch by the current one in 1929.

The two parallel naves, of about the same width, flanked by very narrow and very low side aisles whose stave vault is formed by a quarter circle. The two naves, made up of twelve bays, including that of the organ, are separated from the aisles by wooden posts. At the bottom of the main nave is placed a beautiful organ whose carved oak case is in the style of the 18C. In the nave where the organ is located, on the right, is hung between two columns a very esteemed painting, representing the Carrying of the Cross. At the end of the northern nave stands a magnificent altar with twisted columns in the Louis XIV style. This altar, which attracts attention by its graceful proportions and the richness of its ornamentation, was executed in Rouen, and this altar once adorned the Chapel of the Rosary in the Church of Saint Catherine. It was made between 1669 and 1670.

The Parish of Honfleur on the Church Saint Catherine:http://www.paroisse-honfleur.com/eglises.html#CATHERINE

The city of Honfleur on the Church Saint Catherine: https://www.ville-honfleur.com/decouvrir-honfleur/honfleur-et-son-patrimoine/leglise-sainte-catherine-et-son-clocher/

The Honfleur tourist office on the Church Saint Catherine :https://www.ot-honfleur.fr/visiter-decouvrez/patrimoine/leglise-sainte-catherine-et-son-faubourg/

There you go folks, another gem I said, a must to see ,I said. Enough me think , now its up to you. Enjoy Honfleur , my beloved dear city in Calvados dept 14  ,in Normandy ,in my belle France. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Church Saint Catherine of Honfleur, interiors !!! as I

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

Back to my eternal Paris, a lot has change since my working days of 9 years in the City, One of its most emblematic sights are the bridges crossing the Seine river from rive gauche to rive droite. I like to update this older post with a name change from Solférino to Léopold Sédar Senghor passerelle or footbridge, Hope you enjoy the post as I

I like to tell you about one particular footbridge that was very unfamous for its load of padlocks and gladly long ago gone. Oh yes Solférino  it was as I came to know it ,however, now it is name the Passerelle Léopold Sédar Senghor or footbridge. The first footbridge, 106 meters long, the Passerelle Solférino , made of cast iron and inaugurated by Napoleon III in 1861, had three arches on masonry piers. It was destroyed and replaced in 1961 by a pedestrian steel footbridge resting on two piles of concrete built about 30 meters upstream and demolished in turn in 1992. Its name recalls the battle of Solferino of June 25, 1859 during which Napoleon III defeated the Austrians The footbridge is located downstream from the Pont Royal bridge and upstream from the Pont de la Concorde bridge.

The Passerelle Solférino was renamed the Passerelle Léopold Sédar Senghor in tribute to the Senegalese poet and head of state, French academician on October 9, 2006. The footbridge connect the Musée d’Orsay and the Quai Anatole-France on the left bank to the Jardin des Tuileries and the Quai des Tuileries on the right bank, it is accessible by pedestrian way from the top and bottom platforms and connects to the port of Solférino 7éme to the port of Tuileries 1éme. Built on two levels which meet in the central part, the footbridge serves, on each bank, the banks of the Seine and the quays proper. At each of its ends, the foundations in the form of concrete pillars sink 15 meters underground and its structure is an assembly of six 150-ton elements manufactured by établissements Eiffel. It offers benches to walkers who can join the Jardin des Tuileries via the right bank underground.

Some of the remarkable events listed everywhere for the passerelle Léopold Sédar Senghor are: While looking at the Seine river and the overcast sky from the footbridge one evening, that the French composer Claude Debussy had the idea of writing Nuages, one of his Nocturnes. In 2011, the Gainsbourg 20 years collection made the catwalk part of the filming of the Requiem pour un con (idiot) in tribute to Serge Gainsbourg. In 2014, artist Christina Goh filmed the video for the jazz L’Instant.

The statue of Thomas Jefferson , President of the United States of America from 1801 to 1809 and ambassador to Paris from 1785 to 1789 was offered to France in 2006, The statue stands at the entrance to the footbridge at Quai Anatole-France and near the Hôtel de Salm, which inspired him to build his residence in Monticello

Léopold Sédar Senghor, was born October 9, 1906 in Joal (Senegal) and died December 20, 2001 in Verson (France), first black associate in a French university. He was a French and then Senegalese statesman, poet, writer and first President of the Republic of Senegal. He was a minister in France before Senegal’s independence and was the first African to serve on the French Academy.

You get there walking of course, but if far you can take the metro Assamblée Nationale line 12; however, better on the bus lines 72 quai des Tuileries, bus 73 Assamblée Nationale. Also, the RER C stop Musée d’Orsay.

The Paris tourist office on the passerelle :https://en.parisinfo.com/transport/73155/Passerelle-Leopold-Sedard-Senghor

It is sentimental to me as I walked it first under the name of Solférino with my dear late wife Martine showing off her Paris knowledge back in 2004, At that time it was loaded with Love Locks until finally removed gladly by the efforts of a couple of expats whose love of Paris and France made them French citizen and sadly as my wife ,one of them died of cancer.  It is much better now thanks to their effort a sparkling clean bridge with no pad locks !!!

There you go folks, another dandy in the most beautiful city in the world…Paris! And a wonderful nostalgice footbridge ,the Passarelle Léopold Sédar Senghor , as well as a great area of wonders in architecture and history; Again, hope you enjoy the post as I.

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