Category Archives: Paris bridges

Islands

Posted on May 23, 2021 by Parisian Fields

The boulevard Morland is a tree-lined, one-way thoroughfare in the fourth arrondissement. Nothing indicates that the buildings between it and the river occupy what was once an island, or that the street sits atop what was once an arm of … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris bridges, Paris history, Paris maps, Seine | Tagged Boulevard Morland, Charles de Louviers, Elaine Sciolino, Ile aux Cygnes, Ile aux Juifs, Ile aux Templiers, Ile à la Gourdaine, Ile Boute-clou, Ile des Cygnes, Ile Louviers, Ile Maquerelle, Ile Merdeuse, Ile Notre Dame, Ile St-Louis, Jacques Antoine Dulaure, Jacques Hillairet, Moulin de la Monnaie, Pavilion de l'Arsenal, Pierre-Antoine Demachy, Turgot map | 9 Comments

Petite Ceinture: Ring around the city

Posted on February 23, 2020 by Parisian Fields

About 10 years ago, Norman and I were staying in part of a converted workshop in a courtyard in the 14th arrondissement. One day, as we walked towards the Porte de Vanves on a Saturday morning to visit the flea market, … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris bridges, Paris history, Paris maps, Paris travel | Tagged 1867 Exposition, Gare d'Austerlitz, Gare de l’Est, Gare du Nord, Garigliano bridge, Grande Ceinture, Menilmontant, Montrouge station, Ornano station, Passy station, Patrice Rambaud, Petite Ceinture, Point du Jour, Recyclerie, Thiers enceinte | 9 Comments

Postcards: Little windows into a vanished Paris

Posted on October 6, 2019 by Parisian Fields

Many of our blogs begin with a postcard. That is not a coincidence. When we are rummaging through the bins of 1- and 2-euro cards at flea markets, we are drawn to images that make us stop and wonder, “What … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris bridges, Paris maps, Paris postcards, Paris travel, Seine | Tagged Écluse de la Monnaie, Écluse du Pont Neuf, Bains de la Samaritaine, Barrage de la Monnaie, bateaux-lavoirs, bateaux-omnibus, Bureau d’Omnibus de la Compagnie Générale, cartes postales, Exquise Goulliout, La Samaritaine, Marie Gabriel Biessy, Paris Flood 1910, Paris postcards, Pont des Arts, Pont Neuf, vintage postcards, voitures à voie ferrée Vincennes-Sèvres | 13 Comments

The Paris Bridge That Never Was

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Parisian Fields

It should have been the pride of Paris; a stunning suspension bridge leaping clear across the Seine. It should have been one of the crown jewels of both Paris and the career of Claude Navier, one of 19th-century France’s most … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris bridges, Paris history | Tagged Alain Desjardins, École des ponts et chaussées, École polytechnique, bridge failure, Champs Elysees, Claude Navier, Corps des Ponts et Chaussées, Edna Kranakis, Emiland Marie Gauthey, Pont des Invalides, suspension bridges, Tom F. Peters | 4 Comments

Paris Bridges: Mirrors of History

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Parisian Fields

More than beautiful ornaments and a way to cross the Seine, Paris bridges are mirrors of history. They reflect impermanence, bad weather, political turbulence, and much more. The Pont au Change that exists today was built in 1858-1860. As the … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris bridges, Paris history | Tagged Augustus Charles Pugin, Cécile Renaudin, Felix Thorigny, Les Grandes Catastrophes à Paris, Paris and its Environs, Paris de Pont en Pont, Pont au Change, Pont d'Austerlitz, Pont de la Concorde, Pont des Arts, Pont Louis XVI, Pont Neuf, Pont Royal, Saint-André-des-Arts, Serge Montens, Sophie-Marguerite | 7 Comments

Postcards of a Working River

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Parisian Fields

We don’t often think of Paris as a port city. But the city handles about 20 million tonnes of cargo a year, and with more than 7 million people travelling on the river each year, Paris is the leading river … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris bridges, Paris history, Paris markets, Paris postcards, Seine | Tagged Antoine-Rémy Polonceau, Bassin de l’Arsenal, bateaux mouches, Bercy, Colonne de Juillet, La Seine, Les Halles de Bercy, Paris Flood 1910, passerelle Debilly, péniches, Place de la Bastille, Pont Alexandre III, Pont au Change, Pont des Arts, Pont des Saints-Pères, Pont du Carrousel, Pont Mirabeau, Port de l'Hotel de Ville, Port du Louvre, Port Saint-Nicolas, Quai d'Austerlitz | 10 Comments

An Unbuilt Bridge and the Allure of Paris

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Parisian Fields

The bridges crossing the Seine are a major part of Paris’s beauty. Could a bridge that was never built also be an asset? Consider the magazine headline below. What does it tell us about Paris and tourism when in July … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris bridges, Paris metro | Tagged Frigorifique, Institut de France, Jules Després, Opéra Garnier, Paris metro, Paris padlocks, passerelle des Arts, Place de l'Opera, Pont des Arts, Popular Mechanics | 16 Comments

I’ll meet you on the passerelle Debilly

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Parisian Fields

The passerelle Debilly is often overshadowed by its flamboyant neighbour, the Eiffel Tower. But then, the Eiffel Tower has been upstaging everything in the neighbourhood since it opened in 1889. Consider one of the first photos I ever took of … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris bridges | Tagged Amédée Alby, Army and Navy Hall, Eiffel Tower, General Jean Louis Debilly, Gentil et Bourdet, Jean Résal, passerelle de l’exposition militaire, passerelle de Magdebourg, passerelle Debilly, pont de l’Alma, Universal Exposition of 1900 | 8 Comments

The Mystery of the Missing Suspension Bridges of Paris

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Parisian Fields

In the first half of the nineteenth century, France was a world leader in the design and construction of suspension bridges. And yet today not a single one of Paris’s nineteenth-century suspension bridges over the Seine remains. Why? It was … Continue reading →

Posted in Paris bridges, Paris history | Tagged Adam Roberts, Angers, Basse-Chaine Suspension Bridge, Bercy Bridge, bridge failures, engineering failures, Gustave Eiffel, Ile de la Cité, Ile Saint-Louis, Louis Joseph Vicat, Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Pont de Constantine, Pont de la Réforme, Pont Louis Philippe, Quai aux Fleurs, Quai St-Bernard, Saint André-de-Cubzac bridge, suspension bridges, Tom F. Peters | 23 Comments

Beauty and the bridge

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Parisian Fields

I love bridges and cannot imagine Paris without them. In Paris I gaze at them, linger on them, and take photographs. At home I remember them fondly. But of them all is there one that I love the most? Oh … Continue reading →