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Category Archives: Paris bridges
Islands
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
11 Comments
Petite Ceinture: Ring around the city
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
14 Comments
The Paris Bridge That Never Was
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
Paris Bridges: Mirrors of History
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
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
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
I’ll meet you on the passerelle Debilly
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
The Mystery of the Missing Suspension Bridges of Paris
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
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
