art prim

cour de louvre, 2007

for the vin d'asace - toke ou riesling?

The first Gare du Nord, by architect Leonce Reynaud (professor of architecture at the Ecole Polytechnique), was inaugurated on 14 June 1846. Fourteen years later it was partially demolished, due to lack of space. Embarrassing for Paris, especially when Queen Victoria’s visit had to be re-routed to nearby Gare de l’Est. The original façade can now be found in Lille.

In 1857 the decision was made to build a station three times larger; German-born architect Jacques Ignace Hittorff set to work in May 1861 and the current station started functioning as early as 1864, whilst still under construction. Twenty three statues representing the cities served by the company decorate the façade, the most impressive of those personifying international destinations (London, Berlin, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Vienna and Bruxelles). The support pillars inside (and photographed here) were made in Scotland, the only country with a foundry sufficient for the task.

In 1884 five tracks were added, in 1889 the eastern extension for suburban lines was built. Again, further expansions took place between 1930 and the 1960s. It’s not the largest train station in the world, but by number of travelers (approximately 180 million per year) it is certainly the busiest station in Europe and possibly the third busiest railway station in the world.

The first Gare du Nord, by architect Leonce Reynaud (professor of architecture at the Ecole Polytechnique), was inaugurated on 14 June 1846. Fourteen years later it was partially demolished, due to lack of space. Embarrassing for Paris, especially when Queen Victoria’s visit had to be re-routed to nearby Gare de l’Est. The original façade can now be found in Lille.

In 1857 the decision was made to build a station three times larger; German-born architect Jacques Ignace Hittorff set to work in May 1861 and the current station started functioning as early as 1864, whilst still under construction. Twenty three statues representing the cities served by the company decorate the façade, the most impressive of those personifying international destinations (London, Berlin, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Vienna and Bruxelles). The support pillars inside (and photographed here) were made in Scotland, the only country with a foundry sufficient for the task.

In 1884 five tracks were added, in 1889 the eastern extension for suburban lines was built. Again, further expansions took place between 1930 and the 1960s. It’s not the largest train station in the world, but by number of travelers (approximately 180 million per year) it is certainly the busiest station in Europe and possibly the third busiest railway station in the world.

Built to replace the old landing stage of Lyon, the present Gare de Lyon was built between 1895-1902 by architect Marius Toudoire. Its construction was timed with the Universal Exhibiton of 1900 in mind.

Toudoire, along with 30 artists, decorated the famous “Le Train Bleu”, the restaurant presiding above the main entry and listed as a historic monument since 1972 for its Belle Epoque interior. Left unchanged since it opened in 1901, the restaurant (photographed on this page) has 40 paintings illustrating the cities served by the company.

At ground level, Navigation, Steam, Electricity and the science of Mechanics are allegorically represented between the arcades by nudes glorifying technological progress. On the exterior, one cannot avoid noticing the hideous square tower and its four clocks. Statues representing the cities of Paris and Marseille, together with low reliefs personifying Fishing and Hunting decorate the main building.

A tragedy occurred here on 27 June 1988 when a runaway train crashed into a stationary rush-hour train, killing 56 people and injuring a further 55.

Perhaps because Gare de Lyon welcomes travelers from Geneva and Nice to other equally chic cities it is, by far, the best kept and most elegant of the six Paris termini.

Rue des Degrés, the length of which runs 14 steps (5.75 meters), is the shortest street in Paris. Without an actual entrance to it, it would be the best address to give when avoiding French authorities. Found in the Sentier, it connects rues Beauregard and Clery. Strangely, for such a short street, it has five street signs, one of which is photographed here.

Rue Vaugirard, running through the 6th and 15th Arrts, has the distinction of being the longest street in Paris (4,300 meters), and is an ancient Roman road connecting Lutéce (Paris) with Dreux. The name Vaugirard comes from ‘val Girard’, in hommage to an Abbot Girard whose grounds it crossed.

Created by engineer Fulgence Bienvenue the Metro opened during the Paris World Fair on 19 July 1900. Though it was first conceived in 1845, a classic case of ‘conversation’ (read conflict) ensued for Paris: The railroad companies proposed extending the suburban lines to a newly built underground network (using London’s tube as a boilerplate), but Paris wanted nothing to do with the nearby banlieue (‘burbs), instead proposing a fully independent network. Paris won its autonomy from such soiled associations (until 1977 when RER line A debuted), taking care that the Metro trains traveled on the right, in the opposite direction of trains, to prevent a future link-up.

The system boasts 211 km (131 miles) of track and 16 lines, shuttling 3,500 cars on a precise schedule between 380 stations (not including RER stations), 87 of these offering connections between lines. Approximately 5 million passengers ride it per day, and over 15,000 RATP workers run it. The Metro-RER station Chatelet-Les Halles is the world’s largest subway station, according to Wikipedia. 86 of the original Art Nouveau entrances are by the hand of architect Hector Guimard (this station, N-D de Lorette, is not one of them. Photos to come).

Statistics aside, the system is efficient (though slightly noxious in the summer months), often music-filled and many stations are a museum in and of themselves, due to a campaign for themed stations launched by Andre Malraux in 1967.

The bullet holes in this church’s facade recall one of the most significant military debuts in French history. On 5 October 1795 a fierce revolutionary skirmish occurred on St-Roch’s steps, when a royalist mob was scattered by the then-little-known general Napoleon Bonaparte. Ten days later, Napoleon was appointed commander-in-chief of the home forces.

Originally designed by Jacques Lemercier (of Sorbonne fame), Louis XIV laid its cornerstone in 1653 (completed in 1754). Jules Hardouin-Mansart built the oval chapel dedicated to the Virgin (1705) and sculptor Rene Charpentier decorated the edifice in carved imagery. Also worth mentioning: memorials to playwright Corneille, philosopher Diderot and Louis XIV’s gardener, Andre Le Notre, whose bust by Antoine Coysevox is to the left of the chancel.

The facade, by Robert de Cotte (1735), is yet another Parisian bow to the Jesuit Il Gesu in Rome. Weekly concerts are given here, often featuring this 1752 rococo organ.

296, rue St-Honore, 1er Arrt.

This photo is taken where rue N-D de Bonne Nouvelle and the Grands Boulevards (eventually Boulevard Haussmann, but at this juncture Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle) meet.

For film buffs: Louis Malle's Zazie dans le Métro (1960) was staged here. In the movie the door in the background to his right is a local cafe and Zazie's uncle's flat is above, further along rue N-D de Bonne Nouvelle.

The Boulevard was built on the route of a wall built under Charles V, in the late 14th century. In the late 17th century, under Louis XIV, the wall was demolished and the moats filled in to create a boulevard. According to Wikipedia, the levelling of the boulevard relieved the food shortage of thousands of unemployed workers during the winter of 1709, when it reached 21 degrees below zero celsius.

Now it's just a pissoir, relieving lovable clochards of their vin rouge (steps from where they drink it).