Thursday, November 15, 2007

PARIS ITINERARIES - II

AROUND CANAL ST. MARTIN AND THE MARAIS - FEBRUARY 2006

Hi everybody! Sorry for having been a bit out of the blogosphere these days. Too much work and a conference to prepare; this weekend in Greece. I'll be back next Sunday evening, and will get back to your blogs next week, hopefully. Meanwhile, I'll leave you in Paris, and hope that you enjoy. Thanks for your visits and comments!


"THE PLACE DE LA BASTILLE, where the Bastille prison stood until July 14, 1789. The July Column, which commemorates the 1830 July Revolution stands at its centre. Carlos Ott's Bastille Opera (open 1989) is seen behind the column"


"SISLEY - In 1870, Alfred Sisley (1839–1899), an English Impressionist born in France, painted this «Vue du Canal St. Martin à Paris»"


"CANAL ST. MARTIN - Napoleon ordered in 1802 the digging of an artificial waterway to supply Paris with water. The Canal St. Martin was opened in 1825. It is 4.5km long and has nine locks for a level difference of 25m. Here we see one of the locks near to the Bastille"


"CAREFUL - Amelie Poulain is around, skipping stones from the bridge..."


"ANTOINE & LILY - This yellow, green and pink facade is now an icon. Kitschy urban fashion, a restaurant, bakery, and tearoom. As they advertise on their site «We started out in 1994, creating and producing our own women fashion line, here in Paris... coloured, juicy, ethnical urban mix...»"


"GARDEN on the side of the Canal"


"CANAL TURN near square Villemin, site of an old military hospital"


"IMAGINE - In the 1960s, the Canal narrowly escaped being filled in and paved over for a highway. What an end for the view from Marcel Carne's Hotel du Nord... Fortunately, A. Malraux (Culture Minister) and the residents (Riverains) were strong enough to counter the idea"


"VICTOR HUGO HOUSE - Located in the south east corner of Place des Vosges, the Hôtel de Rohan-Guéménée was built by Isaac Arnauld in June 1605. It was in this building that Victor Hugo rented an apartment in 1832"




"PLACE DES VOSGES - The quiet place in the south-east corner of the Marais is my most beautiful place in Paris. It was built in the 17th century on the site of the Hôtel des Tournelles, which Catherine de Medici had torn down after Henry II had died in it in 1559. The square, originally named Place Royale, was renamed by Napoleon Bonaparte in honour to the first French department that paid tax in 1799. The nine Renaissance buildings along each side of the square are absolutely stunning, and are home to some of the most interesting art galleries, cafés, restaurants and shops"



"BOFINGER - One of my favourite Brasseries in Paris, and there are many I like"

32 comments:

Aditi said...

well written loved the painting and the modern day comparison

alice said...

Je connais bien la Place des Vosges et les alentours, la rue des Francs-Bourgeois et autres. Mais pas du tout le canal Saint Martin, Au vu de tes photos, il faut vraiment que je pousse jusque là une prochaine fois. Bon weekend en Grèce! (toujours en partance pour ailleurs...)

Oman said...

Wow, lovely pics and a nice blog. I'll keep coming back here 'coz you write as if telling a story and feels like i am traveling with you. Take care.

Peter said...

I had the intention to soon "make" the Canal St.Martin on my blog. Now you preceded me - and with such good pics! I believe I will wait for a while, until yours are "forgotten"!
Had lunch at Bofinger not long ago (with a common friend).

MedaM said...

Wonderfu photos, indeed. I really enjoyed in them.

lyliane six said...

Hé oui je vais trahir le secret de Peter, l'amie commune c'est moi! j'aime beaucoup cette brasserie, j'y vais 1 à 2 fois par an avec de fins gourmets.
Quant au canal Saint Martin tous les ans en juin il est fermé à la circulation, pour la journée des chorales, j'y suis allée chanter plusieurs années de suite, mais la dernière fois il a plu à verses toute la journée tout a été gaché, et notre ami commun qui était venu m'écouter, fort déçu.

Anonymous said...

Hello Gil and greetings nicely snowing Finland!
We walk together still in Paris, it`s
nice too.
I am scanning some photos from Petra and put them to "Onlyforphotos" blog.

I wish you very happy weekend!

indicaspecies said...

Lovely pictures - in this post and the previous too.

Kunterbunt said...

Interesting, that Canal St. Martin. We went from the marina to La Villette and it was quite an interesting tour.

leo said...

antoine and lily - what a beautiful contrast! makes great photo.

Ash said...

More lovely images. I particularly loved the painting and its present day comparison.

lv2scpbk said...

The last photo is beautiful with the plants. I like the color on the building on the bottom part of it. Looks like a nice place to visit.

Olivier said...

la place des Vosges, un de mes endroits préférés à Paris. ces petites places font de Paris un village et c'est très agréable.

The Place des Vosges, one of my favorite places in Paris. These small squares makes Paris a village and it's very enjoyable.

Gaëlle said...

J'aime beaucoup les façades colorés au bord du canal, ça met un peu de gaité dans la grisaille parisienne !

Lori said...

I always LOVE to see pictures of Paris and yours are wonderful. Good luck with all of your work. You are a busy guy!

Ming the Merciless said...

Ah....Paris! Who doesn't love Paris!

In all the cities you have visited, which is your favorite or favorites?

Nazzareno said...

Je ne saurais pas dire, entre toutes les photos, celle qui préfère, chacun évoque sensations et belles stimulations différemment.

John said...

Hi Gil,

SorryI haven't posted or responded to you for a while. I have been very busy at work this year and had very little time left for the web.

Thank you for your kind wishes for Thanksgiving and I hope things are well with you and your family.

Best regards,

John

Nihal said...

Hi Gil, it is nice to see you again visiting my journal, and merci beaucoup:) Your recent posting reminded me my France travels -especially my time in Paris- that all was incredibly stunning.. unforgettable. Your artistic photos got me drifting into Paris virtually of course;) Thanks for taking your valuable time to write such an article too informatique and a delight for our eyes. Looking forward to your next visit on my diary, and have a fabulous day!

Anonymous said...

Nice pics and i can remember most of the places

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

LOVELY Gil, welldone:)
your photography of Paris! and oooooooowwww I wanna go back there!!!Not to the metro strikes IHHH no!

Jus look at my SLIDEshow _song I uploaded today with just only FOOD-DRINKS en meat fish wines etcetera, about 45 pics in a show enjoy, and come and see ( and listen)

Adieu!:)

Anonymous said...

Nice photos! Really interesting commentary. I wish to go back to Paris soon, if only to enjoy the best scrambled eggs in the world!

Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo.

joy
The Goddess In You

JO said...

Great pics and post as always!

Thanks for stopping by - Happy Thanksgiving!

Lara said...

Paris no. 2 is a treat! Over and over again: a real journey visiting your blog!

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Fine blog.
It makes me feel like Yves Montand in the movie "Le salaire de la peur" when he smells a Paris tube ticket in the desert.

Anonymous said...

Aditi,
Thanks. I would love to be invited to visit your blog. No chance to get there lately… ;(

Alice,
St. Martin, c’est in; «fashion» comme elles disent maintenant…

Lawstude,
Thanks for your visit and comment. Glad that you appreciated!

Peter,
You’ll surely surprise us with your St. Martin pictures. Bofinger is one of the nice brasseries in Paris, and I enjoy it a lot…

Lylianne,
Alors toi aussi tu chantes! Guida chantait dans le chœur du travail, mais il y a quelques années ils ont fini avec le groupe et maintenant il faut aller à Gulbenkian pour écouter les chants… Juin à Paris est vraiment magnifique. Pendant des années j’ai eu des réunions toujours autour du 21 juin, Fête de la Musique, etc… C’était vraiment super!

Medam,
Celine,
Thanks!

Leena,
Look forward to seeing your Petra pictures. Another spot I’ve planned to get to, but never managed to achieve…

April,
From La Villette it’s probably the best way to get to St. Martin…

Leo,
Antoine & Lily is a truly amazing complex!

Ash,
I thought Sisley would touch you…

Lv2,
Bofinger is beautiful, and the food is perfectly eatable also… The colours are from Antoine & Lily, an amazing store!

Olivier,
Place des Vosges est extra! Un jour je séjournerais au Pavillon de la Reine. C’est sûr!

Bleeding Orange,
Ce n’est pas vrai la «grisaille parisienne»… ;)

Lori,
Thanks. Things (I mean the Conference) went smoothly in Greece, but with lots of thunderstorms…

Ming,
Speaking only of main cities: Sydney and Stockholm (in summer) are two of my favourites, «aesthetically» speaking… New York and Paris are two where I would love to live. Rome is one I adore to visit. And Lisbon is quite safe, calm and quiet to live and has probably the best day light of them all (with Rome coming second…)! Today with fabulous sun and +17º Celsius is a gorgeous autumn day!

Nazzareno,
Merci. Je dois dire que ce que j’ai écrit à propos de Rome n’a rien a voir avec ta présence après Ming… ;)

John,
Glad to see you back here and also posting on Switzerland and Austria at your blog!

Nihal,
Thanks for your comment. I’m sorry I don’t have much time to visit your journal regularly, but I’ll try to catch up when I find some free time; weekends mainly…

JoAnn,
I’ll check your slide show! It seems you had a great time, even with the strikes!

Joy,
Oysters, Steak tartare, foie-gras, I could imagine, but scrambled eggs??

Herby,
Jo-Ro,
Lara,
Thanks!

Deslilas,
Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Clouzot… (and many others) are Paris at its best! Actually, in the sixties, for a young Portuguese student, Paris was quite near to Paradise!

travelphilippines said...

makes me fall in love with paris more and more.

Anonymous said...

Travelphilippines,
That only means that you have a very dood taste...

Lakshmi said...

this is really a treat ..

Anonymous said...

Backpakker,
Thanks. But it's Paris' fault...

Sigma said...

Lovely pictures of the canal. And the painting is superb. It is great to tour these wonderful destinations with you :-)

Anonymous said...

Sigma,
Thanks. Canal St. Martin is becoming a top tourist destination in Paris, and it actually deserves the fame!