Thursday, July 20, 2006

From Bercy to Beirut...


Sometimes the Metro (underground) has to cross the Seine. Some lines run underneath the river but some others have to use a bridge, like here on the Pont de Bercy between the 12th and the 13th arrondissement. What you can see in the background is the Ministry of finance, a controversial building completed in 1989 . When I see such a quiet scene I can't help thinking of Abdallah who runs the Beirut Daily Photo blog and who had to leave his country. Drop him a line, if you have the chance, I am sure he can do with a little extra comfort...

23 comments:

  1. hi Eric, I think the generosity and kindness of spirit reflected in your comment here is something that goes towards adding a little magic to your photographs as well. I am really loving seeing Your city, every day!

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  2. I just sent him an e-mail, thanks to you, Eric. You seem like such a nice and very cool guy. I hope I can return to Paris soon and meet up with you. I'll buy you a drink! Salut

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  3. Ditto on above sentiments.

    I've never seen this bridge. Same idea as Pont Bir Hakeim it looks like, but less pedestrian. Where are the cars?

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  4. Roger that, Eric, will do.

    Now, I have just one question: how early do you have to get up to see a street of Paris THAT EMPTY?!!

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  5. i just love this bridge actually. i used to cross it a lot, when doing the ballade en rollers; it often was included in the itinerary.
    the metro line above, on the viaduc, is indeed just great - which is quite unexpected from a metro line...

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  6. une penssé pour abdallah nous l'avons tout les jours...

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  7. ERIC! Mon Ami!

    Long time no hear! ;-)

    Hey, thanks for pointing us in Abdallah's direction...it just boggles my mind how destructive some areas of the globe can be...

    Sure makes me think twice and appreciate every little freedom I have here in the States...

    Take care and stay cool everyone!

    :-)

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  8. I think this is a great shot, the large version showing the details makes it even nicer ;-)

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  9. This photo is among your absolute best!

    . . .. and you say you're not a professional photographer???? ha!

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  10. Nice shot and angle Eric. Is ths the same pont that has the stores underneath it near the Bastille?

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  11. Hope Haxo will come back soon to enrich this comment: this bridge has been "dobbled" at the moment of the construction of Ministry of Finance, so now one may drive on both sides of the Métro.

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  12. Eric, at last I've found the PDP pics again, but I'll write you a mail to explain - it's weird!Anyway, this reminds me of the many times I crossed that bridge to/from work, either on the mètro from Place Daumesnil to Porte D'Italie, but often on foot, 'cos I just loved walking all over the city - unforgettable joy. No Min.Finances building back then, so it's strange for me to see. Right now, we can look at just about anything around us in our Western World &get a chill from comparing with Beirut. I had thought of Abdullah too. Will visit...

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  13. Bonjour!
    what a lovely blog. love looking at all the pictures. can't wait to visit some of these places when i visit.
    missy

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  14. wonderful shot eric and yes, thanks for sending us over to Abdallah

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  15. It's a very nicelooking bridge. It looks too quiet though, almost desserted. Fitting.

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  16. Thanks a lot Eric for being so caring and compassionate about the people who suffer, and for displaying warmth and attention towards the members of the cityblog community.

    Dorothee(from Bostonweeklyphoto)

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  17. yeah eric, it s really whta is happening in beirut. I´ll visit the DP of our friend to support him. Good pic, better messagge.

    Greetings from Perú.

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  18. Extra !
    Le Paquebot le plus luxueux de France.

    Big support for the suffering ones.

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  19. gg: this bridge has been dobbled? .. what do you mean?

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  20. > Photo a day. Thank you, that is a nice thing to say. In fact, I do mean what I said, I never experienced war but I kind of imagine what it's like to be forced to leave one's country because of the bombs.

    > Floski. With pleasure Floski, with pleasure! (Diet coke then!)

    > Luggi. Yes, exactly. Same principle as Pont Bir Hackeim. And there are cars! I have just been lucky when I took this one.

    > Tomate. LOL Well 6 am. No, I am just kidding. Like I said, I have been lucky, that's all.

    > Charlus. True, and it gives it a special flavour that I love.

    > Terra Vecchia. C'est gentil pour lui ;)

    > Ame. Hey, welcome back. Where were you?! Difficult to stay cool at the moment, let me tell you! You're right, we don't realise how lucky we are to leave in peace. I was thinking of that the other when I was watching the fireworks. Besides the nice coulours the noise made me think of the bombs in Libanon and how awful it must be to find yourself in such a situation.

    > Lisi. thank you, you always say the nicest things ;)

    > Zen g. Thank you! I swear, I am not. But I may buy myself a brand new camera soon...

    > Michael. I see, it's what we call the "Coulée verte" (the green thoughway?). It used to be a former train line that they turned into gardens. So it's not the same bridge, but probably from the same period.

    > GG. Oh yeah? You mean enlarged? I did not know that.

    > Nowhere man. OK, save the PDP URL into your favorite links now! I am glad this photo recalled a - good - memory. Come back here, there will be plenty of other ones!

    > Heather. There is always a first. And believe me after what you said I hope this is not the last either! Come back anytime!!

    > Missy. Thank you. Yes, Paris is really worth visiting in real, not only through PDP!

    > Edwin. Thank you. ANd thank you for him.

    > Natalie. Believe me it's only because it's July and that I was lucky. Normammy it's totally packed.

    > Dorothée. Thank you, that is very nice of you to say ;)

    > Irredento. Thank you. I think he'll be happy to see that people from all over the world support him.

    > Chris. LOL. Yes! So I heard. But, well, now it's there, so...

    > Tomate. I think he meant enlarged (that is they made twol lanes instead of one on each side of the Metro.)

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  21. Tomate---"dobbled" is really "doubled" I think.

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  22. Eric , Tomat, Michael : yes "enlarged", that's it. The correct word couldn't come right yesterdy and I was to lazy to bother looking for it ! Blame the heat !!!
    BTW the Pont de la Concorde has been enlarged exactly the same way, though much a longer time ago. You can see it when sailing under on the Bateaux Mouches.

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