Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Statue of Liberty


I already mentioned it several times here - and you may know it anyway - but the statue of Liberty that you can see in New York has been given to the Americans by the French as a gift. Several mock ups and replicas have been made prior and after, like this one I recently found in the Musée des Arts et Métiers, a fantastic museum near Place de la Republique where you can also see the first - French - planes, the first - French - bicycles, the first - French -television set (1931!) and several displays about buildings and constructions. That is where I photographed this mock up.

21 comments:

  1. I think you are a fine photographer, and I really appreciate your site. I have never been to France, I live in Nebraska, but I would love to go someday. These pictures are really interesting and beautiful! Thanks!

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  2. I thought those were real people until I read your note! Great photo as usual, Eric.

    Love, Suzy P

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  3. Whoa! What a big face! "Yer gonna take who's liberty, buddy?"

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  4. Awesome shot!!! :)

    Oh, yeah, the musee du CNAM is very cool. It doesn't take very long to get through it and they have a nice little coffee shop / resto open to all so you can relax your feet a little when you're done before heading back out through the streets of Paris for more fun and discoveries.

    If memory serves, there is also an small collection of the most impressive suspended bridges (smaller replicas, of course!) including the Brooklyn Bridge, and other engineering marvels. They also have a replica of the Pendule de Foucault(I forgot how to spell that?) and some other cool, fun stuff, if memory serves, very old cars and turn of the century stuff.

    That one is a really cool museum, a little bit more geeky than the "traditional ones" but oh, so much more fun, I think! 8-D

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  5. Here you go, this is the official site (in French) for that museum:

    http://www.arts-et-metiers.net/

    There is a little British flag up on the right end, so I bet if you click that, it'll get you to the English version of the site.

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  6. .... and the first - French - tall story ;-)

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  7. Thanks for pointing out this museum, Eric, and also Tomate for the link and insight. I must say that I was unaware of it and have put in on my "geeky" to do list of places to check out next time we're in Paris. Now, about those Paris "jazz clubs" I've been waiting to hear about...Eric, do you think that you might...? :-)

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  8. I remember the impressive sculpture, Harmonie, by Antoniucci Volti that you posted on July 27, 2005 that is near this museum.

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  9. Very nice photo Eric and a surprising one as well.

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  10. Have you ever read Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum"? Well, part of it takes place in this conservatory of arts and trades. Don't try to retrace the steps today, though, because it has been renovated since. And because of said renovations, this place was closed when my science buff friend was in Paris several years ago, and sooooo wanted to visit it. I wish we were still in touch. I would have loved to send him today's post, Eric. This is AWESOME!!!

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  11. Here's a link that will show you the pendulum at this museum, and a little of the immediate surrounding area, giving you a glimpse of what Eric says can be found there, perhaps that first french plane???


    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5327484670789454375&q=pendulum++foucault

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  12. Eric,
    I just stumbled across your blog. It's great! I was in Paris in November, 2005. You had snow while I was visiting.
    -Samantha, CT, USA

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  13. Loraine, no, never read it. Funny you should mention that book... My brother gave me a copy back in the mid 90's but shame on me I never read it and after keeping it on my shelves for years, I just took it to the donation bin last Saturday!

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  14. Tomate, ohh if Eric had just posted this before last Saturday...:) It was a pretty good book. When I read Dan Brown's, The Da Vinci Code last year, it reminded me of this book. The suspense, the subject matter--the Knights Templar, Holy Grail, and of course the proverbial conspiracy theory. :)

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  15. Yes you're right Loraine, I also saw the Foucault's pendulum in there but I chose not to show it because I already did with the one located in the Pantheon in March 2006. Much larger actually.

    I'm always impressed by these pendulums I must say...

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  16. Thanks for letting me know about this museum !!! this should be a nice place to visit with the children one day .... We have our mini-statue of liberty too in Alsace, in Colmar where Bartholdi was born ... Your site is always a cool place to begin the day !

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  17. Merci, Eric...really great shot! Lady Liberty has always been a personal favorite. I was actually afraid of it the first time I saw it as a child in New York!! Soooo big! Amazing how it was constructed and brought to New York.

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  18. That sounds like an interesting history museum. Of course the french were leading the world in aviation 100 years ago... during the heady days of Bleriot, Santos Dumont and the Wright Brothers.

    I wonder if the french enthusiasm for flying machines still persists today? I understand that all of Paris is a 'no flight' zone for any aircraft. So Santos Dumont would have a harder time flying around the Eiffel tower today than he did 100 years ago!

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  19. And that is one very nice gift! Merci la France! :)

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  20. That's true, no commercial flight above Paris without permission. However, they did fly the Concord over Paris once, in 1968 or 69, I believe, with special permission. It did its supersonic "boum" as expected and was gone a fraction of a second later, and it was awesome.

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