Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Fontaine du jardin des Grands Explorateurs


This morning Paris was totally covered in snow. I rushed outside to take photos, but the road was so icy that I could barely drive my scooter around (I hear London was much worse though!). I went to the Luxembourg gardens thinking that it was THE place for photos on such a day, but it was closed (they often close public gardens when it snows to avoid accidents). I finally ended up at the Jardin des Grand Explorateurs (dedicated to Marco Polo (1254-1324) and Robert Cavelier-de-la-Salle (1643-1687)), where I found this fountain designed by Carpeaux. Click on the photo if you want to see the effect of ice on the sculptures.

52 comments:

  1. It's gorgeous... Too bad that all the snow metled very quickly.
    But be careful on your scooter Eric, I really like your pictures but what would happen if you're stuck at home with a broken arm, hu?!

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  2. Je n'avais pas remarqué le détail des stalactites sur les nez et jambes des chevaux. Et sur leur crinière. Cela fait un cerne graphique, comme dans une peinture.

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  3. Pretty cool! Yeah, Eric, if this keeps up you're gonna have to leave the scooter home and go to work on skis instead, or ... the subway ? ;) I feel sorry for those relying on Velib though.

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  4. Always hated biking in the snow or on a scooter ... brrr...

    Yeah, it's a great shot, thank you!

    Hard to post on blogger lately or is it just me?

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  5. Not the kind of horses you want to go riding bareback.

    Carpeaux. I remember this as a backdrop for the 1968 "revolution."

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  6. I love the colors, and the effect of the spray.

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  7. Hey Guille GF! Yay.

    oh I love snow pictures, Eric. I really do. Those icicles are superb. How pretty this photo is.

    Yes London was worse and if you want to laugh at England's incompetency at coping with bad weather, there's a bit of it over at my blog. We are nothing, the English, if not people who can laugh at themselves. :)

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  8. incompetency? Gosh I'm getting almost as American as Eric! Apologies: incompetence. lol

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  9. I find this photo absolutely enchanting, especially the way you aimed at the turtles spitting out the water with such force. What a sense of humor Carpeaux had.

    I INSIST on a Luxembourg photo of the snow!!! A fitting bookend after all these years to your very first photo EVER on your site.

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  10. J'adore l'image. These two horses full of life and stopped in their run up (because of a sudden icy weather)are gorgeous. I love the beauty of horses. I love to look at them when they run, free.
    How can you find that on time each day ?

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  11. Wonderful photo! I also admire your motivation to spring out of the house to take pictures. I could only manage to lean out my window and snap a few. By the time I stumbled outside, it had mostly melted :( At least one of us found a good shot!

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  12. Yes, England was worse. Three separate people emailed me snow pictures--two from London and one from Oldham (near Manchester).

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  13. A stunning site regardless of the weather...

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  14. Risking life and limb to bring us a fabulous photo. That's our Eric. Long live the King!
    IT's gorgeous when you enlarge the photo!!!
    V

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  15. Eric -- this is so so beautiful! I agree with GF Guille—the icicles on the noses and manes are superb.
    Lynn -- What else can the Brits do but laugh at having not a single snow plow in a city of 7,500,000?
    But, then again, if you only get a snow like that once in a century . . . why invest in plows? Friends in London have been posting photos on facebook. Looks like such fun. Hey, you might as well enjoy it while you have it.
    We're supposed to get more snow here in nyc tonight, btw (but we have plows . . . and salt).

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  16. Oh, Eric, this is gorgeous!! I love how the icicles drip off the horses' hooves. This needs to be on your top 10 list for this year!!

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  17. Another 'keeper.' I love the detail of the turtles and the ice on the horses.

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  18. Beautiful. Capturing the snow and ice and a green seat matching the green of the sculptures. A lovely photo, Eric.

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  19. Beautiful.

    And if I had not clicked to enlarge the picture, I would not have seen the water frozen on the statues!

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  20. Magical! There's something quite fairy-tale like about it...

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  21. Well this is beautiful! While it doesn't quite transport me to Moscow's Gorky Park's Bellagio-like-fountains, I must confess I did start humming Lara's theme to Dr. Zhivago. Those poor horses' noses do need nose mittens or nose muffs or nose warmers or nose protectors...or perhaps they just need a good snort of wild oats. ;-)Okay, back to reading Dostoyevsky. Be safe on your scooter Eric. Ice is never very kind to two wheelers.

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  22. Eric, this is going on my list of favorite PDP shots. I love it. It's graceful. Thank you so much.

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  23. I agree with Petrea on this photo. This is in my top five.
    ... très KOOL, Eric.

    .. and thank you to Coltrane for the chuckles. .. quite a wit, that fellow.

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  24. I have a very similar picture of the same fountain from December. It is the link in my name.

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  25. Hi Eric, nice and awesome photo. I like the spry of water...

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  26. Crazy ... horse ? ;))
    Then that's not so crazy, isn't it !!! LOL

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  27. Eric, you spoil us! I don't know very many people who would hop on their scooter in the snow to take photos for us. THANK YOU! Over here in the US, wind-chills were negative 21 degrees as I waited for the bus! I am homesick for Paris!

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  28. That's cold, Misplaced Parisian! In the UK we are at 4 degrees Centigrade dropping to 0 degrees tonight, whilst Eric positively languishes in 15 degrees dropping to 11 tonight!

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  29. Lovely composition, full of movement and energy.

    It looks cold Eric, did you have to get an extra sweater out of the oven?

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  30. those are some frosty horses!! Be careful out there.

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  31. I was a bit disappointed at first because little snow was visible on your photo but it's really worth clicking on the picture to enlarge it: The icicles on the horses nose, legs and hoofs are just spectacular.
    Just brilliant!

    (no such thing in Avignon, the weather is mild, grey and rainy)

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  32. Re snow in England - I'm told that London would have been OK if only they hadn't lent the snow plough to Manchester.

    Still, I love the idea of those London types tottering through the snow in their Jimmy Choos.

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  33. Ahahaha Drummond! Hilarious. Love the oven gag. So right..

    Also the London snow plough he he. That one I believe is due for renewal having been used twice, isn't it?
    The foot attire in London I would guess goes from the Choos to designer wellies. All colours, designs, daisies, animals all over them. One must have them darling! Green wellies are soooo last year don't you know.

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  34. Stunning photo. On my trip this weekend I saw a beautiful fountain that had been frozen while it was spewing water during last weeks deep freeze. Saturday was about 65 degrees so the fountain was steadily spewing water on one side and still covered with a mound of water frozen in the act of falling on the other. It was pretty amazing looking!

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  35. This is such a joyful image! They seem to be enjoying their frolick in the icy water.

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  36. "I'm told that London would have been OK if only they hadn't lent the snow plough to Manchester".

    You are right, Drummond!!
    This snow plough to Manchester was a real slaughter ;)

    What about a Paris-London ticket?

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  37. There are several interesting London snow videos here.

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  38. I love this fountain. Perhaps the horses are headed for La Closerie des Lilas on blvd du Montparnasse, where Hemingway would give them a frosty reception if they interrupted his writing.

    Where I sit, right now it is -3 F, with a windchill of -20 (-19 C, -28 C). People in London and Paris are loving the snow and cold. It is funny. My friends in California are bored with nice weather but for me it is really a treat in February. We are an amusing species.
    "Shall we this fond pageant see?
    Oh, what fools these mortals be."

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  39. Jeff, I sat here in California watching those snow videos from London and found myself wishing for some healthy precipitation! We could really use it now.

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  40. Lynn, I sort of hoped you'd pick up on the oven gag!

    Anonyme, OK, as long as you're paying.

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  41. Yes, Lynn, it's very cold in the US today. ugh. Hopefully spring time is right around the corner, non? ;) Pitchers and catchers report to training in less than 10 days.

    Hey, Eric, did you by chance snap a photo of the Eiffel with snow???

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  42. That's what we all want, I think, Misplaced Parisian. Sigh....:)

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  43. This is just stunning. Absolutely beautiful.

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  44. LOL, Drummond, as long as I am getting hard cash!

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  45. I´m late today for comments, but I just want to say thank you for this picture!

    It´s a gorgeous picture and the ice effect makes it even more bwautiful!!! Besides I didn´t know this park, so it´s even better to learn about a new place (for me) in Paris!

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  46. What a wonderful picture. Really shows how beautiful Paris is, even in winter. The ice detail is great.

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  47. Strangely it reminds me of Audrey Hepburn who once posed on this very fountain riding on the fiery horse... sans snow though

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  48. Eric, is it true? They keep the water running in the fountains of Paris even in the winter??? It's beautiful. The larger picture is a wonderfully breathtaking fairy-tail-like visual--do you make it available as a poster (sigh)to cherish forever?
    Please let me know. . .Suzanne

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