Monday, June 18, 2007

Through Le Pont de La Concorde


How about a little view on the Seine? I took this one from La Concorde Bridge (the one that goes from the Place de La Concorde (where they used to chop the head off aristocrats during the French revolution) and the left bank. Actually at the time of the French Revolution (1789) this bridge did not exist yet, you had to take a boat to cross the Seine. The "funny" thing is that originally this bridge was meant to be called Pont Louis XVI (after the name of the king that was beheaded)...

16 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous picture - I love the perspective! Thanks for this history of the bridge, too - poor Louis...

    Hope you're having a great time in California, Eric!

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  2. I am Pont girl, I am, but I just arrived this morning and am a bit jet lagged!

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  3. Classic, Eric! Quite dreamy... You're in California? Why didn't you take me?

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  4. Interesting photo of the Seine. It may be a little view but it contains great content.

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  5. A favorite composition--repeated patterns.

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  6. Nice, original shot. You can even see Notre Dame in the back. Cool.

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  7. yeah its really strange. But I like in France that you keep the names of streets, bridges and squares. YOu sent Napoleon away to an island which means he was not welcomed anymore in France, but you still have streets and memorials about him. Here in Hungary they always change the names after the recent ideology:(

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  8. Interesting paradox between the positive and negative space in the photo. The photograph is nice and the narrative interesting.

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  9. Great view from an unusual angle!
    Again, makes us feel like we´re right there admiring the Seine.

    Talking about aristocrats and the revolution, I´ve read Marie Antoinette´s biography and enjoyed it a lot. It was a great opportunity to understand many of the things that happened in that significant period, why it happened and even helps us understand the position of the king and queen. Fascinating!

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  10. The foundations of that bridge are stones from the original Bastille. </interesting_fact>

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  11. Too late, Lynn; now we got him, we keep him! ;)

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  12. Reminds me of lined chess pieces. You can never go wrong with a photo of the Seine. Am learning a lot of French trivia from this blog. I love it! Welcome to the States, Eric. Enjoy the west coast! (from a US Midwesterner!)

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  13. Musee du Louvre, Notre Dame, Institute de France, Musee d'Orsay, they're all there! Fun shot, well done, mon ami.

    Coltrane Lives: C'est vrai, a shot of the Seine is always good. It's like Central Park, a huge expanse of open space in the midst of a great city.

    Wasn't Pont Neuf built by the time of the revolution? My history knowledge is quite faulty: I need to bridge that gap, travers l'eau d'ignorance, as it were.

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  14. No, no, Jeff! Pont Neuf is very old, it's actually the very first (stone ?) bridge they built in Paris centuries ago (that's why it's called it "Pont Neuf" that means "New Bridge") see?


    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_Neuf

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  15. Thanks Eric for this lovely and interesting photo taken on le pont de la Concorde.
    >Jeff, to "bridge your gap" on the parisian bridges, you can also visit this link: http://www.pariswater.com/ponts/
    So be ready, Eric might quiz us another time on another bridge ;-)

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  16. love this shot of my favourite pont

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