Friday, October 10, 2008

When the Champs Elysees turn into a tarmac...


Apparently the French Aerospace museum owns the largest collection of "flying objects" (which includes balloons from the 17th century!). Like last year, they picked a few models and exhibited them at the bottom of the Champs Elysées. Passers by can then currently see the only SPAD XIII (apparently a very rare plane built in 1917), the first helicopter - well the first "plane" that took off vertically in 1907 (called Cornu, after the name of its designer) and many other unique models. I chose to show you the European rocket - called Ariane (Astrium is the company that owns almost 30% of Arianespace, the main European rocket company).

34 comments:

  1. WoW!! Thats impressive.I love the large scale and perspective of the space ship,and the Arch de Triumphe.

    It looks like a beautiful day in Paris:)

    I can't believe I'm the 1st person to post.

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  2. One more thing the Air&Space Musuem in Washington D.C is also very impressive.
    Is this in the middle of the Champs Elysees or off to the side?

    I spy in the very far distance the French flag hanging from the Arch.

    ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
    I miss Paris:(

    but I always enjoy your photos Eric!

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  3. Fantastic with Arc de Triomphe behind!!!

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  4. Great mix of the past and the future, Eric! And such a beautiful day to be out snapping photos.

    I can't wait to hear what "single too long" Lynn has to say about this image...heh heh heh

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  5. Anon, let us know who you are! Right, Rose?

    This airline person is very much interested in seeing the 1917 airplane on display. So will some of the commondants.(I have to spell that phonetically as it is a word that I hear over the PA system A LOT)

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  6. Amazing photo! I saw various bits of this scattered around that area a few weeks ago, so thanks for showing it fully assembled.

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  7. Look at that blue sky and all the traffic on the Champs Elysées!

    What are the odds of attaching Dubya to this thing and shooting it off into space? Oh, that's right, he's spaced out enough as it is. :-)

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  8. Eric, what a great shot of past and present. I love the background of the Arc de Triomphe. Lovely.

    And such a gorgeous day in Paris! What a lovely thing for such a great day!!

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  9. Exciting shot, Eric. What a good idea to exhibit these right there.

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  10. phx-cdg
    Hey:) my name is Cristy,i'm 25 live in the USA.uhm I don't know what do you want to know?

    I have a LiveJournal blog thing.
    http://www.livejournal.com/users/golightly_1983

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  11. Congrats to you, Cristy! You get to design your crown today, so what will it be?

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  12. Well, you won Golden Finger, and if you win again in the future, let us know your name. All will be known sometime in the future....heee heee heee

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  13. That's a cute idea, Suzy, Gramma designed my crown the other day with macarons.I loved it!

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  14. he he funny you should mention those, Phx! Click on the link for Monica!

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  15. Lynn~~~Those are so cute, and yes I would be goofy enough to wear them. I use to embarrass my children with my footwear!

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  16. That's a heck of a shot, Eric. I love the echo of the two dominant shapes. Like Suzy said, past and future (with the present driving around in between).

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  17. YaY:D
    hmmmm... I think my crown will be something very parisian with tasty pastries.Something a little extra for the fellow PDPer's.

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  18. Oh yes, I flew to the site immediately,UKLynn, but my computer jammed till now. I wanted the shoes till I saw they cost 60 dollars!

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  19. Holy moly Eric,
    I took one look and thought you had taken a quick trip to the Marshall Space FLight Center right here in good ole Alabama! Hunstville, Alabama to be exact.
    Now I see the Arch in the background , guess not. What will you all think of next???
    V

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  20. Now this is an unusual and very surprising sight! The exhibit sounds interesting and a lot of fun.

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  21. Any trains on the "tarmac" Eric? Imagine you calling the Champs Elysées a tarmac! Funny!

    I think the ESA logo stands for European Space Agency. Is that correct?

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  22. I clicked on the image to make it bigger.WOW!! I can't even begin to imagine the large scale of this.

    I also like the different flags on the ''flying object''.If you notice mostly all of the cars are either black,white,or gray.Then you see that 1 red one. HEE .tee

    My eye immediatly goes to the large ship,second the Arch and lastly that red van or truck?

    Interesting.

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  23. or is that a tour van with a Disney advertising?

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  24. Eric, I was sure you were planning something about this exhibition!

    Cristy, yes this rocket is right in the middle of the Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées, i.e. in the middle of the peak hours traffic jams ;-)
    But it's an approx. 1/3 scale model, not a 1/1 Ariane! Too bad, but impressive anyway ;-)
    ... and yes, it's a tour van with Disney ad (lots of them in Paris)

    Michael, you're right, ESA stands for European Space Agency.
    Re. "tarmac": some of the people in charge of this exhib are pilots, and were dreaming to bring the smaller planes here by air (flying over Paris and landing on the Champs-Elysées is THE dream!) but that was refused by the authorities...

    All, this exhibition celebrates the 100 years of the French aeronautic industry, and ends on Oct. 12th. Don't be late... ;-)

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  25. Thib~~~Enjoyed your comment this morning, it was very informative. As was all the other comments by the other PDPers. I now appreciate the picture so much more and the wonderful photographic mind of Eric. He is one in a million!!

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  26. Oooooh, this post is right up my alley. Why, oh why, do I have to come across it right while I'm watching Sex and the City?!?

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  27. What a startling shot and beautifull framed. I love the shock of the rocket against the familiar Arc de Triomphe. Such an usual site in such a familiar place.

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  28. Thanks for revealing who you are golightly-1983... and welcome:)

    Thib
    Landing small aircrafts in the Champs-Elysées! You got to be joking!

    Gramma Ann
    Eric really is one in a million...

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  29. Thib said don't be late! The exhibition ends Oct 12.

    Sadly, I think I'm going to be very, very late. The economy has to get better soon, right?

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  30. Rose, I'm serious, you know! And so are these pilots: reaching Paris center by flying over the Seine river, then a U turn Place de la Concorde, and landing on the Champs Elysées is perfectly realistic ;-)
    BUT ( and as you know, everything before but is b...s..t) it is strictly forbidden ;-((
    Really too bad!

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  31. Thib
    Thanks for the explanations.The scale of it like you mentioned makes a lot more sense. LOL@the Disney Tour bus..

    Rose,
    You're welcome:)and Thank You for the welcome.
    I've been visiting for a while now,and I'll leave comments when I have something to say.I do visit everyday.I just may not always leave a comment.

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  32. $60 Phx? That's ridiculous! I didn't notice that - just thought of you and Monica when I saw them. Surely they will not sell?

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