It's time for the Olympics so let's visit Paris.
Paris began on the island in the Seine River, in the center of the city. The square in front of Cathedrale Notre Dame is sometimes referred to as "Point Zero", the center of the city.
The original royal palace was on this island, to the west of Notre Dame. After the palace that is now the Louvre replaced it, the original palace was used for other purposes. It was the Concergerie, or prison, during the French Revolution. Today it serves judicial functions.We saw the doors of Cathedrale Notre Dame on the travel photo blog.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250925.jpg
This is a painting of the original royal palace of Paris, Palais de la Cite, about the year 1400.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-Chapelle#/media/File:Les_Tr%C3%A8s_Riches_Heures_du_duc_de_Berry_juin.jpg
Here is a medieval banquet in the palace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_de_la_Cit%C3%A9#/media/File:Banquet_de_Charles_V_le_Sage.jpg
Sainte Chapelle is not a cathedral, but was the chapel of this palace. It was built by a king who was so kindly that he was known as Saint Louis and, although he didn't live anywhere near long enough to see it, he has an American and a Mexican city named for him. Here are the world-famous windows of Sainte Chapelle, which was completed in 1248, originally to house holy relics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-Chapelle#/media/File:Sainte-Chapelle-Interior.jpg
The part of the palace with the turrets and spires became known as the Conciergerie. It was a notorious prison during the French Revolution.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conciergerie#/media/File:Quai_de_l%27Horloge,_Paris,_%C3%8Ele-de-France_140320.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_de_la_Cit%C3%A9#/media/File:QueenMarie-AntoinetteRevolutionaryTribunal.jpg
The French royal family relocated to the palace that is now the Louvre in 1357, because it was fortified and a more secure location, and the old Palais de la Cite has been used for other purposes ever since. Nearby, but not on the island, is the Hotel de Ville. This has been the "city hall" of Paris since that time. In French, the word "hotel" refers not just to accommodations but also to a large building. It was, of course, severely damaged during the proto-Communist uprising in 1871, but the insides of the building were reconstructed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B4tel_de_Ville,_Paris#/media/File:HotelVilleParis.JPG
There was an old Louvre, which was gradually replaced with the present structure, and this is where the French royals relocated from the old Palais de la Cite. The Louvre is immediately west from the Palais de la Cite but on the mainland, the Right Bank, and not on the island. Virtually every French king added to the Louvre, until the royal court moved to an even more extravagant palace, that of Versailles to the southwest of Paris, in 1682. The eastern part of the Louvre is older and the western part, facing toward the Tuileries gardens, Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysees, is newer.
After the royal move to Versailles, the Louvre was used to store the various artifacts that had been collected, and that is what led to it becoming the great art and antiquities museum that it is today. It was actually opened as a museum during the French Revolution, on the first anniversary of the execution of the king and queen, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, in nearby Place de la Concorde. Their Bourbon Dynasty had taken power while the Louvre was the royal residence.
As if there might be a shortage of palaces in Paris, the Palais Royale is just adjacent to the Louvre. Despite the name, the palace was originally built for a cardinal, Richlieu. Upon his death, the king took control of the palace and it was renamed from Palais Cardinal to Palais Royale. The name of Cardinal Richlieu lives on in the northern wing of the Louve, that extends westward from the older eastern part of the Louvre. The southern extension is the Denon Wing, named for Napoleon's art expert.
Here is Palais Royale, just north of the Louvre.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais-Royal#/media/File:Conseil_d%27Etat_Paris_WA.jpg
The following scenes begin below ground at the Louvre, actually below Place Carrousel, at the western end of the Louvre. The glass pyramids, in the courtyard of the Louvre, are actually skylights.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
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The Louvre is built around two courtyards. The smaller, eastern one is completely enclosed. The vast western courtyard at the Louvre used to be completely enclosed. At the western end, called Place Carrousel because it used to be the site of military horse parades, was the Tuileries Palace. It was actually started by Catherine de Medici, the Italian widow of a French king, along with the adjacent Tuileries Gardens.
It was a magnificent palace, built in 1564, until it was destroyed by the same Communard uprising in 1871 that almost destroyed the Hotel de Ville. The Louvre itself was just barely saved. The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel still stands, and was an entrance arch to the Tuileries Palace facing the direction of the Louvre.
This is an early photo, taken from the Louvre. Looking westward, we see the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, the Tuileries Palace, the Egyptian obelisk in Place de la Concorde and finally, in the distance, the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs Elysees. Notice that all four form a straight line, known as the Historical Axis of Paris, or the Axe Historique.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuileries_Palace#/media/File:Tuileries_vers_1860.jpg
This is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. It was completed in 1808, before the larger Arc de Triomphe at the opposite end of the Champs Elysees. Both arches were built by Napoleon to commemorate his military victories. The four horses on top of the arch are the Horses of St. Mark. These were taken from Constantinople to Venice when the Crusaders raided it in 1204. Napoleon removed the horses from Venice, during his conquests, but had a copy made of them and the original given back to Venice. The horses on this arch are that copy. The original horses are inside St. Mark's Basilica.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe_du_Carrousel#/media/File:Paris_-_Jardin_des_Tuileries_-_Arc_de_Triomphe_du_Carrousel_-_PA00085992_-_003.jpg
Here are some scenes of the Tuileries Palace. There have been a number of people who would like to see it rebuilt, including Charles De Gaulle. In the first photo, you can see the pavilion with the semi-peaked roof, which is part of the Louvre and is still there. The two such pavilions, at the western end of the Louvre, is where it joined the Tuileries Palace, which enclosed the Louvre courtyard that is now open.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuileries_Palace#/media/File:211.5_Les_Tuileries_vues_du_Louvre.jpg
This is the view, looking westward, from inside the Louvre courtyard, past the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel to the Tuileries Palace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuileries_Palace#/media/File:Hippolyte_Bellang%C3%A9_-_Un_jour_de_revue_sous_l%E2%80%99Empire_-_1810.jpg
This is from the west, in the Tuileries Gardens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuileries_Palace#/media/File:PierreTetarVanElvenF%C3%AAteAuxTuileries10juin1867.JPG
The royal court resided in the Tuileries Palace for only five years, from 1667-72, before moving on to the new palace complex at Versailles, which was then outside the city. There are actually two historical axes of Paris, which do not form a perfectly straight line. The longer one, that we have seen, extends westward to the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs Elysees, and from there to the Grande Arche that was opened on the two century anniversary of the French Revolution in 1989. The shorter axis extends eastward, to the center of the Louvre. The two axes met at the center of the Tuileries Palace.
When the king and queen, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, were overthrown in the French Revolution, they were at first held in the Tuileries Palace. They made their well-known escape attempt from there, but were recaptured. Napoleon moved into the palace after coming to power.
After the time of Napoleon the Bourbon Dynasty made a comeback, but with their powers curtailed as a constitutional monarchy. The brothers of the executed king returned from exile and reigned from the Tuileries Palace. The spring of 1815 brought the "Hundred Days", where Napoleon managed to come back from exile on Elba and regain power. But that ended with defeat by the Allies and another return of the Bourbons.
That lasted until 1830, when it was replaced by a cadet branch of the Bourbons, the House of Orleans known as the July Monarchy. The French monarchy was finally finished for good by the series of revolutions that swept Europe in 1848.
But the history of the Tuileries Palace isn't quite complete. Napoleon's nephew, Napoleon III, became the first president of France. But when his term of office was over, he was constitutionally barred from a second consecutive term. But someone with the name of Napoleon wasn't about to let something as trivial as constitutional term limits get in his way. He simply declared himself as emperor, and ruled from the Tuileries Palace. This is known as the Second French Empire, and remember that it was Napoleon III who accomplished the massive renovation of Paris that gave us the most of the city that we see today.
Napoleon III was himself captured during the Franco-Prussian War. This ended the Second Empire and brought the Third Republic. But while the French Army was away at battle, the proto-communist movement known as the Communards or Paris Commune took the opportunity to seize control of Paris.
The Bourbon Dynasty had made a comeback after the time of Napoleon. Napoleon had made a comeback during the Hundred Days, and by his nephew later ruling as Napoleon III, and now the French Revolution made a brief comeback as the Paris Commune.
This is how French history works, like the bouncing of a ball with each bounce lesser than the one before it, until the bouncing stops altogether. So it has been with the various comebacks, but each with less authority than the previous manifestation, of the monarchy, the revolution, and the military dictatorship of Napoleon.
The Communards of 1871 were at least as destructive as the revolutionaries nearly a century before. In the quest to destroy anything royal, they severely damaged the Hotel de Ville, as described above, as well as the old Palais de la Cite. But their greatest feat of destruction was the Tuileries Palace. With the inside burned out, the structure stood for years, until it was finally decided to raze rather than rebuild it, because it was considered as such a symbol of traumatic earlier times.
The Elysees Palace, where the French president lives today, is not far away, just north of the Champs Elysees, for which it is named. It was once a nobility residence. A little-known fact is that there was once an underground tunnel between the Tuileries and the Elysees palaces.
In 1682, the court moved to an even more extravagant palace, that of Versailles which was then to the southwest of Paris. The Louvre Palace became used primarily to store the collection of royal artifacts, which led to it becoming the great museum that it is today. The court remained in Versailles for just over a century, until the beginning of the French Revolution, which overthrew the monarchy.
Here are some scenes around the Palace of Versailles. Incredibly, it was originally intended not as a palace but as a royal hunting lodge. It was from the lawn of the palace at Versailles that living animals made their first flight, in a balloon constructed by the Montgolfier brothers.
The first scene is in the Hall of Mirrors, likely the single most famous room in the world. It was in this room that the German Empire, united what had formerly been many different states, was proclaimed at the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian War, and also the armistice at the end of the First World War, were signed. You can see a reflection in the mirror of a man pushing a machine, it is the machine which formed the imagery.
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The center of Paris is defined as "Point Zero", in the square in front of Cathedrale Notre Dame. But another place that many would consider as the practical center of Paris is Place Concorde. With the exception of Versailles, we have been gradually moving westward in our visit to Paris, from Notre Dame and the Palais de la Cite, on the island on which the city began, to the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens, and now to Place Concorde. All of this is within walking distance.
We saw Place Concorde, on the travel photo blog of Europe with the Eiffel Tower in the background. The obelisk is originally from Luxor, in Egypt. It is one of the three obelisks, known as "Cleopatra's Needles", that we saw in the visit to Alexandria, although they were constructed long before the time of Cleopatra. The other two obelisks are in New York and London.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250926.jpg
This is Place Concorde, looking back from the Eiffel Tower, with the obelisk in the center. The hedges on the right are in the Tuileries Gardens, the remaining gardens after the destruction of the Tuileries Palace. The building with columns to the left is the headquarters of the French Navy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_de_la_Concorde#/media/File:Place_de_la_Concorde_from_the_Eiffel_Tower,_Paris_April_2011.jpg
This is the execution of the king, Louis XVI, during the French Revolution. Many such executions were carried out here. Place Concorde was later defined on the spot as a symbol of reconciliation. The building that is now the headquarters of the French Navy can be seen to the right, in the background. The identical building on the left is where Ben Franklin first managed to get another country to give diplomatic recognition to the United States, and there is an identical copy of these two buildings in Philadelphia's Logan Square.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_de_la_Concorde#/media/File:Execution_of_Louis_XVI.jpg
The iconic image of the French Revolution is the Storming of the Bastille. This is reflected in France's national holiday of Bastille Day, July 14. The Bastille was a massive old fortress that was being used as a prison and to store ammunition. The seizure of the arms in the fortress by the revolutionaries may have made the difference in the success of the revolution. The building is gone today, except for part of the foundation, but is marked by Place Bastille. Rue de Rivoli leads from Place Concorde, along the north side of the Louvre to Place Bastille. This is what the Bastille once looked like.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille#/media/File:Bastille,_1790_retouched.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille#/media/File:Bastille_Courtyard_1785.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille#/media/File:Bastille_Interior_1785.jpg
Back to Place Concorde, here are some of the well-known buildings nearby.
The Orsay Museum is one of the most important art galleries, almost as important as the Louvre. It is built in a massive former train station, and is on the other side of the Seine River.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_d%27Orsay#/media/File:MuseeDOrsay.jpg
The large building with the glass roof is the Grande Palais. The building just beyond it is the Petit Palais. Both buildings were built for The Universal Exhibition of 1900. The building in the distance, with the green roof, is La Madeleine, which was built by Napoleon as a temple dedicated to the glory of his army but is now a Catholic church. The building at the far right is the one in which Ben Franklin first gained diplomatic recognition for the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Palais#/media/File:GD-FR-Paris-Grand_Palais.jpg
The Grande Palais and the Petit Palais were built for the Universal Exposition of 1900. In the following image for that exhibition, you can also see the buildings from the exhibition of 1889, 11 years before which was the centennial of the French Revolution, and for which the Eiffel Tower was constructed as the entrance archway. Those buildings around the Eiffel Tower are no longer there, but the Grande Palais and Petit Palais remain. The Grande Palais is a massive exhibition hall and the Petit Palais is yet another art museum. The former train station nearby, on the opposite side of the river, that is now the Orsay Museum, was built for easy access to this exhibition of 1900.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1900)#/media/File:Vue_panoramique_de_l%27exposition_universelle_de_1900.jpg
This is La Madeleine, now a church but originally a temple dedicated to the glory of Napoleon's army.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Madeleine,_Paris#/media/File:Madeleine_Paris.jpg
This is inside La Madeleine. The fresco "The History of Christianity" actually features Napoleon as a Christ-like figure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Madeleine,_Paris#/media/File:%C3%89glise_de_la_Madeleine_1,_Paris_July_2011.jpg
The first of the following scenes is from Place Concorde looking straight down the Champs Elysees, the most famous street of Paris. The Champs Elysees is actually named for the ancient Greek myth of the Elysian Fields, the place of the afterlife. The Arc de Triomphe can just be seen in the distance. To the right are the two identical buildings, described above. Behind the perspective is the obelisk, beyond which are the Tuileries Gardens and the Louvre. To the left, across the bridge over the Seine River, is the Palais Bourbon, which is the lower house of the French Legislature.
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At the opposite end of the Champs Elysees from Place Concorde is the Arc de Triomphe. This was built to celebrate Napoleon's victories. This arch was built on an axis, known as the Historical Axis of Paris, with Napoleon's older arch, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel as seen above at the Louvre, but the Arc de Triomphe is about twice the size. The Historical Axis continues westward to the modern glass Grande Arche, which was completed in 1989 for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es#/media/File:Champs-Elys%C3%A9es,_vue_de_la_Concorde_%C3%A0_l%27Etoile.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es#/media/File:Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es_from_the_Arc_de_Triomphe.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es#/media/File:Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es_-_eastern_view_-_20111001.jpg
The domed building in this view from the Eiffel Tower is Les Invalides. It was built as a hospital and retirement home for soldiers. It cannot be seen in the photo but Les Invalides is directly across the Seine River from the Grande Palais and the Petit Palais. The dome houses the tomb of Napoleon.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250929.jpg
The following scenes begin at the tomb of Napoleon inside the dome. The tomb is at the lower level in the center.
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In 1871, with the French Army occupied by the Franco-Prussian War, the party known as the Paris Commune seized power in the city. Decades before the October Revolution of 1917, this was an early Communist movement, and were otherwise known as Communards.
The Paris Commune had an element of the French Revolution, nearly a century before, in their propensity to destruction. They destroyed symbols of authority, such as the Hotel de Ville (Paris City Hall) and the Tuileries Palace. The stone structure of the Hotel de Ville remained, and it was rebuilt, but the Tuileries Palace wasn't. They tried to destroy the entire Louvre, but it was fortunately saved.
Here is a makeshift fort that the Paris Commune constructed, in Place Concorde, before being suppressed by the army. The building is the headquarters of the French Navy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune#/media/File:Barricades_pres_de_Ministere_de_la_Marine_et_l%27H%C3%B6tel_Crillon.jpg
In the late Nineteenth Century, Paris underwent the radical transformation and restructuring that made it into the city that it is today. The old and crowded medieval city was mostly razed, and replaced by grand buildings linked by broad boulevards. The average street width doubled, and the new system of gas lights would bring Paris the nickname "The City of Light".
Here are a few of the earliest photos, of the old and crowded medieval Paris that was razed to make way for the new city.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Charles_Marville,_Rue_St._Nicolas_du_Chardonnet,_de_la_rue_Traversine,_ca._1853%E2%80%9370.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Charles_Marville,_Rue_des_Marmousets,_ca._1853%E2%80%9370.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Charles_Marville,_Rue_du_March%C3%A9_aux_fleurs,_ca._1853%E2%80%9370.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Charles_Marville,_Rue_du_Jardinet,_ca._1853%E2%80%9370.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Charles_Marville,_Rue_Tirechape,_de_la_rue_de_Rivoli,_ca._1853%E2%80%9370.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Charles_Marville,_La_Bi%C3%A8vre,_ca._1865.jpg
Rue de Rivoli is the street that runs eastward from Place Concorde, along the north side of the Louvre, to Place Bastille. It was the first street to be modernized.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Rue-de-Rivoli-1855.jpg
Much of the renovation took place below ground, and the new sewers of Paris actually became a tourist attraction that visitors wanted to see.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:PARIS_SOUTERRAIN_-_Les_%C3%A9gouts,_service_de_l%27assainissement_;_collecteur_du_Boulevard_S%C3%A9bastopol.jpg
An important part of the renovation was the great marketplace, Les Halles, which has since been replaced by a mall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Halles#/media/File:Vedere_a_Halelor_din_Paris_de_pe_Biserica_Saint_Eustache.jpg
The idea was that, when going along one of the boulevards, a great building or monument should be visible up ahead, and the boulevards were intended to link the city's centerpiece monuments and buildings. Paris also skillfully links itself to history, primarily by design of buildings and names of streets, as we saw in the posting on this blog, "America And The Modern World Explained By Way Of Paris".
Nothing that arose out of this renovation of Paris was more impressive than Palais Garnier, or the Paris Opera. It was completed in 1875. There is a magnificent boulevard, Avenue de la Opera, that leads right up to it from Rue de Rivoli, beginning on the north side of the Louvre. When you walk past the Palais Garnier, it is absolutely stunning. The popular play, "The Phantom of the Opera", takes place here. This image of the Palais Garnier is from Google Earth.
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8623769,2.3346522,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1ssMUxV2jjDvQDjCE_2zNcQA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DsMUxV2jjDvQDjCE_2zNcQA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D26.994629%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
The Louvre is built around two courtyards. The smaller, eastern one is completely enclosed. The vast western courtyard at the Louvre used to be completely enclosed. At the western end, called Place Carrousel because it used to be the site of military horse parades, was the Tuileries Palace. It was actually started by Catherine de Medici, the Italian widow of a French king, along with the adjacent Tuileries Gardens.
It was a magnificent palace, built in 1564, until it was destroyed by the same Communard uprising in 1871 that almost destroyed the Hotel de Ville. The Louvre itself was just barely saved. The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel still stands, and was an entrance arch to the Tuileries Palace facing the direction of the Louvre.
This is an early photo, taken from the Louvre. Looking westward, we see the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, the Tuileries Palace, the Egyptian obelisk in Place de la Concorde and finally, in the distance, the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs Elysees. Notice that all four form a straight line, known as the Historical Axis of Paris, or the Axe Historique.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuileries_Palace#/media/File:Tuileries_vers_1860.jpg
This is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. It was completed in 1808, before the larger Arc de Triomphe at the opposite end of the Champs Elysees. Both arches were built by Napoleon to commemorate his military victories. The four horses on top of the arch are the Horses of St. Mark. These were taken from Constantinople to Venice when the Crusaders raided it in 1204. Napoleon removed the horses from Venice, during his conquests, but had a copy made of them and the original given back to Venice. The horses on this arch are that copy. The original horses are inside St. Mark's Basilica.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe_du_Carrousel#/media/File:Paris_-_Jardin_des_Tuileries_-_Arc_de_Triomphe_du_Carrousel_-_PA00085992_-_003.jpg
Here are some scenes of the Tuileries Palace. There have been a number of people who would like to see it rebuilt, including Charles De Gaulle. In the first photo, you can see the pavilion with the semi-peaked roof, which is part of the Louvre and is still there. The two such pavilions, at the western end of the Louvre, is where it joined the Tuileries Palace, which enclosed the Louvre courtyard that is now open.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuileries_Palace#/media/File:211.5_Les_Tuileries_vues_du_Louvre.jpg
This is the view, looking westward, from inside the Louvre courtyard, past the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel to the Tuileries Palace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuileries_Palace#/media/File:Hippolyte_Bellang%C3%A9_-_Un_jour_de_revue_sous_l%E2%80%99Empire_-_1810.jpg
This is from the west, in the Tuileries Gardens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuileries_Palace#/media/File:PierreTetarVanElvenF%C3%AAteAuxTuileries10juin1867.JPG
The royal court resided in the Tuileries Palace for only five years, from 1667-72, before moving on to the new palace complex at Versailles, which was then outside the city. There are actually two historical axes of Paris, which do not form a perfectly straight line. The longer one, that we have seen, extends westward to the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs Elysees, and from there to the Grande Arche that was opened on the two century anniversary of the French Revolution in 1989. The shorter axis extends eastward, to the center of the Louvre. The two axes met at the center of the Tuileries Palace.
When the king and queen, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, were overthrown in the French Revolution, they were at first held in the Tuileries Palace. They made their well-known escape attempt from there, but were recaptured. Napoleon moved into the palace after coming to power.
After the time of Napoleon the Bourbon Dynasty made a comeback, but with their powers curtailed as a constitutional monarchy. The brothers of the executed king returned from exile and reigned from the Tuileries Palace. The spring of 1815 brought the "Hundred Days", where Napoleon managed to come back from exile on Elba and regain power. But that ended with defeat by the Allies and another return of the Bourbons.
That lasted until 1830, when it was replaced by a cadet branch of the Bourbons, the House of Orleans known as the July Monarchy. The French monarchy was finally finished for good by the series of revolutions that swept Europe in 1848.
But the history of the Tuileries Palace isn't quite complete. Napoleon's nephew, Napoleon III, became the first president of France. But when his term of office was over, he was constitutionally barred from a second consecutive term. But someone with the name of Napoleon wasn't about to let something as trivial as constitutional term limits get in his way. He simply declared himself as emperor, and ruled from the Tuileries Palace. This is known as the Second French Empire, and remember that it was Napoleon III who accomplished the massive renovation of Paris that gave us the most of the city that we see today.
Napoleon III was himself captured during the Franco-Prussian War. This ended the Second Empire and brought the Third Republic. But while the French Army was away at battle, the proto-communist movement known as the Communards or Paris Commune took the opportunity to seize control of Paris.
The Bourbon Dynasty had made a comeback after the time of Napoleon. Napoleon had made a comeback during the Hundred Days, and by his nephew later ruling as Napoleon III, and now the French Revolution made a brief comeback as the Paris Commune.
This is how French history works, like the bouncing of a ball with each bounce lesser than the one before it, until the bouncing stops altogether. So it has been with the various comebacks, but each with less authority than the previous manifestation, of the monarchy, the revolution, and the military dictatorship of Napoleon.
The Communards of 1871 were at least as destructive as the revolutionaries nearly a century before. In the quest to destroy anything royal, they severely damaged the Hotel de Ville, as described above, as well as the old Palais de la Cite. But their greatest feat of destruction was the Tuileries Palace. With the inside burned out, the structure stood for years, until it was finally decided to raze rather than rebuild it, because it was considered as such a symbol of traumatic earlier times.
The Elysees Palace, where the French president lives today, is not far away, just north of the Champs Elysees, for which it is named. It was once a nobility residence. A little-known fact is that there was once an underground tunnel between the Tuileries and the Elysees palaces.
In 1682, the court moved to an even more extravagant palace, that of Versailles which was then to the southwest of Paris. The Louvre Palace became used primarily to store the collection of royal artifacts, which led to it becoming the great museum that it is today. The court remained in Versailles for just over a century, until the beginning of the French Revolution, which overthrew the monarchy.
Here are some scenes around the Palace of Versailles. Incredibly, it was originally intended not as a palace but as a royal hunting lodge. It was from the lawn of the palace at Versailles that living animals made their first flight, in a balloon constructed by the Montgolfier brothers.
The first scene is in the Hall of Mirrors, likely the single most famous room in the world. It was in this room that the German Empire, united what had formerly been many different states, was proclaimed at the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian War, and also the armistice at the end of the First World War, were signed. You can see a reflection in the mirror of a man pushing a machine, it is the machine which formed the imagery.
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8047771,2.1202757,3a,75y,201.75h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sfkdpoxqZ-phekgL_ocyjXA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DfkdpoxqZ-phekgL_ocyjXA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D74.58312%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
The center of Paris is defined as "Point Zero", in the square in front of Cathedrale Notre Dame. But another place that many would consider as the practical center of Paris is Place Concorde. With the exception of Versailles, we have been gradually moving westward in our visit to Paris, from Notre Dame and the Palais de la Cite, on the island on which the city began, to the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens, and now to Place Concorde. All of this is within walking distance.
We saw Place Concorde, on the travel photo blog of Europe with the Eiffel Tower in the background. The obelisk is originally from Luxor, in Egypt. It is one of the three obelisks, known as "Cleopatra's Needles", that we saw in the visit to Alexandria, although they were constructed long before the time of Cleopatra. The other two obelisks are in New York and London.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250926.jpg
This is Place Concorde, looking back from the Eiffel Tower, with the obelisk in the center. The hedges on the right are in the Tuileries Gardens, the remaining gardens after the destruction of the Tuileries Palace. The building with columns to the left is the headquarters of the French Navy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_de_la_Concorde#/media/File:Place_de_la_Concorde_from_the_Eiffel_Tower,_Paris_April_2011.jpg
This is the execution of the king, Louis XVI, during the French Revolution. Many such executions were carried out here. Place Concorde was later defined on the spot as a symbol of reconciliation. The building that is now the headquarters of the French Navy can be seen to the right, in the background. The identical building on the left is where Ben Franklin first managed to get another country to give diplomatic recognition to the United States, and there is an identical copy of these two buildings in Philadelphia's Logan Square.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_de_la_Concorde#/media/File:Execution_of_Louis_XVI.jpg
The iconic image of the French Revolution is the Storming of the Bastille. This is reflected in France's national holiday of Bastille Day, July 14. The Bastille was a massive old fortress that was being used as a prison and to store ammunition. The seizure of the arms in the fortress by the revolutionaries may have made the difference in the success of the revolution. The building is gone today, except for part of the foundation, but is marked by Place Bastille. Rue de Rivoli leads from Place Concorde, along the north side of the Louvre to Place Bastille. This is what the Bastille once looked like.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille#/media/File:Bastille,_1790_retouched.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille#/media/File:Bastille_Courtyard_1785.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille#/media/File:Bastille_Interior_1785.jpg
Back to Place Concorde, here are some of the well-known buildings nearby.
The Orsay Museum is one of the most important art galleries, almost as important as the Louvre. It is built in a massive former train station, and is on the other side of the Seine River.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_d%27Orsay#/media/File:MuseeDOrsay.jpg
The large building with the glass roof is the Grande Palais. The building just beyond it is the Petit Palais. Both buildings were built for The Universal Exhibition of 1900. The building in the distance, with the green roof, is La Madeleine, which was built by Napoleon as a temple dedicated to the glory of his army but is now a Catholic church. The building at the far right is the one in which Ben Franklin first gained diplomatic recognition for the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Palais#/media/File:GD-FR-Paris-Grand_Palais.jpg
The Grande Palais and the Petit Palais were built for the Universal Exposition of 1900. In the following image for that exhibition, you can also see the buildings from the exhibition of 1889, 11 years before which was the centennial of the French Revolution, and for which the Eiffel Tower was constructed as the entrance archway. Those buildings around the Eiffel Tower are no longer there, but the Grande Palais and Petit Palais remain. The Grande Palais is a massive exhibition hall and the Petit Palais is yet another art museum. The former train station nearby, on the opposite side of the river, that is now the Orsay Museum, was built for easy access to this exhibition of 1900.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1900)#/media/File:Vue_panoramique_de_l%27exposition_universelle_de_1900.jpg
This is La Madeleine, now a church but originally a temple dedicated to the glory of Napoleon's army.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Madeleine,_Paris#/media/File:Madeleine_Paris.jpg
This is inside La Madeleine. The fresco "The History of Christianity" actually features Napoleon as a Christ-like figure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Madeleine,_Paris#/media/File:%C3%89glise_de_la_Madeleine_1,_Paris_July_2011.jpg
The first of the following scenes is from Place Concorde looking straight down the Champs Elysees, the most famous street of Paris. The Champs Elysees is actually named for the ancient Greek myth of the Elysian Fields, the place of the afterlife. The Arc de Triomphe can just be seen in the distance. To the right are the two identical buildings, described above. Behind the perspective is the obelisk, beyond which are the Tuileries Gardens and the Louvre. To the left, across the bridge over the Seine River, is the Palais Bourbon, which is the lower house of the French Legislature.
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8658092,2.3202876,3a,75y,297.02h,90.66t,0.42r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1suddkHn5x8uPsGqHsYv0oKQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DuddkHn5x8uPsGqHsYv0oKQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D31.057383%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
At the opposite end of the Champs Elysees from Place Concorde is the Arc de Triomphe. This was built to celebrate Napoleon's victories. This arch was built on an axis, known as the Historical Axis of Paris, with Napoleon's older arch, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel as seen above at the Louvre, but the Arc de Triomphe is about twice the size. The Historical Axis continues westward to the modern glass Grande Arche, which was completed in 1989 for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/DC_250923.jpg
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/DC_250924.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es#/media/File:Champs-Elys%C3%A9es,_vue_de_la_Concorde_%C3%A0_l%27Etoile.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es#/media/File:Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es_from_the_Arc_de_Triomphe.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es#/media/File:Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es_-_eastern_view_-_20111001.jpg
The domed building in this view from the Eiffel Tower is Les Invalides. It was built as a hospital and retirement home for soldiers. It cannot be seen in the photo but Les Invalides is directly across the Seine River from the Grande Palais and the Petit Palais. The dome houses the tomb of Napoleon.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250929.jpg
The following scenes begin at the tomb of Napoleon inside the dome. The tomb is at the lower level in the center.
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In 1871, with the French Army occupied by the Franco-Prussian War, the party known as the Paris Commune seized power in the city. Decades before the October Revolution of 1917, this was an early Communist movement, and were otherwise known as Communards.
The Paris Commune had an element of the French Revolution, nearly a century before, in their propensity to destruction. They destroyed symbols of authority, such as the Hotel de Ville (Paris City Hall) and the Tuileries Palace. The stone structure of the Hotel de Ville remained, and it was rebuilt, but the Tuileries Palace wasn't. They tried to destroy the entire Louvre, but it was fortunately saved.
Here is a makeshift fort that the Paris Commune constructed, in Place Concorde, before being suppressed by the army. The building is the headquarters of the French Navy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune#/media/File:Barricades_pres_de_Ministere_de_la_Marine_et_l%27H%C3%B6tel_Crillon.jpg
In the late Nineteenth Century, Paris underwent the radical transformation and restructuring that made it into the city that it is today. The old and crowded medieval city was mostly razed, and replaced by grand buildings linked by broad boulevards. The average street width doubled, and the new system of gas lights would bring Paris the nickname "The City of Light".
Here are a few of the earliest photos, of the old and crowded medieval Paris that was razed to make way for the new city.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Charles_Marville,_Rue_St._Nicolas_du_Chardonnet,_de_la_rue_Traversine,_ca._1853%E2%80%9370.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Charles_Marville,_Rue_des_Marmousets,_ca._1853%E2%80%9370.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Charles_Marville,_Rue_du_March%C3%A9_aux_fleurs,_ca._1853%E2%80%9370.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Charles_Marville,_Rue_du_Jardinet,_ca._1853%E2%80%9370.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Charles_Marville,_Rue_Tirechape,_de_la_rue_de_Rivoli,_ca._1853%E2%80%9370.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Charles_Marville,_La_Bi%C3%A8vre,_ca._1865.jpg
Rue de Rivoli is the street that runs eastward from Place Concorde, along the north side of the Louvre, to Place Bastille. It was the first street to be modernized.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:Rue-de-Rivoli-1855.jpg
Much of the renovation took place below ground, and the new sewers of Paris actually became a tourist attraction that visitors wanted to see.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris#/media/File:PARIS_SOUTERRAIN_-_Les_%C3%A9gouts,_service_de_l%27assainissement_;_collecteur_du_Boulevard_S%C3%A9bastopol.jpg
An important part of the renovation was the great marketplace, Les Halles, which has since been replaced by a mall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Halles#/media/File:Vedere_a_Halelor_din_Paris_de_pe_Biserica_Saint_Eustache.jpg
The idea was that, when going along one of the boulevards, a great building or monument should be visible up ahead, and the boulevards were intended to link the city's centerpiece monuments and buildings. Paris also skillfully links itself to history, primarily by design of buildings and names of streets, as we saw in the posting on this blog, "America And The Modern World Explained By Way Of Paris".
Nothing that arose out of this renovation of Paris was more impressive than Palais Garnier, or the Paris Opera. It was completed in 1875. There is a magnificent boulevard, Avenue de la Opera, that leads right up to it from Rue de Rivoli, beginning on the north side of the Louvre. When you walk past the Palais Garnier, it is absolutely stunning. The popular play, "The Phantom of the Opera", takes place here. This image of the Palais Garnier is from Google Earth.
The following scenes begin inside Palais Garnier. The building with the pillars all around is the nearby La Madeleine, which we saw above. It was a temple dedicated to the glory of Napoleon's army, and is now a church.
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8719765,2.3317494,3a,90y,12.65h,95.65t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1slnn7Eo9UGOLMTpHpUu9bxA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dlnn7Eo9UGOLMTpHpUu9bxA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D47.13036%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
But the old medieval city was not completely erased. There are places where there are alleyways of very old cobblestones between the buildings. These are some of the streets of medieval Paris. There are also some remaining buildings. This was the prototype of urban renewal in western countries.
With the brilliant new city that the renovation brought, and the centennial of the French Revolution approaching, it was time to show off the city in the Universal Exhibition of 1889. Many of the prominent structures of central Paris are left over from great exhibitions. It was decided to celebrate how special Paris is by building a metal entrance arch to the exhibition that would tower over the city, and would be the tallest structure ever built.
What is today known as the Eiffel Tower, named for it's designer, was only intended to be temporary. I think what saved it from being dismantled, as many people wanted, was that radio was coming into widespread use and there was no better place for a radio antenna.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1889)#/media/File:Paris_1889_plakat.jpg
Eleven years later, it was time for another great exhibition. This was to celebrate the achievements of the Nineteenth Century and to usher in the Twentieth Century. It was held near, but not in the same place, that the Universal Exhibition of 1889 had been held. In the following illustration, the buildings for the 1900 exhibition are in the foreground, on both sides of the river, and the buildings of the 1889 exhibition, with the Eiffel Tower at one end, are in the background. At the far left edge of the illustration, in the center, you can just make out the buildings around the dome that contains Napoleon's Tomb, which we saw above.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_(1900)#/media/File:Vue_panoramique_de_l%27exposition_universelle_de_1900.jpg
The two buildings in the foreground of the illustration are the Petit Palais and the Grande Palais, both are still there today. The Petit Palais is an art museum, and the Grande Palais is used for various exhibitions.
Immediately across from the Eiffel Tower, as seen in the illustration above, there was to be another great exhibition, in 1937, some of the structure of which is still there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Internationale_des_Arts_et_Techniques_dans_la_Vie_Moderne#/media/File:Paris-1937Expo.jpg
In this photo of the structures that remain from the Paris Exhibition of 1937, you can see La Defense, the tall modern buildings of Paris, in the distance to the west.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trocad%C3%A9ro#/media/File:Palais_de_Chaillot_2014_02.JPG
If you think that the Eiffel Tower must have been impressive as an entrance arch for the 1889 exhibition, did you know that there were plans to build a tower for the 1937 exhibition that would be nearly a kilometer high? There was to have been a restaurant at the top, and visitors would drive in cars most of the way up along a spiral road around the outside. But the plan was abandoned as too expensive.
North of the center of Paris is the unmistakable landmark of Sacre Coeur (Sacred heart) Basilica. It is built on the point of highest elevation in Paris. The area around Sacre Coeur is known as Montmartre. The basilica is not extremely old, nothing like as old as Notre Dame. It was built as a religious offering following the Franco-Prussian War and the destructive upheaval of the Paris Commune, as an effort to return to God. The first four images of Sacre Coeur are from Google Earth and Street View.
The following scenes begin inside Sacre Coeur.
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.88672,2.342855,3a,75y,176.06h,90.12t,-0.25r/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sgvvXa3_ftBsUb_wc4Jn1xw!2e0!3e2!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DgvvXa3_ftBsUb_wc4Jn1xw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D81.487854%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Most of what we have seen of Paris thus far has been on the "Right Bank", or north side of the Seine River. The exceptions have been the Eiffel Tower and the Tomb of Napoleon. Notre Dame Cathedral and the original palace, Palais de la Cite, are on the island in the middle of the Seine. Let's have a look at some more of the "Left Bank", or south side of the Seine River.
The following scenes begin inside the Palais Luxembourg. This is the upper house of the French Legislature. The lower house is held in Palais Bourbon which is also on the Left Bank, directly across the river from Place Concorde. The first three images of the Palais Luxembourg are from Google Earth and Street View.
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8484125,2.3373254,3a,75y,273.42h,89.99t,0.42r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sFs40pvoHm7jflMuUor82cw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DFs40pvoHm7jflMuUor82cw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D151.29448%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Immediately east of Palais Luxembourg is the Pantheon and the Sorbonne, The Pantheon is where many important people are buried. The Sorbonne is one of the greatest and oldest universities in the world. Oxford University was founded in response to English students being forbidden to study there.
Here is an illustration of the Sorbonne, from medieval times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Paris#/media/File:Meeting_of_doctors_at_the_university_of_Paris.jpg
Not far away is the Academie Francais. This is the organization with authority over the French language. It preserves the language by guarding against the intrusion of foreign (that means English) words and terms. As two examples, the organization vetoed use of "le weekend", and replaced it with "le fin de semaine" (the end of the week), which sounds more French. In the same way, "le computer" was replaced by "l'ordinateur". Even though "computer" is a French-rooted word, "compter" is the verb meaning "to count".
We saw how much of the English language is actually rooted in French in the compound posting on this blog, "Our Language".
This is the Academie Francais.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acad%C3%A9mie_fran%C3%A7aise#/media/File:Institut_de_France_-_Acad%C3%A9mie_fran%C3%A7aise_et_pont_des_Arts.jpg
The following scenes begin inside the Pantheon. The island in the Seine River, on which Notre Dame is located, is not far away.
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The "modern" Paris is the tall buildings of La Defense to the west. Here is a view of La Defense from the Eiffel Tower.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250931.jpg
In 1989, the two hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution, the historical axis of Paris was extended to the west to the modern Grande Arche.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Arche#/media/File:La_Grande_Arche_de_la_D%C3%A9fense.jpg
This is aligned on an axis, the Historical Axis of Paris, with the Arc de Triomphe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe#/media/File:Champs-Elys%C3%A9es,_vue_de_la_Concorde_%C3%A0_l%27Etoile.jpg
The axis extends along the Champs Elysees, through the obelisk in Place Concorde, to the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe_du_Carrousel#/media/File:Paris_-_Jardin_des_Tuileries_-_Arc_de_Triomphe_du_Carrousel_-_PA00085992_-_003.jpg
#/media/File:Vue_panoramique_de_l%27exposition_universelle_de_1900.jpg){kind=link}
#/media/File:Paris_1889_plakat.jpg){kind=link}
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