Photo of the week – Page 3 – Parisian Clichés

Vintage Vehicules Taking Over Paris !

If you had been in Paris last Sunday, you would have bumped into hundreds of vintage cars, motorcycles, tractors, buses and even bicycles. To be totally accurate, there were 740 of them and the most recent one was 30 years old.

I know that sometimes we Parisians are a bit (very?) snobbish but still we don’t drive vintage cars anymore. It was just the ninth “Traversée de Paris Estivale” (or summer Paris crossing) organized by Vincennes en Anciennes, the largest French association of vintage cars.

Of course, as a photographer, I could not resist but go and take pictures of these amazing Alvis, Cadillac, Citroen Traction Avant or Volkswagen Bettle cars! In fact, I had such a great time that I might organize a special workshop next year.

What do you think?

Lifting for Place Vendome

The brilliant architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart had the idea to submit to Louis 14 the project of a great royal square with a statue of king on his horse and sculptor Girardon could do it.

The place, originally designed to frame the royal statue kept the name of Place Louis-Le-Grand until the Revolution. The statue was overthrown during the revolution to take the name of the place des piques in reference to the revolutionary section.

Later, Napoleon decides to erect a column in honor of his great victories and especially to the great victory of Austerlitz and select the Place Vendôme. The artillery pieces taken from the Austrians and the Russians were poured to build the column to become the Vendome column. At the top of the column, a statue of the Emperor Napoleon 1st dressed in a Roman toga, represented like an Imperator Caesar.
The town will tear down the monument and the second empire rehabilitate the reconstituted statue.
The mansions around the Place Vendome occupied by the aristocracy and the world of finance were decorated by leading architects and designers for centuries. One of these most famous mansion today worldwide is at No. 17 site of the current Hotel Ritz. After years of renovation and lifting work, Place Vendome reveal his beauty again. Driving from Opera throught rue de la Paix crossing the wonderful place Vendome at night is a pure Parisian pleasure.

Robert Doisneau in Cour Saint-Emilion

Cour Saint Emilion, rebirth of life with Robert Doisneau.

The bigest platform for storing wine coming from Bordeaux and Burgundy by the Seine settled in Bercy and specialy in Cour Saint-Emilion.
We still can have an idea of this famous place with those particular wharehouses transformed since the 90’s for new activities.

Robert Doisneau known as maybe one of the best photographer of that period in Paris took great black and white pictures during the 70’s in Cour Saint Emilion.

One of the last witness of all those people working around wine crafts.

A chance to feel life with a good glass of Bordeaux.

The Seine overflows

With more than 6 meters the level of the Seine overflows. The river recorded its highest level in thirty years. Fortunately, we are far from the level recorded in 1910 to more than 8 meters high. The Parisians came to attend this awesome spectacle of the rising water and take some shots to immortalize this memorable event. Isolated people for days have found a way to connect the mainland with a small boat. Disaster has been avoided and the river returns to normal life after 10 days.

In the past Bercy has been the capital of the wine for a long century and the Seine was daily used by the boats to bring the barrels on the river to be landed and stored in the cellars of Bercy, very close to the small harbor. If most of the cellars have been destroyed in the 80’s some old warehouses remaining the good old days of Bercy have been kept in Cour Saint-Emilion.

Port of Bercy