L'Indépendant du 4e Arrondissement de Paris

DCLVII (Post in English) : Quai d'Orléans : Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter,... and Spring

Cet article est paru en français le 9 juillet 2009.

 Quai d'Orleans in spring (on April 2nd, 2007)

The movie "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter,.. and Spring" released in 2004 and directed by the Korean Kim Ki-duk is one of my favorites. It gave me the idea to publish this post about quai d'Orleans.

Quai d'Orleans, which is located on Saint-Louis Island (in the very center of Paris), is one of my prefered places since I moved in the 4th arrondissement in 1996. Even if I am not one of the priviledged who dwell on the Island. Except during "Paris Plage" (attraction organized by the Seine during the end of July and the first part of August), it is a location where we can find quietness and serenity. A wonderful place to read, while looking at ducks and houseboats. Until June 2009, we could also admire a very ancient weeping willow which was just behind the back of Notre-Dame.

With this post are five pictures, I took of this place seen from Saint-Louis Bridge.

 
Quai d'Orleans in summer (July 4th, 2009)

Quai d'Orleans in autumn (October 18th, 2007)

 
Quai d'Orleans in winter (January 5th, 2009)... and

 
Quai d'Orleans in spring (June 14th, 2009).

This post was first published in French on July 9th, 2009.

 

DCLI (post in English) : an Imperial District Hall

Cet article est paru en français le 9 août 2009.

 I have recently explained  in English how the 4th arrondissement is governed (post published on April, 9th ). The district Hall of the 4th arrondissement was built under Napoleon III (1852-1870). Indeed, in 1860, administrative zoning of Paris was profoundly transformed by Haussman who was "préfet of Paris" (the representative of government). He decided to integrate into Paris surrounding villages and to establish a new zoning policy. The limits of the current 4th arrondissement were decided then.

Nevertheless, it is surprising, despite the proclamation of the Republic in 1870, three years after the inauguration of the District Hall, the sign which pays tribute to the Emperor who decided to have it constructed and the initials "N.B." for Napoleon Bonaparte were not removed from the wall of the courtyard.

 Contrarily to the City Hall of Paris (which is really close), the District Hall of the 4th arrondissement was not destroyed during by the Communards in 1871.

Thanks to that we can admire every month, the wedding room of the District Hall which is characterized by the lightness and the good taste of Napoleon III's style (I find it really clumsy). Indeed, this is where the District concil takes place. The next one will be on ...

Other precisions :

- the initials "N.B." are interlaced with an "E" to remind us of the first name of the Empress Eugenie de Montijo who married Napoleon III.

- a few  settings of the inner District Hall were destroyed by the Communards and the current ones date from the 1880's.

This post was published in French on August 9th, 2009.

DCXLVI (post in English) : A successful rocaille style setting... from the 19th century.

Cet article a été publié en français le 17 août 2009.

I'm often critical with the clumsy settings designed during the 19th century. For instance, under the reign of Louis-Philippe or Napoleon III, many artists tried to copy older styles but without the genius of their elders. (see the post I published on April 4th, 2010)

Here is a photo with an exception to prove the rule : at 21 rue de Rivoli, located between  the 4th arrondissement city hall and rue Saint-Antoine, built under the 2nd Empire (1852-1870), one can see this elegant lintel. The motifs are modeled after the rocaille style popular in the first half of the 18th century (see a post about the horses of Hotel Chenizot translated into English on November 9th, 2009). There are even seashells. The effect successful enough.

This post was first published in French on August 17th, 2009.

DCXXXIX (Post in English) : How is the 4th arrondissement governed ?

(Voici un article directement en anglais pour expliquer, plutôt aux lecteurs étrangers, comment le 4e arrodissement est dirigé et comment il est représenté au Conseil de Paris).

The facade of the District Hall of the 4th arrondissement

Just a question : do you know how the 4th arrondissement is governed  ?

Since 1860, in Paris, there have been 20 "arrondissements", that is to say districts. Each arrondissement has its own council  called "Conseil d'arrondissement" (disctrict council) whose elected members are called the "conseillers d'arrondissement" (district advisors). Their number is propotionate to the number of inhabitants. For instance, in the 4th arrondissement, there are 13 district advisors. Each "conseil d'arrondissement" elects a mayor (maire) and deputy mayors (maires adjoints). The mayor of the 4th arrondissement is Mrs Dominique Bertinotti who is socialist. This council sits in the "mairie d'arrondissement" (disctrict Hall) which is located on Baudoyer square.

The conseil d'arrondissement has in fact little power because main decisions, for instance taxes, are taken in the "Conseil de Paris" (Council of Paris) where there are 161 counsellors. Each arrondissement has a precise number of counsellors according to its population. As the 4th arrondissement is one of the least populated (nearly 30 000 inhabitants), it is represented by only three consellors (who have to be members of the District council). You can see them on the photo below :

The Council of Paris sitting inside the City Hall of Paris

They are :

- Mrs Bertinotti (number 1).

-Christophe Girard (number 2) who is deputy mayor of Paris in charge of Cultural Affairs. He is a bit famous because he launched "Nuit blanche" (Allnighter : a weekend, during which there are many concerts and exhibitions at night between Saturday and Sunday). He is also from the Socialist party.

- Vincent Roger (number 3) who is from the UMP (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire), the party of Mr Sarkozy.

The 161 counsellors of Paris, elected every 6 years (the last election took place in 2008), choose the mayor of Paris for the same period. The current mayor of Paris is Bertrand Delanoë (Socialist Party) who has been in office since 2001 (the mayors' previous term, from 2001 to 2008, lasted 7 years because it was prolonged by one year because of the presidential election which took place in 2007) .

The mayor of Paris has not got as much power as the mayors of other cities. Indeed, in certain matters, such as security, a representative of the Government, the "Préfet de Paris" is in charge of making decisions. That's why he sits just next to the mayor of Paris when this one presides over the council of Paris  :

Bertrand Delanoë (the mayor of Paris) in grey looking to his right towards the "Préfet de Paris".

In fact, up to 1977, there was no mayor of Paris  because often, Paris was much more revolutionary than the rest of France. The Government feared revolts in Paris. The last one took place in 1871 during the "Commune de Paris".

By the way, the city hall of Paris sits also in the 4th arrondissement (a few hundred meters from the District Hall). It's wrong to say that the City Hall of Paris is located in the 1st arrondissement even if it is very close to it).

The City Hall of Paris (which is located in the 4th arrondissement)

 

DCXXXIV (post in English) : The entrance hall of a building located somewhere in Rivoli street.

Cet article a été publié en français le 5 août 2009.

On the uneven side of rue de Rivoli, not far from the Saint-Jacques tower, erring from entrance hall to entrance hall, these interesting settings from Napoleon III's reign (1852-1870) can be found. It's a copy of the Fontainebleau school (popular during the 16th century) spiced up with a 19th century sauce. It was a bit clumsy but it was quite fashionable then.

It reminds us that Rivoli street was begun during the reign of Napoleon I (1804-1815) : the section between Concorde square and Palais royal. But, the it was prolonged after 1850 by the will of Baron Haussmann to Saint-Antoine street in the 4th arrondissement. It deeply changed the layout of the 4th arrondissement (which by the way became the 4th arrondissement only in 1860).

This post was first published in French on August 5th, 2009.

DCXXVI (post in English) : Saint-Jacques Tower by night

Cet article a été publié en français le 24 janvier 2009.

During 2008, the restoration of Saint-Jacques tower was completed. I enjoyed the unveiling of it (I wrote a post about that in French on August 31st, 2008).

Here is a short post pointing out that I find night lighting to be splendid.  

I hope as much effort will be spent in the restoration of the facade of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis church.

This post was first published in French on January 24th, 2009.

DCXX (post in English) : The Barye statue, in Barye Gardens.

Cet article a été publié en français le 23 avril 2009.

Barye Gardens is located on the Eastern extremity of Saint-Louis Island. It's a haven of peace as can be seen on these two pictures.

  Here, there is a surprising statue. Indeed, it is dedicated, as are the gardens, to Louis-Antoine Barye, a famous animal sculptor (you can read a post about the rooster of Bastille translated into English on December 18th 2009). His portrait can be seen in the center of this work.

 On the  back of the statue, we learn that it is from 1891. It was a gift from his admirers from France and America :

 Nevertheless, even if Barye was famous for his animal statues, the sculptur, strangely enough,  is of two men. For instance see one of them on the picture below :

 Should we conclude that men are to be classified with animals ? ...  as a friend of mine suggested concerning the pet store of the BHV (see a post translated into English on January 8th 2010).

To add trouble to strife, about the message of the statue which looks very sexist. Both sculpted men are seated on wild beasts. And, whereas the lion looks very quiet...

 on the other side, the lioness doesn't seem to accept her submission :

 To be complete, we should add that a part of this group of statues, sculpted by Marqueste, has been cut out. On the upper part and in the oval part in the front, there were two bronze statues about the combat scene poured by Barye. To understand, you can observe a postcard published on the website Paris 1900.

As with many bronze statues, they may have disappeared during the Nazi occupation between 1940 and 1944. As this statue was a bit clumsy, nobody had the good idea to restore the original version.

This post was first published into French on April 23rd, 2009.

DCXIV : (post in English) : Rue Eginhard, a place "untouched by time"

Cet article est paru en français le 21 novembre 2008.

Rue Eginhard is a charming street of the 4th arrondissement of Paris. Located, near Village Saint-Paul, it is a pedestrian way (and not only Sundays from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.) in the shape of an L.  At the end of the longest part of the street, there is a lovely fountain.

The design of the street dates back to the 17th century when it was  transformed for the owners of the even-numbered side of the steet : the "hospitalières of Sainte-Athanase" (an order of nuns).

Most of the building, except those from N°2 to N°6, of this street were designed by the master-mason, Charles de Brécy.

As it was written (in French) in the Review Paris Village N°19 (November/December 2006) : "This pedestrian way has really a peculiar atmosphere : the fountain, the houses with gardens, the narrowness of the street, its elbowed shape which protects from neighbouring brouhaha and the central gutter, ... all this produces the charm of a place untouched by time".

This street was called "ruelle Saint-Paul" from the 14th century. Its current name was given in 1864 according to the name of a great intellectual who wrote the biography of a famous man he worked for : Charlemagne (one of my ancestors... see a post on my blog of genealogy). Still today, the Vita Caroli written from 816 to 823 is one of the most used sources for the study of the ruler who refounded the so-called "Western Roman Empire". The name of the street was certainly chosen because it is very near one of the most famous high schools of Paris : Lycée Charlemagne.

This post was published in French on November 21st, 2008.

DCIX : A very classical facade : Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais Church

J'ai fait paraître cet article en français le 15 août 2008.

Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais Church was built during the 17th century.

The first stone of the current facade was laid in 1616. The architect Clément Métézeau designed a work inspired by classical Art. The work was finished in 1657. The facade was praised unanimously and Voltaire  said "This is a masterpiece and the only thing missing is a large square in front of it to hold its admirers".

This facade is artistically interesting because it respects the rules of classicism :

- at ground level, there are Doric capitals which were common in classical Greece (for instance in the Parthenon in Athens). As the style demands, there are triglyphs above the columns. The sobriety represented during Antiquity the masculin gender. 

- at the next level, the columns are Ionic. Each one has two scrolling volutes. There are 24 hollow flutes in the shaft. This style was conceived in Ionia (in the western coast of modern Turkey). This kind of columns are found in the Erechteum near the famous Caryatids. Another monument in the Acropolis of Athens. This style represented during the Antiquity the feminin.

- at the top level, there  are Corinthian capitals. Even if they are very distant, they can be recognized because there are two levels of acanthus leaves. It is the symbol of the "neutral" gender and was widespread in the Roman Empire (for instance in the Pantheon in Rome or in the Maison Carrée in Nimes).

Without falling in a hidden (and often false) mysticism, -Dan Brown's way- it is often said that these three  styles represent, according to the Catholic Counter-Reform, the stressing of the dogma of the Holy Trinity : the Doric order on the ground level represents the Father, at the first level, the Ionic order represents the Son and the Corinthian order is the symbol of  Holy Spirit which points towards God.

This facade is decorated by statues of the 19th century about which I will write posts... later.

This post was first published in French on August 15th, 2008. 

DCIII (post in English) : Statue of Louis XIII

Cet article a été publié en français le 2 mai 2008

In the center of place des Vosges, one can "admire" a statue partly hidden by the trees : it is Louis XIII, "le juste", king of France from 1610 to 1643.

Richelieu decided to erect this statue in 1639, but is was knocked down during the French Revolution. The current piece is from the Restoration (the period after Emperor Napoleon I). I cannot resist the desire to quote (and translate into English) the description of this statue in a book written by Georges POISSON : "the sovereign looks simple and absent-minded under his laurel crown. In fact, the horse looks more expressive than the horseman. Furthermore, usually this kind of statue are made of bronze but the sculptors used marble which doesnot allows as much lightness : they had to put a tree trunk under the horse's belly which neither lightens the statue nor adds to its authenticity. 

We can also add that Louis XIII is disproportioned in comparison to the horse. It appears as if the king's feet are dragging across the ground (as shown on the photo below).  The two sculptors who committed themwselves to completing this masterpiece, Dupaty and  Cortot, spent 11 years finishing it. This post could have been categorized under the heading "could be better" but in fact, in the end this statue has a certain charm thanks to its imperfection. 

Book to read (in French !) : Georges POISSON, Guide des statues de Paris, Les guides visuel Hazan, 1990.

This post was published in French on May 2, 2008.