The Hotel de Sens was built between 1475 and 1519. The medieval residence originally housed the archbishops of Sens, the order of bishops that Paris belonged to during the middle ages. The Hotel de Sens is on rue Figuier, which we often took to go to the Marais from the Ile St. Louis, where we were staying. October seems to be the month when the City of Paris replants many of its gardens, both big and small. There are over 400 public green spaces in Paris, making it the greenest city in Europe. Because I passed by this garden so often, I was able to view the summer garden being transformed into the fall garden by a small army of gardeners.
The formal garden of the Hotel de Sens
The facade of the building shows medieval-style turrets and windows characteristic of fortresses. Today, the residence houses an arts library.
Fountain grass grows plentifully between the boxwood hedges.
Frilly white flowers provide accents to the garden.
Becky and flowering trellis
The garden “Before” its makeover
The garden without the fountain grass between the boxwood hedges. You can see the mazes clearly between the boxwoods. I don’t know if making a maze was intentional, but I’ve seen mothers urging their tiny tots to find their way through the maze, just for the fun of it. The kids seem to have a good time racing between and around the hedges.
Good-bye, fountain grass
Hauling away the old
Bringing in the new
The gardeners didn’t mind my taking photos, especially when I told them I planned to email them back to members of my garden club.
The Musée du Quai Branly houses African, Asian, Oceanic and American artifacts. “It welcomes the objects,” says French architect Jean Nouvel, “sheltering them from the world in which they have arrived so that they can recall the worlds they came from.”
To light the glass partition wall, which separates the museum grounds from Quai Branly, the busy street that is beside the Seine River, light artist Yann Kersalé has installed projectors that will cast green and blue double shadows of a dozen trees, such as oaks and maples, onto the transparent wall. In his garden of long shadows, Kersalé would like visitors to appreciate the darkness, as well as the light. “A shadow can be beautiful,” he says.
The glass partition wall separates the museum from the street.
Landscaping leading to the entrance of the museum
Continuing on the path to the museum entrance
The path to the entrance of the museum
The museum is in close proximity to the Eiffel Tower.
Outside, French landscape architect Gilles Clément’s landscaped gardens haven’t yet matured, so Yann Kersalé’s 1,277 light sticks planted in small islands of vegetation are still clearly visible. Ranging from one foot to six and one-half feet in height, the LED light sticks will eventually become obscured by plants and trees. A third of the rods are lit by blue LEDs, another third have green LEDs, and the rest are white. The French light artist intended to surround the building with a “a lake of light.”
LED light sticks which will eventually be hidden by vegetation.
LED light sticks
Taller LED light sticks at the back of the museum, where the land abuts residential buildings
From the main entrance, visitors move up a 200-yard-long white ramp, winding through the temporary exhibition area. It is an artwork called, “The River,” but it is not smooth sailing because it seems to go on and on, ever upward. In the dimly-lit walkway, thousands of words are projected on the floor in what appears to be an endless “river of words.” Eventually, the ramp ends up in the low-light conditions in the main exhibition hall. The exhibits of native costumes, primitive art, artifacts, masks, totem poles, weapons, etc. are very interesting. They are shown three-dimensionally; you can walk around them, and although some of the exhibits are highlighted, many are seen only in low light. The presentation of the exhibits is dramatic, but I couldn’t find much in the way of explanation and context for these items. More emphasis seems to be placed on the artistry of the exhibits than on their historical significance.
The layout of the museum remains a mystery to me. I had no idea how to find my way around, but I kept wandering until I found the temporary Maori exhibit. It was a whole different story: it was well-lit, nicely laid out and very inviting. It didn’t have the dramatic appearance of the main exhibition hall, but it offered a lot more historical context.
Sign pointing the way to the special Maori exhibit
This intriguing-looking building is where the temporay Maori exhibit was housed.
The Branly Museum Bookstore and Gift Shop
If you are interested in the anthropology of non-western cultures, you may find this museum visually appealing; however, it may not be as enlightening as a more traditional museum. In this museum, artistry trumps anthropology.
MUSEE MARMOTTAN-MONET
On the way from the metro stop to the Musee Marmottan-Monet, I walked past this garden with newly-planted pansies. They haven’t taken hold yet, but the garden will be lovely and colorful when they do.
The Musee Marmottan became the Museum Marmottan-Monet after receiving the bequeathal of Michel Monet.
This museum owns the largest Monet Collection, from Impressionism, Sunrise to Giverny’s Water Lilies, thanks largely to the donation of Michel Monet in 1966. Impression: Soleil Levant (Impression: Sunrise, 1872) is the work that helped give the Impressionist movement its name The room where the collection is housed was specially built for the purpose of displaying Monet’s work so that viewers can admire the significant stages of Monet’s career and follow the evolution of his technique. It’s almost overwhelming, in a very good way, to see so many of Monet’s paintings all in one place. The museum also houses works by other impressionists and post-impressionists, such as Degas, Manet, Renoir and Gauguin.
I saw the exhibit, Henri Edmond Cross and Neo-impressionism from Seurat to Matisse, which ran from October 20, 2011, to February 19, 2012. The banner is hung across the facade of the museum.
Bust of Jules Marmottan
Long ago, the museum itself was a hunting lodge at the edge of the Bois de Boulogne. Jules Marmottan became its owner in 1882 and left it to his son, Paul. Through Paul Marmottan’s donation of the house and its art collection, the Musee Marmottan was first opened to the public in 1934. Today it is a stately mansion located across from a lovely park in the 16th arrondissement. The mansion still feels like a graciously decorated private home, with Empire furnishings filling the salons. It may be a bit out of the way, but its permanent collection and special exhibitions are well worth the trip.
MUSEE DE LA CHASSE ET DE LA NATURE
The Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (Museum of Hunting and Nature) is a private museum located in the 3rd arrondissement. The museum celebrates hunting and the love and preservation of nature. I don’t know how to reconcile these ideas because hunting animals seems to be counter to preserving nature, but no matter, the museum was very interesting and in some cases surprising and kind of quirky. Where else would you find a life-sized stuffed fox curled up in a period French chair? Or choose one of many authentic bird calls you would like to hear?
Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature Sign
Museum logo
The museum is located in a former hotel particulier.
(A hotel particulier is a freestanding, grandiose home, owned at one time by a nobleman)
The museum is organized around the themes of hunting instruments; hunting trophies and stuffed animals; and artistic representations of wildlife and hunting such as paintings, prints, sculptures, tapestries, ceramics and furniture.
This poster appeared in a metro station. The funny little animal (a deer?) is the work of the exhibiting artist, Francoise Petrovich. It really is an eye-catching poster.
Another poster in the metro, this time with a Francoise Petrovich sculpture of a rabbit in front of a life-size bear. Her renditions of animals are all this whimsical.
In all truth, I had no real interest in hunting nor in its relation to nature. What drew me in was the art installation in the museum courtyard that is facing the street. It was part of a special exhibit by Francoise Petrovich called “Forget me Not.” Her sculptures also appear throughout the museum, playing off aspects of the permanent collection.
"Forget me Not” by Francoise Petrovich
Another view of the sculpture with an art student sketching it
A detail of the sculpture
Another detail of the sculpture
A final view of the sculpture
This museum was a bonus. I had no idea what would be in a hunting museum but found beautiful artwork and odd but fascinating exhibits in the rooms, hallways and niches.
MUSEE PICASSO
One of the Musee Picasso signs I followed all the way to rue Thorigny
One of many little surprise gardens on the way to the museum
The hotel particulier that houses the Picasso collection was built between 1656 and 1659 for Pierre Aubert, a tax farmer who became rich collecting the salt tax (the name of the building Sale means "salted"). It is considered to be one of the finest historic houses in the Marais. For the most part, the interior of the Hotel Salé (which had undergone significant modifications) was restored to its former spacious state.
Uh-oh!
The courtyard of the Hotel Salé
The creature on top of the wall seems to be half woman, half animal. From the looks of the courtyard, something here is wrong.
Check out the bas-relief at the top of the building façade.
What is the trash doing here?
The brickwork looks to be in progress.
Picasso once said, "I am the greatest collector of Picassos in the world." He had amassed an enormous collection of his own work by the time of his death in 1973.The Musée Picasso contains more than 3000 different works of art by Pablo Picasso including drawings, ceramics, sculptures in wood and metal, and paintings. This is complemented by Picasso's own personal art collection of works by other artists, including Cezanne, Degas, Rousseau, Seurat and Matisse. One of the most impressive aspects of the museum is that it contains a large number of works which Picasso painted after his seventieth birthday.
A very grand and imposing stairway in the museum-to-be
Unfortunately, the Musée Picasso closed for renovation in August 2009 and will remain closed until the spring of 2013. I had followed the Musee Picasso signs for many blocks, so finding the museum in this condition was very disappointing. At the same time, I wondered, "Why isn't work going on to complete the renovation?" I look forward to coming back in 2013.
This is the only living creature guarding the future Musee Picasso--and he was more of a sweet, gentle soul than he was a guard dog.
The history of fountains in Paris until the mid-19th century was the history of the city's efforts to provide clean drinking water to its growing population. Paris fountains in the 20th century no longer had to supply drinking water; they were purely decorative. Twenty-eight new fountains were built in Paris between 1900 and 1940; only a handful of fountains were built in Paris between 1940 and 1980. The most important ones built during that period were on the edges of the city, on the west, just outside the city limits, at La Defense, and to the east at the Bois de Vincennes.
Between 1981 and 1995, during the terms of President Francois Mitterand and Culture Minister Jack Lang and of Paris Mayor Jacques Chirac (Mayor from 1977 until 1995), the city experienced a program of monumental fountain-building that exceeded that of Napoleon Bonaparte or Louis Philippe. More than one hundred fountains were built in Paris in the 1980s and 1990s, mostly in the neighborhoods outside the center of Paris, where there had been few fountains before. The Mitterrand-Chirac fountains had no single style or theme. Many of the fountains were designed by famous sculptors or architects, who had radically different ideas of what a fountain should be. Some were solemn, and others were whimsical. Most made little effort to blend with their surroundings-- they were designed to attract attention.
I have already included photos of fountains associated with various locations and landmarks, but there are other fountains that are also noteworthy. Paris has more than THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FOUNTAINS, the oldest dating back to the 16th century. They range from a simple public faucet, used long ago as a source of drinking water, to fountains on the grandest of scales, and from the classical fountains built long ago to the modern, abstract fountains built in the 1980s and 1990s. One day, I would like to visit (and photograph) all of the fountains I haven’t seen yet. The only problem: so many fountains, so little time. For now, here are a few I’ve come upon, more often than not, unexpectedly.
The Wallace Fountains
As a result of the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871, many aqueducts had been destroyed, and the price of water, already higher than normal, went up considerably. Because of this, most of the poor had to pay for water. The temptation to take to liquor was strong among the lower classes, and it was considered a moral duty to keep them from falling into alcoholism. Even today, when water and hygiene are not a problem for the majority of Parisians, these fountains are often the only sources of free water for the homeless.
Sir Richard Wallace, a wealthy philanthropist, made numerous contributions to Parisian heritage, but the best known today are the fountains which bear his name. There are more than 70 in Paris. Not only did the fountains accomplish Wallace's philosophy of lending a hand to those in need, but they also served to beautify Paris. Most of the fountains still present in the city still work, and distribute, contrary to popular belief, perfectly potable water.
The fountains work from March 15 to November 15 (the risk of freezing during the winter months might damage the internal plumbing), are regularly maintained, and repainted every two years. The material that was used to create them was cast-iron because it was inexpensive, easy to mold, and resistant to the elements. They are an integral part of the Parisian landscape, typical and picturesque. The fountains are a dark green, like all urban development of that era, in order to blend in with the parks and tree-lined avenues. An octagonal pedestal rests on Hauteville stone (a kind of limestone.) Four caryatids are affixed to the pedestal. They are facing outward, and their arms are supporting a pointed dome decorated with dolphins. The water issues from the center of the dome and falls down into a basin that is protected by a grille. The four caryatids represent kindness, simplicity, charity and sobriety. Each one is different from her sisters, by the way she bends her knees and by the way her tunic is draped.
A Wallace Fountain on the rue de Rivoli in the Marais
You can see that it is functioning because of the thin stream of water issuing between the caryatids.
A closer view of the Wallace Fountain
In the background you can see a kiddie carrousel, and directly behind the carrousel is the Saint-Paul metro station.
The other side of the fountain, with a store front in the background
A Wallace Fountain at the Flower Market on the Ile de la Cite
A closer view of the Wallace Fountain at the Flower Market
The Wallace Fountain on display at the Sewers of Paris Museum
La Fontaine de Joyeuse (The Fountain of Joy)
This fountain is located at 41, rue de Turenne in the Marais. It is set back from the sidewalk, built into the façade of a building, and I came across it quite unexpectedly. I was walking on rue de Turenne on the way back from somewhere, maybe la Place des Vosges, when I came upon it. It was charming, and it took some investigating to find out its name. At one time, in 1847, it had a functional use, which was to supply potable water to Parisians. It is the work of Isidore Boitel (1812-1860.) It consists of a half-domed recess sheltering a bronze sculpture representing a young child on a marble pedestal. He holds a jar, and the water from the jar pours into a basin in the shape of shell. On the arched ceiling of the niche, you can see aquatic animals, herons, frogs and snakes in bas-relief. Inscribed at the base of the statue is “Ourcq,” the name of the canal that fed the fountain. The coat of arms of Paris is carved on the upper, outside part of the fountain.
La Fontaine de Joyeuse
La Fontaine de Joyeuse
La Fontaine de la rue des Ursins
This little garden is situated right next to a busy street, la rue des Ursins, which runs directly beside the Seine River. It is angled against the wall and is located near the Quai aux Fleurs, where you’ll find the Flower Market on the Ile de la Cite.
In between the two sections of the garden, you can see two tigers’ heads from which water issues.
The tigers’ heads
This fountain dates from a time when a fountain was utilitarian rather than decorative.
There doesn’t seem to be a reason for the shape of this garden, but it does kind of look like a ship, and this part of the garden could be the prow of the ship. The coat of arms of Paris includes a ship upon the waters, so this imagery is very common.
A closer view of the square part of the garden (or the rear/aft part of the ship?)
A view of the garden from the opposite end
You can see the ivy climbing up a latticed wall at the far end.
Les Fontaines de l’Hotel de Ville (City Hall)
On the top level of the fountains, there are two globes, which are ivy-covered, at either end of the bank of fountains. (The ivy is trained to cover the globes, which are hollow balls whose surface is metal latticework.) There are five sets of water jets, which graduate downward on either side from an apex, and the water cascades to the basins below. The fountains are a beautiful sight to see when they are illuminated at night.
The fountains at the Hotel de Ville were part of a larger sculptural program, launched by the City of Paris in 1978, to build seven contemporary fountains with sculpture in different squares of Paris. Besides the fountains at the Hotel de Ville, this project included the Stravinsky Fountain at the Pompidou Center, a fountain in the gardens of the Palais Royal, and a revitalization of the area around the former market which had been torn down, Les Halles.
The courtyard of the Hotel de Ville and fountains
The Rue de Rivoli runs alongside one wing of the Hotel de Ville and the fountains.
The Hotel de Ville and fountains, as seen from the Rue de Rivoli
The ivy-covered globe at one end of the fountains
Becky in front of one set of water jets in the fountain
La Fontaine Jussieu on Place Jussieu
Place Jussieu is named after the De Jussieu family of famous botanists and historians of the natural world, several of whom have been associated with the nearby Jardin des Plantes.
The fountain features a pool into which water tumbles from a large grey granite disc. It is also called “La bouche de la verite,” ‘The Mouth of Truth” (1993–94), Guy Larrigue, sculptor. The original “Mouth of Truth” dates back to Medieval times. It was a large, round, disk with a man-like face sculpted into it. It is located in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome, Italy. The sculpture is thought to be part of a 1st century ancient Roman fountain, portraying one of several possible pagan gods. The most famous characteristic of the Mouth, however, is its role as a lie detector. Starting from the Middle Ages, it was believed that if one told a lie with one's hand in the mouth of the sculpture, it would be bitten off. To this day, for visitors to the “Mouth of Truth” in Rome, the temptation to put one’s hand into the mouth is irresistible.
A jet of water reaches the hole in the disk. Or is it the Mouth of Truth?
Another view of the fountain
A closer view of the fountain
The upper part of the disk
The disk from the other side
La Fontaine de la Palais Royal
A double-row of trees runs along both sides of the Garden . The two fenced lawns stretch between these rows of trees and are bordered with flower beds. At both ends of each lawn are enclosed sitting areas with benches. Between the two lawns is a circular pond and fountain. It is a lovely area for enjoying the sun and the sound of splashing water.
The double rows of trees alongside the garden
The expanse of lawn bordered by flower beds
The fountain between the two expanses of lawn
The fountain of the Royal Palace
The fountain of the Royal Palace.
It is said that when King Louis XIV was a child, he played around this fountain, and one day fell in and almost drowned. Historians can only speculate on how the course of French history might have changed had he not survived the dunking.
La Fontaine Cuvier
Georges Cuvier (1769–1832) was a famous naturalist, and pioneer of paleontology and comparative anatomy. This fountain (1840-1846) is located near the Jardin des Plantes and the museum of natural history, where Cuvier had worked. The statue is placed against a wall, with a low basin, water pouring from the heads of reptiles, and a band of human and animal heads. Above that is the figure of a seated woman representing Natural History, surrounded by numerous animals, and holding a tablet with Cuvier's motto: "Rerum cognoscere causas." ("to know the causes of things.") Naturalists pointed out that the crocodile in the group of statues is turning its head, something that crocodiles are unable to do. (The crocodile is at the woman’s feet on her right.)Visconti, who later became famous as the designer of the tomb of Napoleon in the Invalides, designed two other fountains of this new type, commemorating famous Parisians and located in places associated with them.
The Fountain Cuvier on a busy street corner across from an entrance to le Jardin des Plantes
The woman is flanked by a lion, the anatomically incorrect crocodile is below her and many sea creatures are at her feet.
Water pours from a reptile’s mouth into the low, semi-circular basin.
Two reptiles don’t create much of a flow of water.
A view of the reptile and basin from the far left of the fountain
Les Fontaines de la Place des Vosges
La Place des Vosges is the oldest square in Paris, built by Henry IV between 1605 and 1612. An equestrian statue of Louis XIII is in the middle of the square. The original fountain by Pierre Simon Girard in the Place des Vosges was replaced in 1830 by the current four fountains, designed by Jean-François-Julien Ménager, a student of Vaudoyer, winner of the prix de Rome, and architect of the City of Paris. The new fountains are made of volcanic stone from Volvic in the Auvergne, and have two circular basins, one above the other, with lions' heads spouting water into the circular basin.
One of the four fountains in the Place des Vosges
A closer look at the fountain (on this day, only one of the 4 fountains was working.)
The fountain
Notice the stately residences that surround this square. The square itself is lovely, but its surroundings, including the arcade, with many art galleries, restaurants, and even the home of Victor Hugo, and these homes, make the square picturesque.
The sculpture of Louis XIII on horseback is in the middle of the Place des Vosges.
A worker is raking leaves on the Place des Vosges.
La Fontaine de la Place Maubert
A little surprise garden sits in the middle of a busy intersection with a fountain surrounded by grass and flowers.It is believed that this fountain was built in memory of a well-known citizen of the time. Water flows from the finial at the top of the fountain and from several places on the upper, urn-like section to the bowl below, and from there into the catch basin. On the pedestal, there are four faces, and water issues from their mouths into the basin as well.
The garden on a busy street where the fountain is located
A V-shaped flowerbed at the apex of the triangle-like garden
The garden and fountain
The fountain of the Place Maubert
The fountain with pigeon perched on the bowl
La Fontaine de la rue Bazeilles
A simple fountain built in 1990 by the sculptor Guy Larrigue. (He also did the Jussieu fountain--do you recognize his simple, sleek style?) The central pedestal supports two bowls. Jets of water shoot up from the basin into the topmost smaller bowl, fall into the next larger bowl and finally into the basin again.
The fountain sits at the end of the very short street, rue Bazeilles, and at the very start of the Avenue des Gobelins. Rue Monge and Rue Claude Bernard also converge at the same intersection in the fifth arrondissement. In the background, you can see the fountain at the foot of rue Mouffetard.
Avenue des Gobelins
The fountain and Avenue des Gobelins
La Fountaine de la rue Bazeilles
This sculptor does no-nonsense fountains. At first, they seem uncomplicated, but then you notice how the jets of water start in the basin, shoot into the upper bowl and then splash down into the second bowl. It's still kind of stark-looking, maybe because there is no grass or flowers around it to soften the effect, but it's still lovely and makes a lot of pleasant splashing-water sounds. The sounds of water are a welcome contrast to the sounds of traffic on this busy street.
The upper tiers of the fountain
The top of the fountain
La Fontaine de la Place Saint-Michel
Fontaine Saint-Michel (1860) is the best-known fountain of Davioud. Built as part of Baron Haussmann's grand project for the reconstruction of Paris, Davioud was required to make a wall fountain hiding the wall of a building at the corner of boulevard Saint-Michel and Saint-André des Arts. His design featured a structure like a triumphal arch with a statue of Napoleon Bonaparte, but this aroused opposition by the opponents of Louis Napoleon, so it was changed to a statue of the Archangel Michael wrestling with the devil. Nine sculptors worked on the different figures in the composition. It was the last monumental fountain in Paris built against a wall, a style that had been borrowed from Italy. Later fountains would be free-standing, in the center of squares or parks.
Saint Michael vanquishing the devil
The triumphant Michael
One of the griffins
The opposite griffin
A closer view
Water cascading down the tiers of the fountain
So far, you and I have seen a lot of fountains, but we haven’t even come close to seeing them all. This will be a goal for my next visit to Paris. In the meantime, if you are interested, there is a fairly recent publication (in French) that lists the fountains in Paris: Les Fontaines de Paris: l’eau pour le plaisir. (The Fountains of Paris: water that pleases/water for pleasure/water for the beauty of it) This tome, published in 2008, is almost 600 pages long and includes 400 photos and a discussion of every fountain in Paris, from the most insignificant, utilitarian water faucet to the most elaborate, imposing, artistic and ornate Parisian fountain.
