It was July 6 and I was in Paris for the first time in two years. It's hard to believe Walt and I live so close to Paris and hardly every go there any more. When we lived in San Francisco, between the late 1980s and 2003, hardly a year ever went by without a trip to Paris. Some years, we made the trip twice.
I spent that Saturday afternoon out walking around the city. I wandered through the Marais, which is the 3rd and 4th arrondissements. The café above is at the corner of the rue de la Perle and the rue Vieille du Temple.
Did you know that there is a Hôtel de Saint-Aignan in Paris? There is, and that's it above. It's on the rue du Temple. In French, « hôtel » means of course a hotel as in English, but it also means a grand house in a city. The Hôtel de Ville in Paris is, for example, city hall.
The Hôtel is Saint-Aignan was a residence, and now it is a museum. The figure above is what you see on the big carriageway doors that close the hotel's courtyard to the street. The Hôtel de Saint-Aignan was recently restored. More about it later.
Finally, another café, this one on the rue de Turenne, near the Eglise Saint-Denys. I stopped here and had something to drink. As you can see, there weren't many people sitting out in the hot sun that afternoon.
I have been enjoying your Paris photos. They keep reminding me of how long it's been since I was there. But seeing your photos is nearly as good and will keep me happy for a while!
ReplyDeleteNick was there for a flying visit yesterday, he got the TGV from St- Pierre-des-Corps.
I was in Paris twice in July, for a few days each time. I walked over much of the city. Now I feel like I've been in Paris for the whole month of August too. Hope Nick had a good trip.
ReplyDeletePaul worked on the remodeling of Saint-Aignan when it became the Museum of Jewish Art and History. The staircase is our favorite piece of work. There's also the fresco wall in what is now the museum shop. The building was basically a ruin.
ReplyDeleteAfter being built as a town residence, it was, for a short time, the mairie of the IIIè. In the 19th century, it was converted into an workshop -- ground floor for sales, upper floors for manufacturing, and added attic floors for squalid living -- a whole village-sized population! Since it is in the center of what became a mostly Jewish area, most of the inhabitants were Jews. By WWII, it was already in very bad condition and overcrowded. Then came the raffle, and most of the inhabitants were deported, never to return. As city property, it needed either to be demolished or refurbished and they finally did that in the late 1990s.
When you visit the museum, there is a wall with the names of the deportees from the building. There is (I hope there still is) a little section of the museum dedicated to this sad story.
really enjoying this cafe snaps - great work. i used to go to paris every year in February. now i cant even get myself to drive just over an hour to our nearest big city! maybe we've become homebodies?
ReplyDeleteOhFGirl, I feel in my bones that you are right -- homebodies. Walt and I drove ten miles north yesterday to shop in a HyperU (bigger than our Saint-Aignan SuperU), and I freaked out at the car traffic and the crowds in the store. I'm talking about the town of Contres, pop. 3500! Bumpkin is the word that comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteYou're right.
ReplyDeleteDorothy Gale said it best: "There's no place like home".
I know I've seen l'Hôtel de Saint-Aignan, but I don't remember it.
ReplyDeletewe are bumpkins together than, surely. i cant believe all the people when we go into town. and when i go back to visit the west coast... my gosh. so many choices! i'm overwhelmed at the grocery stores. then i laugh b/c i can make or grow most of it myself.
ReplyDelete;-)
Ken, thank you for sharing these photos. I've dreamt of walking through the streets of Paris. I hope someday (sooner than later) to make it a reality. Until then, I have your photos that make me feel as if I am right there. I cannot thank you enough.
ReplyDeleteKim
Ken, thank you for sharing these photos. I've dreamt of walking through the streets of Paris. I hope someday (sooner than later) to make it a reality. Until then, I have your photos that make me feel as if I am right there. I cannot thank you enough.
ReplyDeleteKim