Continuing my virtual trip to Paris, while whiling away the pandemic time... From the top of the Tour Montparnasse in Paris, you can look into the Jardin des Tuileries at the Louvre. The long street along the north side of the garden, lined with grand buildings, hotels, and shops, is the rue de Rivoli, with its arcades.
Not far from the Louvre, on the right bank of the Seine at the north end of Le Pont Neuf, is the Art Nouveau/Art Déco building that used to be occupied by the Samaritaine department store, Paris's largest. It was closed down in 2005 after going into decline in the 1970s. The re-opening of the building was scheduled for 2020 but has been postponed until 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is the Gare Montparnasse, just south of the Tour Montparnasse. Even if you've been there many times to take the TGV to Tours, Bordeaux, or Brittany, you might not have seen this part of the complex — unless you've been to the top of the tower nearby.
P.S. I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday. It was routine — I see him twice a year. I asked him if there have been any recent Covid-19 cases in the Saint-Aignan area. He said he hasn't heard of any since last March/April. Good news, even with thousands of people from all over France and Europe visiting our main tourtist attraction, the Beauval zoo with it's giant pandas. Meanwhile, in Paris, starting today, everybody has to wear a mask everywhere. Unfortnately, the number of new coronavirus cases in the city is going up.
That station is quite some piece of architecture isn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt is that. And nobody sees it much because of where it is.
DeleteGlad to know the Saint-Aignan area is free of Covid-19. Let's hope it stays that way. Soyez vigilants et très prudents.
ReplyDeleteParis is a different story. Masques obligatoires jusqu'à nouvel ordre.
DeleteI'm not sure the last photo shows the Gare Montparnasse. This is an urban complex built over the tracks and replaces the pont des Cinq Martyrs du Lycée Buffon. It linked the boulevard Pasteur to the rue du Château. As I understand it it, these buildings are around the Place des Cinq Martyrs du Lycée Buffon. It is not clear if the TGV station is underground.
ReplyDeleteThe Gare Montparnasse proper is on Place Bienvenüe. That's where I took my TGV to Bordeaux two years ago.
Now, I'm wondering what is the name of that "park" between the station proper and that complex?
DeleteThe "park" is called le jardin Atlantique. Hall II of the gare Montparnasse is in the more modern building you see in my photo. You can enter the station there (rue du pont... etc.) and take a moving sidewalk into the older part of the station.
DeleteThank you for this information. Navigating the Montparnasse Station is not for sissies. Two years ago, I took a TGV to Agen. I was travelling with my wheel chair and I had to go to Accès Plus on Hall 1. I had to access the station through the parking lot entrance on Bvd de Vaugirard, roughly midway between Hall 2 and Hall 1, where somebody would pick me up and take me to Hall 1 and later push me to my reserved seat.
DeleteOn the one and only time I walked through Gare Montparnasse, I thought I would never see the light of day again. That place is h u g e !
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
DeleteTrain stations are fun to see. I went from Louisville to Nashville to college on the L&N railroad. Those were the days. I think we picked up a car rental at Montparnasse once. It was difficult to find the location (one word with two different meanings in French and English lol).
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I went to Paris and stayed at CHM's place overnight before walking up to the Gare Montparnasse to pick up a rental car for our trip up to Normandy. I had a very hard time finding the car rental agencies — walked for miles, it seemed — and then I again walked for miles from the rental office to the underground lot where the car was parked. It took forever, and I decided I would never do that again. The rental offices and car parks are in the building in my photo above.
DeleteOTOH it was easy to drive to Port d'Orleans from Montparnasse.
DeleteGood point.
DeleteJust now able to post from Safari again- progress!
ReplyDelete