Paris April 2008

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A popular place for locals and tourists to relax when the weather is nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are lots of statues with a theatrical theme throughout the Luxembourg gardens. This one appears to be inviting us to visit the nearby Pantheon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not as old as it looks being completed less than a century ago in the Romano-Byzantine style. Am I the only one who thinks it is out of proportion and ugly? Being on the highest hill in Paris, the dome is elongated just to add to its height even more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photo was taken near the Place du Tertre where the street artists still try to draw your portrait. It may have been a novelty in my father's time, but now the whole area is extremely Tacky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The heart of Paris - if not France. All distances from anywhere in France to Paris are measured from a spot in front of the cathedral. The recently cleaned facade really is a gothic gem.

 

Apparently Notre Dame is the most visited attraction in France.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Quasimodo swinging from these parapets. Victor Hugo's eponymous hunchback might have been named Whitsun. In the story he was found on Whitsunday also known as Quasimodo Sunday (from the Latin "Quasi modo geniti infantes alleluja..." "As you are children newborn, halleluiah..." from the start of the Introit for the day).

 

Somehow Whitsun doesn't have the same ring to it as Quasimodo. (Sorry, dropped a clanger there!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gargoyles aplenty, challenging my zoom lens to the maximum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tympanum over the central door. If you look carefully you can see in the centre the devil trying to tip the scales in his favour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The old prison on the Ile de la Cite, with a gruesome past.

 

This and the next photo were taken from a ride on the Bateaux-Mouches, which is the lazy way to see Paris. Unfortunately the commentary was in several different languages, including Japanese, but not English. Not that it mattered, you could hardly hear the commentary anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You see some strange sights when on the river, such as this Statue of Liberty.

 

This is a modern, smaller copy of the one that France gave New York in 1886.