Boulevard du Palais This is a Wallace Fountain that I must have walked or cycled past dozens or even hundreds of times over the years, without ever stopping for a closer look — which is perhaps not surprising, since Paris has over a hundred of these ‘large model’ fountains (the Read More …
The Wallace Fountains in Paris were named after the English philanthropist and art collector Sir Richard Wallace (1818-1890), who donated them to the city of Paris starting in 1872. Their purpose was to dispense safe drinking water, after the city’s public water system had been damaged during the Franco-Prussian war Read More …
There has been a theater on this site on the Rue de la Gaîté since 1817, and the present Théâtre Montparnasse dates from 1886. Note that the ornate nineteenth century façade includes two lovely caryatids, statues of half-naked women supporting the roof with their heads. The theater was renovated in Read More …
Bordeaux is one of six French cities with a ‘National Opera’, the others being Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg, Montpellier and Nancy. As I have noted in one of my Nancy posts, a ‘National Opera’ is an opera company that is partially financed by the Ministry of Culture in return for fulfilling Read More …
These bicycle route signs are at the corner of Rue de Provence and Rue de la Chaussée d’Antin in Paris. What I especially like about this corner is the lovely caryatid at the edge of the photo on the right, the statue of a lady who seems to be supporting Read More …
The Salle Favart, home of the Opéra-Comique in Paris, re-opened in April 2017 after twenty months of renovation. At first glance the hall looks much the same as it did before — which was the intention — except that everything has been cleaned up, repainted and refurbished. But the main Read More …
The Musée Guimet is a highly respected museum of Asian arts, founded in Lyon in 1879 and moved to Paris in 1889. It is located in this listed building on the Place d’Iéna in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The founder, Émile Guimet (1836-1918), was a wealthy industrialist from Lyon. Read More …
Near the end of the Second World War, on March 1, 1945, Bruchsal was bombed for the first and only time. A thousand people died in that attack. The palace and the entire city were destroyed. Since the war was nearly over by that time, and resistance to the advancing Read More …
In the front building of the Gobelin manufactory in Paris there is a large exhibition hall, on two floors, displaying some of their more recent tapestries and carpets. The first time I went through this exhibition hall I was mildly impressed. Then I took a tour of the manufactory to see how Read More …