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Rue du Bac
Rue du Bac has many historic connections.
It was built in 1564 and named after the bac (ferry) that used to
transport quarry stone across the Seine to the construction site
of the Tuileries Palace, which was actually burnt down by the Communards
in 1871. On the 6th arron. side of rue du Bac were the barracks
that housed the Musketeers - of “The Three Musketeers’
fame. On the 7th arron. side of rue du Bac is Deyrolle, a 150 years
old taxidermy shop open to the public, which besides the stuffed
animals, is like a grand ‘Cabinet des Curiosities’ with
shells, minerals, insects, butterflies, pictures all on view.
St-Germain
St-Germain was a center of bohemianism and existentialism in the
glittering café society of the post-war years. Names associated
with this period are Sartre and Camus and the singer Juliette Greco.
Young French teenagers spent nights in its jazz clubs and cabarets.
Many famous French singers sang in the clubs or lived in the area,
such as Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel, Charles Trénet, Guy
Béart, Charles Aznavour. The home where Serge Gainsbourgh
lived on rue de Verneuil has become a graffitied shrine. Jazz greats
who played here include Sidney Bechet, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington.
Musee d'Orsay
Across the river from the Louvre, was originally a Beaux-Arts train
station but by the 1950's its platforms became too short and it was
up for demolition. An innovative restoration transformed the train
station into a museum spanning art from 1830 to 1914. Its sky-lit
Impressionist Gallery holds the jewels of Impressionist Art with masterpieces
by Monet, Degas, Renoir, Pissaro and Van Gogh. Next to the gallery
there is a cafe built to incorporate one of the two original giant
clocks of the station, with a balcony (open in the summer) and lovely
view over the Seine. The other restaurant is the more formal Restaurant
du Musee
d'Orsay , which was the dining room of the old hotel in
the station and is an ornately gilded period piece. Its buffet brunch
or prix-fixe menu is good value. Museum closed on Mondays. National
Museums as the ‘Louvre’ are closed on Tuesdays and Paris
Museums as the ‘d’Orsay’ are closed on Mondays.
Musee Rodin
Musee
Rodin housed in the magnificent Hotel Biron. August
Rodin originally rented rooms in the Hotel for living and as a studio.
There were plans to destroy the house but in 1916 the French government
agreed to convert it into a museum for him. The museum now houses
his sculptures, academic paintings and sketches. There are also
several works by Camille Claudel, the talented sculptor who became
Rodin’s muse, model, and lover at the age of 17. He was nearly
50. The lovely garden is a setting for some of Rodin’s best
known works including ‘The Thinker’, ‘The Burghers
of Calais, and ‘The Gates of Hell’.
Invalides & Napoleon's Tomb
The group of buildings
'Hotel des Invalids' was ordered by Louis XIV the ('Sun
King') to house the king's old soldiers. A year later he commissioned
the Eglise du Dome, a magnificent Baroque church with its beautiful
gold-leafed dome, which holds the impressive tomb of Napoleon. Napoleon
was brought here from his grave in St. Helena where he was exiled,
to fulfill his last wish to be buried 'on the banks of the Seine among
the people of France whom I have loved so much. In the complex is
the Army Museum with the largest collection of militia in the world.
Leading from the impressive forecourt of the Invalids with its captured
canons runs the tree-lined Esplanade des Invalides to the grand Pont
Alexandre III a gift from Czar Alexander to commemorate the 1892 French-Russian
alliance.
Jardin des Tuilleries
The Tuileries Gardens were designed by Andre Le Notre in 1664
and is one of the largest parks in Paris. It is bordered by the
Louvre, Rue de Rivoli and, at the western end, the Orangerie and
the Jeu de Paume. The Orangerie houses Monet's magnificent 'Nympheas'
series of paintings of water-lilies which were painted at Giverny
and donated to the nation by the artist as a 'spiritual testimony'.
It also houses other great Impressionist and 'Ecole de Paris'
artists. It is undergoing a major re-haul at the moment. The Jeu
de Paume holds special exhibitions.
Continued...
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