Tuesday, September 13, 2011

La colonne

I forgot to tell you that, during drinks at Le Métro, we decided to have dinner at one of my favorite pizzerias in Paris. It's in the Marais district on the right bank. To get there, we would have a nice walk over the islands to the other side of the Seine. I steered us over to the Bastille before heading back into the Marais.

I don't know who this guy is. He just ended up in my photo.

I snapped this photo on the rue Saint-Antoine as we approached the Place de la Bastille. You can see the Colonne de Juillet in the background. The column sits in the middle of the place where the medieval Bastille prison once stood.

If you're like me, you might have thought that the column commemorates the French Revolution but, like me, you would have been wrong. The column was erected to commemorate three days in July 1830, known as les Trois Glorieuses (the Three Glorious Days), a mini-revolution that led to the downfall of King Charles X, who attempted to reverse the revolution and re-establish an absolute monarchy.
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10 comments:

  1. Raybeard13 September, 2011 09:07

    Re your comment under the photo: I'm sure you didn't mean to ;-) but that is exactly how I sometimes 'accidentally' get 'hotties' into my pics. Pretend I'm looking for the right angle for the 'background', and - "Goodness me. Just look what happened to be there too!"

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  2. Seine Judeet (Judith)13 September, 2011 13:01

    I'm like you! Thanks for the info on column at Place de la Bastille.

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  3. Anonymous13 September, 2011 13:34

    Since I am very close to Bastille now, will you share the name of the pizza place, please?

    BettyAnn

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  4. wcs13 September, 2011 13:48

    bettyann, it's Pizza Sant' Antonio, on the Place du Bourg Tibourg, rue de la Verrerie.

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  5. Genie -- Paris and Beyond13 September, 2011 16:28

    Merci, wcs! I was going to ask the name as well. It will be "on my list" now.

    Bises,
    Genie

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  6. Starman13 September, 2011 18:18

    I took a photo of la colonne from almost that exact spot.

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  7. Anonymous13 September, 2011 18:30

    Thanks, Walt!

    BettyAnn

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  8. chrissoup13 September, 2011 19:02

    The apartment we stayed in in June was about two blocks behind and one block to the right of your vantage point. I would walk on rue Saint-Antoine to the boulangerie.

    Your pizza place has been on my list for years, but we've never gone there. It's high time.

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  9. Ur-spo14 September, 2011 07:37

    So what happened to Charles?

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  10. wcs14 September, 2011 07:52

    raybeard, it was either that or the big bus that was heading down the street.

    judy, you're welcome!

    bettyann & genie, if you go, please let me know what you think.

    starman, maybe we're the only two? ;)

    chris, it's a nice neighborhood to be in.

    michael, he was exiled to the New World where he settled in Ohio and founded the Bush family.

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