Monday, October 10, 2011

La Seine

This view of the Seine is looking up river from the Pont de l'Alma. There is kind of an optical illusion going on here: the bridge you can see spanning the river is the Pont des Invalides, but just beyond it is another bridge with gold statues at either end. That's the Pont Alexandre III. In this photo you might mistake them for one bridge.

Looking up the Seine toward the Louvre, part of which is visible on the right. Click to fleuvinate.

On the left, at water level, you can see the departure point for the famous Bateaux Mouches, the tour boats that cruise up and down the river daily. After dark, the boats' bright lights illuminate the buildings on either side of the river.

Also on the left (which is the Right Bank because it's on your right-hand side as you look down river), you can see the recently renovated glass roof of the Grand Palais, a museum and exhibition hall built for the Universal Exposition of 1900.

The Seine is classified as une fleuve in French, which means that it's a river that runs into the sea. Other principal French fleuves include the Loire (the longest in France), the Rhône, and the Garonne. Rivers that are tributaries to other rivers are called rivières. We live on the Cher, which is une rivière because it's a tributary of the Loire.

12 comments:

  1. I'd never known the difference between the two terms, I'd assumed they were interchangeable, so thank you Walt for this information. (I'm a mature (48 yr old) student of French and take every opportunity to enhance my knowledge of the language & culture - and your and Ken's blogs are an entertaining resource!)

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  2. I'm back! And you thought that you finally got rid of me. Did you miss me? What am I saying, of course you did. Silly me.
    One April, a thousand years ago(not quite), I visted Fred and we walked hand in hand along the Seine. I know, that's pretty Gay but what can I do about it? That's me!
    Your Friend, m.

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  3. Thanks for the lesson on fleuves and rivieres! I never knew.

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  4. Thanks for the lesson, too. And I love the photo of Bertie on the car.

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  5. I wish I was there right this very moment. Really. Great shot!

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  6. Not too far behind you, in the opposite direction of which you were standing to take this picture, is the dock for the Bateaux Parisiens, the cruise line we chose for our second cruise on the Seine.

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  7. I know that there are two words for "river," but I can never remember which is which.

    Walt, feel free to keep walking us around Paris for the rest of the year.

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  8. Your photo does "enhance" that first bridge! Thanks for letting us know we are looking at two bridges.

    I will have to fleuvinate other photos I have of the French rivers to see if they are really fleuves or rivières!

    Mary in Oregon

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  9. Loved you blog today and the photo was beautiful.

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  10. I have followed your blog for a while now, and you always have some great shots on here. Well done!

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  11. I have a fancy to travel these rivers, and look for vikings. I hope they are still lurking about.

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  12. catherine, I, too, learn from doing this blog. I research some of the topics and am always consulting the dictionary for spelling and meaning. It's fun and a good exercise for my retired brain.

    mark, of course I missed you, silly. Walks along the Seine, laughing in the rain... (only in English do those words rhyme).

    mitch, and that was keeping you awake at night, I'm sure. ;>)

    ginny, he loves to get up there and look around.

    stephen, right at this moment it's a bit cold...

    starman, cool!

    chris, not to worry. Plenty more photos to post.

    mary, lol

    cheri, thanks!

    mbp, thank you!

    michael, there are indeed vikings about. One stayed at my house this past summer!

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