Saturday, June 23, 2018

La rue Royale

I found myself in the Place de la Madeleine, in front of the Madeleine church, a massive neoclassical construction from the early 19th century. From the front steps, the view is down the rue Royale toward Concorde, across the Seine, and to the equally classically styled National Assembly building.

The Egyptian obelisk stands in the center of the Place de la Concorde, where King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lost their heads. The building with the columns is the National Assembly, and the gilded dome is the church at Invalides, under which Napoléon is buried.

I climbed the steps for a better view, snapped a few photos, then decided, what the heck, to go inside and have a look. I don't remember being inside the church before.

8 comments:

  1. Pour une description de l'église de la Madeleine, voir le poème de Théophile Gsutier, l'Obélisque de Louxor.

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    1. maudite tablette, c'est GAUTIER. Sorry!

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    2. Encore une bêtise, le titre du poème est L'onélisque de Paris.

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  2. What an amazing city. And what a great time of day for photographs.

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  3. You take beautiful photos of Paris, Walt. You even seem to catch the flow of traffic at just the right aesthetic moment. That couple on the traffic island facing you look like figurines in a tableau. Such a classic view.

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  4. I just heard a history lesson on how Paris sort of went into a commune right after the Franco-Prussian war.
    I think I could spend all my time in Paris just going around looking for sites and not even see the museums.

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  5. chm, merci !

    mitch, it was Sunday morning, so traffic was light, and it was overcast, so no contrasty shadows!

    kiwi, thanks! And, it's fun!

    judy, :)

    michael, they burned down the Tuileries palace (the western end of the Louvre) during the Commune period.

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