First of several posts we’ll share from the Chateau de Vincennes, abutting Bois de Vincennes to the east of Paris. What you see here is the keep in the foreground – completed in the 1300s under Charles V, when French kings were feeling vulnerable after one of them had been captured by the English, and others made uncomfortable by public demonstrations and protests too close for comfort to their palace in the heart of the city. In the background you see parts of the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes, completed in the 1500s under Henri II but begun under Charles V in the 1300s. Lots of interruptions due to wars, money troubles and even a brief occupation by the English Henry V after his troops won the battle of Agincourt – and in fact it seems he died here at Vincennes, another “who knew” moment. Below you see some of the classical palaces built later: more on that later :-).
More than just that statue of Louis XIII makes my favorite mini-park in the heart of Paris royal. As you can read if you enlarge the left-hand photo above, this site once housed one of the loveliest residences of France’s kings. Until, that is, Catherine de Medici tore it down in 1583 to install a horse market. Then Henry IV decided on a royal square – these days more likely known as a real estate development scheme – of which three sides would be sold to the highest bidders of, no doubt, the ‘right’ background. The fourth side, natch, was reserved for royalty. It was renamed Place des Vosges in 1800 – when royalty was still out of vogue, before Napoleon ended France’s first republic by deciding he was an emperor – because, wait for it, they were the first department to pay their taxes! 🙂
The Louvre did begin life as a royal palace. Amazing how many palaces Paris has, for a country that’s been more often a republic than a monarchy since 1790…
Last entry was light in the darkness, this entry is islands in the city of light :-). Above you see both Ile de la Cite (with the towers of Notre Dame shortly before its formal reopening) and, if you look closely enough, the northernmost bit of Ile St Louis, both floating in the splendid early dawn still of the Seine, back in late October. All the images below show one or both islands as well.
A sampling of photos from my three late-October nights & 2+ days in Paris that I feel contain “entrances.” May our exit from 2024 and our entrance to 2025 be alive with grace and joy.
Final train-window photos from the Paris to Geneva trip early November. Looking out the windows on clear days, checking what villages we’re passing, and imagining a day or a week there is one of many things I enjoy about train travel here in Europe 🙂
Last entry was light in the darkness, this entry is islands in the city of light :-). Above you see both Ile de la Cite (with the towers of Notre Dame shortly before its formal reopening) and, if you look closely enough, the northernmost bit of Ile St Louis, both floating in the splendid early dawn still of the Seine, back in late October. All the images below show one or both islands as well.
(so much world, so little time....) 