Promenade or Stroll Along the Seine River in Paris

It was nice weather and walking along the Seine River was not a bad experience. It was also a good way to look around the city in slow motion, see the crusing ships passing and try to guess along which part the Princess of Wales,Lady Diana really died. It was fun! Actually, we were from the Notre Dame du Paris treading our way to reach the Musée del'Armée. I don't remember exactly the route we took but being new to the city, everything I saw was interesting. Below are someof the selected views while strolling along the River Seine in Paris.

Before that, some trivia first. I learned that the name "Seine" (la sen), which is the name of the river came from the Latin word "Seuana" which construed to mean "sacred river". Many contested this origin of the river's name though. River Seine expands itself to 776 kilometers or 486 miles, yes, that's thelenthsof the Seine River in Paris.  Within Paris, there are 37 rivers and a dozen or so outside the capital.

The other side is packed with those heavy-set buildings...

Whose head is this? It's sculpted in one of the many bridges of Seine and we were thinking it's Bacchus' 

head but I cannot confirm it. Anybody who knows whose head is this in a bridge of Seine, please

let us know as well. Thanks in advance. And why is it there? Very interesting...

Alittle graffiti behind... I think it says, "Wild"...

If you look closely, aside from he scenery behind, the bridge has letter "N" in it. Does it mean "Napolean" or something? Any idea? The bridge scultures are actually puzzling me all the time!

Here you see the letter "N" emphasized. Who has the idea what does this letter N means in oneof the 

bridges of river Seine? Please impart your knowledge and educate the world... :=) Thank you...

Resting a bit.... whew... Pont Neuf now...

Notre Dame de Paris Experience

After admiring the Hôtel de Ville, we continued our walk to the Notre Dame de Paris or the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris. If translated in English, Notre (Our) Dame (Lady) of Paris. Still, it is in the 4^th arrondissement so just nearby the Hotel de Ville. The Notre Dame Cathedral houses the Archbishop of Paris.

What attracted me, physically, inside the church are its stained glasses. They are magnificent! I took photos of some of them. The Notre Dame de Paris or the Notre Dame Cathedral is also widely considered one of the “finest examples of French Gothic architecture” (Wikipedia 2011) in the country (France) and also the rest of the continent (Europe), naturally aside from the awesome stained glasses I previously mentioned.

This is from the right side of the Cathedral's entrance. Look around up and see the design...

Since this group of policement on horses were passing as I crossed the street to the Cathedral, I just have them posted here... :)

The iron works behind me and the sculptures are admirable...

WIth my fave...Joan of Arc... the quality is really bad but I did not want to use flash inside the Cathedral (respect)...

Bass relief (?) depicting Christ's sufferings...

Notre Dame de Paris in one glass... this is the miniature version inside the glass...

Also the miniature version of the labor force that made this church, Notre Dame de Paris successfully erected...

Below are a few samples of the many beautifully crafted stained glass inside the Cathedral. Beautiful work...

Near the Place du Châtelet's Saint-Jacques Tower at 4th Arrondissement, Paris

Where is 4th arrondissement?

Continuing the early Thursday morning walk around the city of Paris, more attractions are to be enjoyed... mostly of course are monuments... A very interesting structure along the way when we were planning to reach the "Hotel de Ville" caught my attention. Curious as I am, I naturally took photos but it was a thin structure yet tall and it was very tricky to capture it all. I thought it was the "Place du Châtelet" but I later learned that it was actually the "Tour Saint-Jacques" of the "Saint Jacques Tower". What's Interesting? The structure and the way it invites the passers or the interested to view it.


The first image below, I tried my best to capture the whole edifice but with its height and the road traffic intrusion, this was the best I could do...:-(.

Saint-Jacques Tower or locally called the “Tour Saint-Jacques” is a monument located in the 4^th arrondissement of Paris, in France. This slender structure measures 52 metres in height (171 ft). Wikipedia described it as a “Flamboyant Gothic tower” the not much remains of the former 16th century Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie or "Saint James of the butchery" in Englis which was leveled abruptly after the French Revolution.

The Pinnacle sculpture of the Structure... Lovely design/art/architecture/sculpture, right?

Around Paris Early Morning Attractions: No tickets needed!

By 7:15 AM, we have secured our luggage at the Gare du Nord Paris Automatic Locker Service (Consignes Automatiques). We decided to walk around the vicinity just to see how it is, how the locals live and to see the generality of the place. Also, to see the views around that do not require entrance fees as it was too early for anything to be open. Some of the interesting views are shown below or in the next post, and some are to be shown in the succeeding posts..
The Church of Saint-Laurent or locally called l’ Église Saint-Laurent is a church in the 10th arrondissement of Paris as previously laid out by the Romans in the course of the mid 1st century BC. The church has a lovely façade.

L'Eglise Saint-Laurent, at 10th arrondissement

The Porte Saint-Denis (or others name and call it Ludovico Magno Arc because of its label) is a monument located in the10th arrondissement of Paris at the site of one of the gates of the Wall of Charles the Fifth, one of the now-destroyed fortifications of the city (Paris). The arc can be found at the crossing of Rue Saint-Denis and extends to Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, with the Boulevard de Bonne-Nouvelle and the Boulevard Saint-Denis. Porte Saint-Denis or commonly known as Ludovico Magno Arc replaced a medieval gate in the city walls built by Charles the Fifth in the 14th century. 

(Ludovico Magno Arc) La Port Saint-Denis 
at  the10th arrondissement

The National Centre for Art and Culture Georges Pompidou is born out of the desire of President Georges Pompidou in the heart of Paris to create an original cultural institution devoted entirely to modern and contemporary art where the side is with theater, music, movies, books, activities of speech, etc.

Centre Pompidou brings together in one place one of the largest museums in the world with the first collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe, a large library of public libraries with general documentation on the art of the twentieth century, movie theaters and shows, a music research institute, educational activity areas, bookshops, a restaurant and a cafe.

One thing that attracted me within this museum is the Brancusi Atelier as the name itself, "Brancusi Atelier" appeares at the label of the museum in the entrance area. I later learned about Constantin Brancusi. Brancusi was born in Romania in 1876, where he received traditional training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Bucharest. He arrived in Paris in 1904 and occupied from 1916 workshops located at 8 and then successively, from 1928, to 11 Ronsin, the deadlock in the fifteenth arrondissement of Pris. It is in these workshops he created until his death in 1957 most of his work.

In 1956, Brancusi bequeathed to the French state all of his studio with all its contents (finished works, sketches, furniture, tools, library, disco ...) subject to the National Museum of Modern Art is committed to reconstitute it as it will appear the day of his death.

Too early to buy a ticket and enter so we moved on...

Some nearby park, still at the 10th arrondisement

An old church along the way...

The expensive Parisian apartments...