Loving Paris in the Springtime

[View along the Seine, looking toward Ile de la Cite; Les Bouquinistes, Quai de Montebello; Images & Artwork:
 designslinger]

Ah, Paris in the Springtime, strolling along the banks of the Seine on a gorgeous day.
Walking with the crowds up on Quai de Montebello, passing by the stalls (Les Bouquinistes) filled with old books and lithographic prints that vendors have been selling here for decades.

 
[Palais Royal, Arcade and apartments; Pere-Lachaise, monument detail; Images & Artwork: designslinger]

We rested our weary feet in the garden of the Palais Royal, once the home of the powerful
Cardinal Richelieu, Louis XIV's Prime Minister. He wouldn't recognize the lovely, arcaded apartment quandrangle that we see today, it wasn't built until 1780. The explosion of color from a forsithia bush at it's peak was captured hovering over a tomb at Pere-Lachaise; the cemetery to end all cemeteries.

 
[Hotel Particulier, interior courtyard; Jardin, Palais Royal, tress starting to bud; Hotel de Cluny, detail; Images &
Artwork: designslinger]

Walking through the Marais district, one of the oldest, intact quarters of Paris, we stumbled
upon openings into the private courtyards of former mansions, known as Hotel Particuliers. Some of the trees in the Jardin of the Palais Royal still hadn't blossomed, while others were just bursting open with that acid green color that you see only at this time of the year. The trees were in full bloom around the walls of the former Hotel de Cluny. The Abbot of Cluny built his abbey around the ruins of a Roman bath in 1330, and another Abbot built the current residence between 1485 and 1500.

 
[Apartment building, 2nd arrondissements; Cathdrale Notre Dame de Paris; Hotel de Sens, detail; Images &
Artwork: designslinger]

The sun shined on us every day. The trees flowered more and more, and the city was more
beautiful than ever. The color provided by the flowering trees around Notre Dame added a little something extra to the majesty of the Cathedral. And apple blossoms enhanced the view of Hotel de Sens, one of the three great medieval residences that still survives in Paris. We have visited the city before, but never at this time of year. It is one of the most magnificent places in the world, worthy of a visit any time of the year, but we discovered that you have to love Paris in the Springtime.
Posted by designslinger at 4/13/2009 4:30 AM
Categories: Cities, Architecture, History
Tags: Notre Dame Pere-Lachaise Paris Marais district Hotel de Sens Hotel Cluny Palais Royal
 

What did you think of this article?




Trackbacks
Trackback specific URL for this post
  • Trackbacks are closed for this post.
Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

  • 4/13/2009 7:17 PM Sharon wrote:
    Your photos are wonderful!! What an incredibly beautiful city. I have always wanted to visit Paris - particularly Napoleon's Tomb and Malmaison (a story for another day). Before Chicago history was the Little Corporal. I'm a very sick woman...
  • 1/7/2011 9:45 AM Theresemijuskovic wrote:
    Exactly what we need when it's freezing outside, though it is not freezing anymore in Arizona since yesterday...
    1. 1/8/2011 5:27 AM designslinger wrote:
      Yes indeed! It's 10 degrees here in Chicago!!
Leave a comment

Comments are closed.