Petruschki’s Journey into the Blue - Interlude - In route to El Greco

We come back to our trip ...

In December 2019 we went on a journey by bus and train through Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain and Ireland. The aim was the exhibition Protest! by Derek Jarman in Dublin, there was so much to see on the way there. We visited 21 exhibitions in three weeks and discovered many stories.

This is a fish restaurant on the Cours Albert 1er. I don't know what it was called and I wasn't there either. But I liked the colors, blue and green and mother-of-pearl and that it was December and if we had wanted, or rather if someone had invited us, we could have sat outside on a December afternoon in Paris.

Paris Palais de Tokyo

The stone is already shimmering in a different lightwhen I leave the Hans Hartung exhibition. On this December day, the early, low sun warms the stone figures and gives them something close and cuddly.

That is Erato, in English 'the loving one, the lovely one, in Greek mythology she is one of the nine muses. She is the muse of love poetry, verse, song and dance. Erato is a daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne.

Paris Palasi de Tokyo

So here we see Venus, in Greek mythology Aphrodite. Also called The Foam Born. According to Hesiod, she is the daughter of Uranus. His son Kronos, on the advice of his mother Gaia, cut off his genitals with a sickle blow and "threw them behind him" into the sea. The blood and the seeds mixed with the sea, which foamed all around and gave birth to Aphrodite, who according to Hesiod first went ashore on Kythera, then on the coast of Cyprus.

That is why she is shown here on a dolphin and small curly waves.

Paris Palais de Tokyo

That is casualness in the afternoon. The Eiffel Tower is behind the tree. I find it hard to be nonchalant on this day. For the next day, December 5, 2019, a general strike has been announced in France. That means all museums are closed and the metro is very limited. Fortunately we have tickets for the Greco exhibition today. And contrary to what was planned, we will then also have a look at the Toulouse-Lautrec -Résolument modern- exhibition. Because on Friday evening it goes on to Munich. And tomorrow everything will be closed. So we have to say goodbye to the Musée d`Orsay and Félix Fénéon. Born in 1861, the art critic, anarchist, magazine editor and gallery owner Félix Fénéon was a crossheaded and dandy. He was in the civil service for 13 years and maybe a bomber. He was also a confidante of the late impressionists and later also of Matisse, Apollinaire, Picasso, an editor of Rimbaud and James Joyce and collector of African art. What an exciting person. But the exhibition will be closed from tomorrow due to a strike.

Paris Pont de L`Alma Zouave

The golden light flatters the “Zouave de Paris”. This Zouave soldier has been watching over the Seine since 1854. The members of historical infantry units called themselves Zouaves. The name goes back to the Kabyle tribe of the Zuauas in the district of Zuaua (Zuavia) in the Algerian province of Constantine, who already provided mercenary troops who were famous for their bravery during the Ottoman Empire. The "Zouave de Paris" is located at the foot of the Pont de l’Alma bridge and is an unofficial flood indicator. When the water of the Seine reaches his feet, the paths along the banks are closed. When it is up to its waist, the river is no longer navigable. When in 1910 only his chin protruded over the water during the flood of the century, the residents were very concerned. This figure has not been used for official flood measurements for a long time, but for most Parisians the Zouave de Paris is still the only true indicator.

The predecessor of today's 142.5 m long and 42 m wide steel Pont de l’Alma was a arched bridge opened 1856 by Napoleon III.. Napoleon had the bridge named after the battle of the Alma. On August 31, 1997, Lady Di and Dodi Al-Fayed died after a car accident in the tunnel there.

Paris Pont des Invalides

The Pont des Invalides is the lowest bridge over the Seine. It is located between the Pont d` Alma and the Pont Alexandre III directly at the Hôtel des Invalides. This is a home originally called the Hôtel royal des Invalides on behalf of King Louis XIV for war invalids and disabled soldiers. Today it houses several museums, including the huge, almost sprawling Musée de l’Armée, as well as the tombs of Emperor Napoleon I and other military men in the Invalides. The four high pillars you see on the image do not belong to the Pont des Invalides, but to the Pont Alexandre III. behind.

On the left of the photo we can see the dock of the Bateaux Mouches. Here you can buy tickets for the Seine tours. In the 19th century, the term "Bateau-Mouche" referred to small boats driven by a propeller, which were used to transport goods or people on rivers or canals. Their concept was developed in a workshop in the La Mouche district of Lyon, which explains the name of these ships. Since 1867 passenger traffic with "Bateaux-Mouches" was carried out on the Seine in Paris.

In the background you can see the Roue de Paris, the Parisian ferris wheel. It is in the tradition of the Grande Roue de Paris, which was built for the World Exhibition in 1900 and dismantled in 1937. Since Easter 2010 there is again a Ferris wheel in Paris with a height of 55 meters. It is available in four different locations throughout the year: from April to May on the Foire du Trône, in July and August at the Fête des Tuileries, from September to October at the Fête à Neu-Neu and from mid-December to January on the Place de la Concorde at the entrance to the Jardin des Tuileries at the Paris Christmas market, as you can see here.

A fish restaurant

There it is again, the fish restaurant with the beautiful colors.

Paris Pont Alexandre III La renommée au combat

Here we are on the left bank of the Seine upstream at the entrance to Pont Alexandre III, at one of the 17 meter high pylons that border the bridge. On each of these pillars there is a Pegasus who is ridden by a Fama, the goddess of glory. This is “La Renée au combat” (Glory in Combat) by Pierre Granet (1843-1910).

The Pont Alexandre III is the most ornate bridge, more golden than the golden Seine bridge. It was built especially for the world exhibition in 1900 in the style of the Belle Epoque. 15 artists worked on the decorations. Four large pillars, each seventeen meters high - two on each side - stand at both entrances to the bridge. They are symbols of industry, trade, agriculture and war. At night the bridge is illuminated by 32 candelabra with crystal windows. Probably looks very romantic. I didn't see it.

Paris Pont Alexandre III Nymphe

A nymph of the Seine with the coat of arms of Paris, which you cannot see here. To do this, she lights her stick in the sun.

paris Pont Alexandre III

And again the nymph of the Seine. We enjoy the view on this golden blue December afternoon and are now on our way to the Grand Palais for the “Greco” exhibition.