Quai Saint-Bernard, Paris 5e

The roof and the apse of Notre-Dame, before the fire....

Subjects: Paris, 75005, Notre-Dame, architecture, history

Quai Henri IV, Paris 4e

On that day, the sky was ablaze, and the beauty of Notre-Dame brought joy to our hearts.
Monday, Note-Dame was ablaze, and we cried.
We weep for Paris.
We weep with Paris.

Subjects: Paris, 75004, sorrow, Notre-Dame, history, tragedy, fire

Rue au Maire, Paris 3e

One of the old medieval streets of Paris, it is the center of the Asian neighborhood. In the 1930s and 1940s, Chinese from Wenzhou settled here. They worked as leatherworkers and set up sundries and small markets, and later moved into the wholesale trade. Their stores, tiny, overstuffed with goods, harshly lit, line the street.

Subjects: Paris, 75003, streets, architecture, history

Palais Royal, Paris 1er

The courtyard of the Palais Royal, with Buren's columns, from the balcony of the Constitutional Court. If you want to go, it will have to be during the European Heritage Days (Journees du Patrimoine) and you will have to stay in line for hours...

Subjects: Paris, 75001, architecture, art, people, street, Buren, history

Rue de la Colombe, Paris 1er

Behind this colorful facade hides a lovely tale of love: In the 13th century, this was the house of a sculptor who worked on the construction of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral. He had a pair of doves. One day, probably following a flood, the house collapsed, and the doves were trapped under the rubble. Only the male managed to escape. Everyday, he would feed his beloved, giving her seeds and water from the Seine. Moved by this romantic spectacle, the neighbors worked hard to release the female.
The day of their reunion, the birds rose in the sky and made a beautiful dance in the sky to thank those who had saved them.

Subjects: Paris, 75001, cafe, bistrot, colors, red, blue, history

Rue Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, Paris 5e

Around the Isaac de Laffeman's 1639 Mansion, centuries of construction have left a mysterious puzzle of intertwined structures of all shapes and ages, and a delight for the eye.

Subjects: Paris, 75005, architecture, history

Place des Vosges, Paris 4e

The light keeps changing during the course of the day, and so does the character of the arcades. We have it here with the soft shadows of a cloudy day.

Subjects: Paris, 75004, architecture, history, Marais

Rue Saint-Honore, Paris 1er

Don't look for this pretty bistrot anymore! The facade has been redone in a nondescript modern style. Another piece of the charm of Paris gone forever.

Subjects: Paris, 75001, bistrot, cafes, history

Rue Francois-Miron, Paris 4e

The Hôtel de Beauvais was commissioned in 1654 by the wife of Monsieur de Beauvais, Catherine Henriette Bellier, who initiated Louis XIV into manhood, in exchange for a château and a stipend from the queen mother Anne d’Autriche. What a deal!

Subjects: Paris, 75004, architecture, history, hotels, Marais