When Mr. Swede's job takes him to Paris each month, he has a permanent standing assignment from me to be a street walker. Anytime he has a few free hours, I ask him to walk up and down the streets near his hotel and take photos of the architectural detail of the old buildings. He has done a great job of getting some fabulous shots, maybe some by accident. I am holding those in reserve and not posting them until I figure out how to use them, hopefully to make some revenue. I've told him that if he can come home with two to four 2die4 shots and 10% great shots out of 100, he's done an excellent job. I'm very anxious when he comes home to get his camera [okay, so I'm standing at the door squealing with delight] and download the photos to see what he has brought me. Last week he was in Paris three days and was able to get out to take photos one of those days but the weather was not good being gloomy with overcast skies. Maybe the next trip will be better. He has had to pass on leaving the hotel a few trips because it was raining too hard.
It seems Paris is crazy for red Geraniums as they are in alot of his shots, mostly in potted windowboxes or planters. Maybe they are easy to grow for balconies.
I do love the black iron balcony railings and find all the different styles very interesting.
Here they are in planters sitting on the pavement.
That blue door was interesting too.
This is attractive. Great balconies and carvings.
I love this shot. It has everything to admire.
Someone liked pink Geraniums. Almost like they didn't get the memo on red.
I am wondering if Paris has the most fountains per square mile in Europe. Under Napolean III, Paris was renovated from a Middle Ages style city by city planner Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann. This took place from 1853 to 1870 and continued on after Napoleon. Haussmann's plan put the wide tree-lined boulevards in place as well as many beautiful buildings that are still standing today. Read about Haussmann Here.
Jean Charles Adolphe Alphand, as Directeur des Travaux De Paris, the chief engineer of parks between 1855 and 1870 added so much beauty to Paris. Notice on the above statue the people working in gardens with shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, shrubs, etc. You can read about the parks created under his direction Here.
Mr. Swede walked down both sides of the Avenue des Champs-Elysees and was particularly interested in this building at 109.
This building was constructed between 1897 and 1899 to be a hotel for the Paris World's Fair of 1900. The architect was Georges Chedanne. It was known as the Elysees Palace. I'm not sure if that was tongue in cheek or not because the real Elysees Palace is a few blocks away at 55 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, built 1718-1722 and has been the residence of the President of France since 1874.
The building was purchased in 1919 by HSBC Private Bank and is their headquarters today. It looks like the architect commissioned French sculptors to carve the marble around the round windows as they are signed. On the North and South side of the building, the windows are oval and I could not find a signature on the marble. Notice in the above photo on the first floor the round and oval windows at the corner of the two streets.
Above you can see the signature on the left side of Mr. Hippolyte Jules Lefebvre [b.1863/d.1935]. Mr. Swede brought me photos of three of his.
Above is the work of sculptor Louis Baralis [b.1862/d.1940]. He did several on this building as well.
Above is one by sculptor Francois Leon Sicard [b.1862/d.1934].
Above is an example of the oval windows. I just love this kind of work. They sure don't design buildings like this anymore.
Above is another style of round window. I wish these were all signed. Researching the sculptors gave me a history lesson in archicture of Paris.
Above is the Arc de Triomphe. You can see people on the roof who climbed the stairs to get a good view of Paris.
Lighting is not great due to the overcast skies on this photo, but I adjusted it the best that I could.
There are always plenty of street vendors for fresh fruits and vegetables and flowers.
Want an apartment in Paris? They are plentiful.
I like looking at the roof details. Always interesting.
And here's another one.
Studying the detail on all these buildings would take a lifetime.
Here is the Claridge Fraser Suites hotel.
And the Marriott.
I'll save the rest for another post.
All the best,
Summer
Photos: Mr. Swede
