The Fallen...

In the Lords year 1875, on the 15th of April, Joseph Croce-Spinelli and Théodore Sivel went up in the balloon Zénith ready to beat the record of 7300 metres they'd set the year before. They made it, but didn't; both of the men died of asphyxiation, and the Zénith went down in the mountains near Bérgerac. Only Hervé Tissander survived the ascent up to 8000 metres...
I found the tomb of the two friends and adventurers at the Pére-Lachaise quite by chance, and was enchanted by the dramatic sculpture by Dumilatre.

A morning in the Quartier Latin



 I was up very early, to really be able to seize the day. And so I got to se the Eiffel Tower against the morning sky...

Well, actually this is taken later. I was up and out before daybreak, having coffee and a croissant as one should at the neighbourhood café.

So, after coffeee, and after a very early visit to the  Notre Dame (she'll get her own post), I decided to stroll up into the Quartier Latin. This is also where I stayed, at a ten minutes walk from the cathedral, and with the Quartier all around. The "Cinquième Arrondissement" no less! As the day warmed (somewhat) and the sun started to rise above the houses I walked and walked. All of my photos won't ever make it to here, but here are at least some churches, the beautiful roof-tops in the real parisian style, and more....is to follow, ofcourse.

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The Patheon in its Christmas finery

A Peaceful Walk

Listening to Cecilia Bartoli sets the mood perfectly for the photos I want to post today. They're from the Père-Lachaise cemetary, a place I could easily spend days, even weeks in. I don't think of myself as someone morbid, it's just that the catholic cemetaries are so full of both sadness and joy, light and dark that I just can't stop myself from visiting, and from taking pictures.
First a small collection of pretty colours.

To walk around in Père-Lachaise is almost like walking in a small town; streets and streets full of these beautiful "houses".

Ofcourse there are ordinary tombs as well, and also some decay and ruins, but all fit in so beautifully within the walls of this serene place.

Odd and beautiful!

A cat...

...and a guy who plays at one...

The prettiest door of them all!



L'Heure Bleue, and beyond

Views from my window...

Top picture; The Tour de Montparnasse, with the Jardin de Luxembourg just outside the balcony slightly to the right. Well, the next one doesn't really need any explanation...

Leaning over to the right I could just about catch the quartiers down by the river.

Nightfall, and the tower lights up! To the right, Dôme des Invalides.



The view from my narrow but pretty bed.



La Seine

Going through the pictures from my "Batobus"-trip fits just fine right now. I've got a cold, one that I just couldn't shake this time. Still, if that's the price to pay for seeing Paris from the Seine, standing "on deck" in the (mostly) sun with the camera poised...Well...

So, leaving the Eiffel Tower behind me I decided to walk along the right bank of the river. I did try to get on to a "vedette" or "batobus" by the tower, but the crowd was daunting, and I didn't feel I had time to spare waiting in line.

As I passed the very pretty and quite kitsch Pont d'Alexandre III, I found a stop for the "batobus", got a pass and hopped onboard. The pass lasts for a day, and you can hop on and off as you please. There are eight stops going around the two small islands (the St. Louis, and the "La Cité) touching both the Left, and the Right bank.

Yes, there's some ordinary traffic on the Seine as well, not only tourists!

Le Grand Palais

The "Musée des Arts Décoratifs", which is really the end of the "Louvre".

Bridges, and bridges, and bridges...

Passing between the Left Bank and l'Ile de la Cité, and there she is! My favourite amongst the cathedrals (so far);
Notre Dame de Paris!

Yeah I know! Too many pictures of the cathedral, but this is, after all, MY blog!

Leaving Notre Dame behind the boat goes a little further along the Left Bank, to the "Jardin des Plantes", and then turns back along the Right Bank with the "Ile St. Louis" to the left.

I had a weird back-light passing the small island of St. Louis, so I won't show those pictures here. Not now at least.
Here we're back at the tip of the "L'Ile de La Cité". The tip is a small green triangle of a park. This is where the last "templier", Jacques de Molnay was garroted burnt at the stake...

It was a lovely windy trip! Quite cold, but who cares?