THE TRAVELLING ARCHITECT: PARIS IN SPRING

As an architect I sometimes have the chance to travel. In travelling I see a wide range of architectural feats, some old and some new. During my recent family trip to Paris, we made it our goal to simply walk around the city and experience what we could on our own feet (and double-stroller). The map above marks our walking route each day. Below are our photographs each day from the eye of an architect in Paris.

All photos below can be credited to my favorite photographer and husband, Angelo.

ALONG THE QUAIS OF THE SEINE

We spent the first day walking leisurely along the quais from the Marais to the Invalides, walking by rows of book stands, by way of the Louvre, the Grand Palais, the Musee d’Orsay, by the Invalides, and back through the Quartier Latin.

EIFFEL TOWER TO PALAIS ROYAL

On this day, we took in a ride along the Seine in a Bateau-Mouche, then walked from the Trocadéro to the Champs-Elysées, through the Tuileries, to the Louvre and to the beautiful park at the Palais Royal.
Along the way, the Musee du Quai Branly presents a façade of extremely tall glass sheets, contrasted with a pavilion whose windows are punched into walls of green vegetation. It seems the history of the city is so richly portrayed in the structures and monuments, that new architecture and design can be created boldly.

A DAY AT THE OPERA

Realizing a night at the opera was not in the cards, why not visit it by day? The halls, the grand stair, the ballroom are there to enjoy without the crowds, allowing time to marvel at the details in the architecture and the sculptures.

MARAIS – LOUVRE – JARDINS DU LUXEMBOURG

This walk took us back through the Louvre, through the Quartier Latin, to the Jardin du Luxembourg. Again, buildings from various ages create a beautiful composition in the city.

AN EASTERN LOOP

We started this day in ‘our’ quartier of the Marais, to the Place des Vosges, East to the Opera Bastille, South over the Seine to the Jardins Botaniques, along the quais once again, by the Institut du Monde Arabe.

CITY OF LIGHTS

Many of Paris’s buildings are beautifully lit in the evening, allowing for leisurely strolls after dinner at a local bistrot. This time allowed us to reflect upon the marvels of the city, its history, its ever-changing fabric.
Plus ça change…

Without change, something sleeps inside us, and never wakens.
-Duke Leo Atrides

A bientôt,
Karin