Tour Saint-Jacques, Paris, France

The first time I visited Paris, more than 20 years ago, I saw it. I kept that image in mind and I wondered what the history was behind this medieval tower in the center of Paris.

Later a found out that it was a bell tower of a medieval church : "Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie".
It was built in the Sixteenth century and destroyed during the French Revolution. The tower is the only remaining part of the building, just because it had a functional use for experiments and, at that time, it was one of the tallest buildings in the city.

I love the view of it in the middle of the city, the white stone and the little park which Parisian kids play in.

Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, Paris

This is one of the most popular streets in "Le Marais", one of the nicer neighborhoods in Paris.

"Le Marais" means the Swamp, just because it used to be one (in the Roman era). There are some buildings from the Middle Ages and I drew one of these.

You can see that the old buildings are distorted because of the swampy terrain. 

Le Corbusier  had a plan to destroy this place and replace it with "hygienic" buildings : the infamous "Plan Voisin".  This plan would have been a complete disaster for the city, and buildings like this would be thing of the past.

Just check the plan here

Grande Galerie de l'évolution, Paris

I went to the "jardin des plantes" to visit one of their museums last weekend.: "la grande galerie de l'évolution".

It was built in 1889 and after the WWII started declining because of lack of maintenance. It was almost closed for security reasons in the 60's, but a large public campaign saved it from the ruin.

It was reopened and restored in 1994 by Paul Chemetov and Borja Huidobro (a Chilean architect!).

The exhibition is quite good, but the building itself is worth the visit: an immense canopy of glass, steel structure and old wooden book shelves.

Pantin, Nearby Paris

I drew this view in Pantin, a few meters from the "peripherique", the highway that defines the limit of Paris.
The main building used to be the customs warehouse. It was built in the '30s.
It has been abandoned for decades, and now is a great playground for street artist.
The gentrification of this area today is obvious.
See some photos at this link

LA ROTONDE : a Ledoux building

This is one of the few buildings left that was designed by Nicolas Ledoux ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Nicolas_Ledoux ).

He was a prolific architect in the 18th century, and he worked mainly for the king. Unsurprisingly, after the French revolution there was not much work for him.

Many of his buildings, which represented the king's power, were destroyed.
La Rotonde did make it to our days, which quite incredible considering it was one of the 60 toll houses that the king ordered to be constructed.

Now it is a very trendy cafe.

Pont des arts, Paris

Pont des Arts

This is the "Pont des Arts" across the Seine river. It is a metallic pedestrian bridge. It is my favorite bridge in Paris.

In summer people have picnics here, and it turns into a public square with a great view over the "Ile de la cité",  the heart of Paris.

The Louxor Cinema, 10ème arrondissement Paris

This is a 20's classic cinema. The style is "Neo-Egyptian". The "neo-something" style was a very fashionable thing to do in architecture at the beginning of the XX century. Probably the most famous example of this trend is in Los Angeles, USA, with the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

The Louxor was about to be demolished, but French people are very attached to their cultural heritage, and they are not willing to give up these kinds of treasures. After 12 years of "combat" they got their cinema fully restored, with a great cafe and terrace, which has a nice view over Sacre Coeur.

Check out this website for more information : http://www.lesamisdulouxor.fr/historique/

Pont Alexander III, Paris France