June 03, 2007

Another fountain

I have several times talked about the Wallace fountains (May 10 and May 12), offering free fresh water to whoever is thirsty. The Wallace fountains are some 135 years old. Here is another much older fountain, situated rue St.Honoré (the oldest street going through the whole central part of Paris). It’s called ”la Fontaine de la Croix du Trahoir” (linked to the name of this part of the street in ancient times). It was originally put there by François I in 1529, but was transformed during the reign of Louis XVI in 1775. You can still drink the water (I did).

25 comments:

lyliane six said...

Elle est magnifique cette fontaine. Mais j'ai cherché ce que voulait dire Trahoir, je n'ai pas trouvé, je pense que c'est un mot de vieux "françois".May be?
L'entrée du métro ne me déplait pas, mais de là à dire que j'aime ..ça fait clinquant, mais j'irai voir en réalité.

EMNM said...

hmmm, I will not drink from this fountain, better, a water bottle.
:P

Chuckeroon said...

Good morning, Peter! Hope Sunday started well.

Here's a link on Morris dancing...it seems I might be wrong about all that "pagan links" stuff! You prompted me to check up on my old "received information".

http://www.lutterworth.com/jamesclarke/jc/titles/morrish.htm

Peter said...

lyliane:
Oui, ça doit être ça; j'ai aussi cherché.

mtartitensis:
It's the same water that we get in our homes. No risk, unless you are particularly sesitive to "foreign" waters.

Anonymous said...

Public drinking fountains are, in my view, one of the cornerstones of civilisation

Dina said...

that is great, i wouldn't mind being thirsty for water then whilst strolling down the streets of paris!

Martel said...

A very beautiful fountain. It is out of copper?

Today before and after the principal place of Martel.
My blog photographs on the town of Martel

Peter said...

richard:
Agree!

dina:
Hope to see you and your family around!

martel:
It's bronze, I believe.

Anonymous said...

I find this an interesting post. I assume it is spring fed and does not come from the city water system like so much bottled water does?

Abraham Lincoln
Brookville Daily Photo
My Photography

Peter said...

abraham:
I'm not sure about this and have not been able to find out, but I'm afraid it's not spring water. There are very few of them in Paris, but there are some!

Kunterbunt said...

Such a wonderful old fountain. I like those majestic lions.

Martel said...

Thank you for your passage, to answer your question has, not it did not become a hotel, but not far, it became a coffee

My blog photographs on the town of Martel

Shionge said...

Amazing that it is still working after all these years Peter :D

Anonymous said...

I love walking rue St.Honoré, and I remember seeing this fountain on my last trip. Good to know the history.

Mona said...

Wow! We have a similar water spring in Kashmir here called Chasme Shahi!
I love spring water. It is so sweet to drink!!

Ps> did you read the post about materials & craftsmanship at Charles' blog? It is very thought provoking..

sonia a. mascaro said...

Very beautiful fountain!

Muito bonita fonte!

EMNM said...

Ok, but if i´ll drink this water and half an hour later i change to green color i´ll kill you :P

alice said...

La seule chose que j'ai trouvée est le mot "hoir" (du latin heres), qui signifie "héritier direct"...Belle fontaine au demeurant!

Ash said...

Beautiful!

Peter said...

april:
So do I!

martel:
Thanks for the answer to my question on your blog!

shionge:
Paris city takes good care of these old fountains!

ruth:
Nice that you visit our different street with open eyes!

mona:
I will now, immediately, have a look on Charles' blog.

sonia:
Glad that you like it! So do I.

matritensis:
I believe you (and I) can take the risk!

Peter said...

alice:
Pas facile à trouver une explication, mais tes rechereches (merci) m'ont amené à aussi chercher. La croix qui existait (devant laquelle on a aussi executé) et la rue ont souvent changé du nom: Tiroir, Traihoir, Traihouer, Trayoir, Triouer, Trioir... Une explication donée est qu l'on y tirait des étoffes, une autre qu'on plutôt triait des animaux de boucherie. Va savoir.

ash:
Yes!

lyliane six said...

Merci pour les explications d'Alice et les tiennes, c'est vrai que les noms ont évolués et changés avec les siècles, comme les noms de famille, n'as tu jamais cherché l'origine du tien?

Regine said...

my littlebrothers name is Peter too:)

nah - i didnt expect any comments at all at the Marie Antoinette-post. so thank you, Peter for making my day!

Peter said...

lyliane:
Oui, c'est intéressant de chercher l'origine de noms. Olson, c'est simple; fils de...

regine:
We are then at least two who are the interested in Marie Antoinette and like the film!

Stéphanie said...

Te rends pas malade non plus à boire à toutes les fontaines de Paris...