June 19, 2007

Gare St. Lazare


The St. Lazare station is the oldest railway station in Paris. The first line, between Paris and St. Germain (suburb), opened in 1837. The station was then actually close to the bridge (Pont de l’Europe) which you can see on the Google map. (Some of the photos, including the top one, are taken from this “Europe Bridge”, where Rue de Constantinople, Rue de Londres, Rue de Vienne, Rue de St. Petersburg, Rue de Liège and Rue de Madrid meet.) Rather quickly, needing more space for new lines, the station was soon moved to its present location.

The present station building was ready for the Universal Exposition in 1889 – as also the Eiffel tower. On one of my photos, you can see a bridge which connected the station to a big hotel which was then also built. The hotel is still there.

The station has today some 27 tracks and is the second biggest in Paris, but mostly today used for local or nearby traffic (Normandy). It was the station you used when you travelled by ship to the States, via Cherbourg, or to England, e.g. via Dieppe. Today some 80 million people use the station on an annual basis.

Some of the impressionist painters used to live quite close to the station and it has frequently been painted. Monet made seven paintings in 1877.



The station has also often been referred to in literature. The Da Vinci Code has also some actions here, but (as often) there are some wrong descriptions and details.

I showed a small statue by Arman with clocks the other day. There is another one outside the station, similar, but with suitcases.
There are also some photos from the connected metro station.

You can find the original photos from the patchwork above on my other blog - "Peter - photos".
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33 comments:

  1. GMG19/6/07 12:54 am

    Peter,
    your partchworks are getting better and better. The lamps and the Gare St. Lazare are fabulous...
    And when you get out of the railway station, there is always the Brasserie Mollard; nice place for some shots...

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  2. Peter19/6/07 12:59 am

    gmg:
    You came in very quickly, I was more or less working on the post. Thanks anyhow!

    Mollard, I know; good oysters and other seefood and a beautiful place!

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  3. The Black King19/6/07 1:31 am

    Great pics!

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  4. Anonymous19/6/07 2:59 am

    c'est toi, le piéton de Paris!

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  5. Keshi19/6/07 5:12 am

    the architecture is fascinating! not like the railways here in Sydney hehe.

    Keshi.

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  6. hpy19/6/07 7:37 am

    And, as you don't live far from the station, you can just walk there, buy a ticket, take the train and come to the coast, you know where! I'll meet you at the station on the other end.

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  7. Olivier19/6/07 7:53 am

    j'aime beaucoup la comparaison entre la peinture de monet et ta photo.
    Les gares parisiennes sont tres belles, celle que je prefere c'est la gare de Lyon.

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  8. Cergie19/6/07 8:11 am

    Le montage Monet / époque actuelle est magnifique. Exactement à la même échelle. Bravo
    Je n'aime guère lorsque j'arrive gare St Lazare d'ordinaire car cela veut dire que c'est galère, grève de RER etc...
    Wagons bondés. Attente sur la quai.
    Sinon le matin et le soir de Cergy le Haut qui est ma gare il y a une rame sur deux qui y part

    Comme tu dis, la gare St Lazare ouvre vers la Normandie donc vers chez nous. En voiture je sais y aller facilement... Mais j'ai du mal à en revenir !

    Prendras tu le train là pour aller à Fécamp un jour ?

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  9. Cergie19/6/07 8:12 am

    C'est ce que suggère HPY d'ailleurs...

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  10. lyliane six 19/6/07 9:16 am

    Je pense que Peter ne veux plus quitter "son" Paris ou bien qu'il m'aime pas le train!! depuis qu'il n'a plus de voiture, il ne vient plus chez moi, pourtant comme le dit Hélène, il est près de la gare qui conduit en Normandie, elle aura peut être plus de chance que moi de le voir,toi aussi Cergie et il peut faire comme moi, prendre sa carte "senior" je lui ai donné les tuyaux.
    50 minutes de train ça va vite pourtant...

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  11. marie619/6/07 9:40 am

    What a great piece of art your patchwork is, I like it. And that clock monument is amazing!!!

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  12. Peter19/6/07 10:14 am

    hpy, cergie, lyliane:
    Yes, I will use the station as a passenger, direction Normandy - soon! But don't forget that the trains go in both directions!

    olivier:
    Yes, I think that all the Paris railway stations built during the 19th century are beautiful (not forgetting Orsay, not a station anymore, but a beautiful museum!) Like St.Lazare, some of them are now also being seriously freshened up!

    marie6:
    Yes, as well the "clocks" as the "suitcases" are amazing. Arman, who made them, is clearly one of the leading, surprising, 2Oth century artists!

    lasiate:
    Yes, I walk a lot; yesterday back and forth to St.Lazare + about one hour in and around the station! It's so nice to be retired and have the time!

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  13. Zhang Chunhong19/6/07 10:52 am

    Je ne suis jamais allée à cette gare, je crois. De toutes façons, si je veux visiter les endroits dont tu parles, j'aurai un guide impécable.

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  14. Peter19/6/07 10:59 am

    zhang:
    Si tu viens de ta Chine natale, La Gare du Nord (via Roissy); si tu viens de Limoges, La Gare d'Austerlitz - peut-être la moins spectaculaire, mais en travaux d'embellissement! Toujours la bienvenue!

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  15. hogrelius19/6/07 11:05 am

    Trevligt med järnvägsstationer.Min fd arbetar inom järnvägen här hemma så det blev naturligt för oss att ta tåget med hela familjen till Frankrike.Vi bytte på den "norra" stationen om jag inte minns fel ,vi skulle ut till atlantkusten.Nästa gång tog vi flyget men utan barn denna gång och då passade vi på att i Paris åka runt till alla stationer och titta.Det är något speciellt med järnvägsstationer var man än kommer i världen.

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  16. EMNM19/6/07 12:20 pm

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. alice19/6/07 12:20 pm

    Superbe collage, as usual, mais je n'aime pas trop les gares...Il ne faudrait que des arrivées, jamais de départs!

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  18. EMNM19/6/07 12:21 pm

    I love this kind of iron railway station, in madrid we have two, one of them (Atocha) works, the other is the Train Museum

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  19. lyliane six 19/6/07 12:50 pm

    Je me doute bien que tu as bien d'autres directions à prendre!!! mais une fois de temps en temps pour aller à Fécamp, ce ne sera pas "la mer à boire", n'est ce pas Hélène que tu ne forceras pas à le faire?

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  20. SusuPetal19/6/07 12:53 pm

    A beautiful collage once again.
    You mentioned Orsay, Peter, that is a really wonderful building, beautiful! And a nice museum, too. The only time I've visited Paris, I went to see Orsay, not the Louvre.

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  21. Peter19/6/07 12:59 pm

    hogrelius:
    Jo, fràn Sverige anländer man till Gare du Nord. Jag har använt tàget en gàng fràn Stockholm (via Göteborg) till Paris, när vi flyttade till Franskrike 1974. Det var ingen idé att ha bràttom i avvaktan pà möblernas ankomst. Jag tycker mycket om tàgresor, skönt och avslappnande. Drömresan: Orientexpressen!

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  22. TorAa19/6/07 2:18 pm

    Very interesting history and impressive pictures.
    I remember, we were in Paris with the kids, during the opening of "EuroDisney" - And on the opening day - RER - well they striked. Instead we took the train to Versaille. From where - of course.
    First time I arrived in Paris - 1964 - it was of course by train - Studenttog - from Copenhaguen with lot's of fellow students from all over Scandinavia. What a time.

    Thanks for sharing

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  23. Jack McCoy19/6/07 3:41 pm

    Bonjour,

    Je trouve vos photos très jolies, l'année prochaine je vais m'acheter un appareil pour faire d'aussi belles photos de Paris, de Montreuil (93) la ville où j'habite et New York

    Monique

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  24. Cuckoo19/6/07 3:54 pm

    Very fascinating pictures and equally nice description.

    I specially looked for that suitcase picture. :)

    Peter, your posts are becoming better & better day by day. It shows how much efforts you've taken to click these pictures.

    Keep it up.

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  25. Ash19/6/07 4:59 pm

    Wonderful photos, as always. I love the close up of that red ceiling and detail. Fantastic.

    Thanks for the comments on my Fathers Day post. Check out my March 2007 archives if you want to see the grown-up baby :-)

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  26. Delphinium19/6/07 6:19 pm

    Parfois j'aime les gares parce qu'elles sont signe de départ en vacances ou alors de retrouvailles entre les gens.
    D'autres fois, je ne les aime pas, parce qu'elles m'éloignent de mes racines, me font prendre conscience que la vie est un voyage pas toujours très tranquille.

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  27. Anonymous19/6/07 7:34 pm

    You do a great job here of giving us the many faces of the station. Excellent!

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  28. isa19/6/07 8:04 pm

    Nice collage!
    I've never been inside the station, although I often admired the Belle Epoche details on the outside.
    If St. Lazare is second in size, which station is the largest, then - Gare de Lyon?

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  29. Ming the Merciless19/6/07 8:19 pm

    The first photo of the train depot is amazing. There is one similar to your photo near my apartment. I walk by it frequently but never take a photo of it.

    I think I will this time and post it here. Thanks for the idea.

    Your photos are amazing, as usual.

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  30. Peter19/6/07 9:05 pm

    Thanks all for your comments.

    Isabella:
    I had to check some statistics (2003). Highest number of passengers seems to be Gare du Nord, with 180 million. I saw now a figure of 100 million for St. Lazare rather then the 80 I indicated in my text. Then follow: Gare de Lyon 83, Montparnasse 50, Gare de L'Est 34 and Austerlitz 25.

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  31. Anonymous20/6/07 10:35 am

    bravo peter pour ce collage très réussi
    tu as réussi un tour de force : j'ai trouvé belle cette gare que j'ai pourtant détestée tout le temps que j'ai été obligée de passer par là.

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  32. Mona22/6/07 3:17 am

    the railway stations are so much like we have in India!

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