June 13, 2007

Some rests...


Walking close to Parc Monceau yesterday, I incidentally found what you can see above, more or less hidden in the front yard of a building. I wondered what it could be and asked a “concierge”, who did not know. I managed to find out, again thanks to Google. What we can see are some remains from the former Tuileries palace.

Maybe a short recapitulation about the Tuileries palace:

The Tuileries gardens that we visit today were the gardens of a royal palace that was burnt during the so called “Commune”, a popular, anti-royalist (communist, anarchist, socialist?) government which lasted a few weeks) in 1871. The ruins remained there for another 11 years before it was decided to demolish what was left. Bits of stones and marbles were then sold as souvenirs and you can find some of them also elsewhere in Paris, e.g. in the Trocadero gardens.

The building of this palace was started by Catherine de Medicis, widow of Henry II, around 1560. It was enlargened in different steps and finally reached its final form only a few years before it was burnt. It then made a complete fourth side of the present Louvre.


The palace which was used by Louis XIV before Versailles was completed was also the center for a lot of events during and after the French revolution (Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were forced there from Versailles) and Napoleon and his successors used it as residence. (Where you can see some trees on this picture, is now more or less where you can find the "pyramide").

The major part of the furniture, paintings etc. was saved from the fire, as they had been brought in safety in 1870, due to war. There is now a discussion ongoing to rebuild the palace “as it was” and bring all furniture and paintings back and also to allow more space for the Louvre museum.

20 comments:

isa said...

Mon Dieu! Enlarge the Louvre?! As it is, it took me one week to just scratch the surface ;-)

lyliane six said...

Que de destructions ont été faites pendant ces révolutions! Dans le coin gauche de l'ancienne photo il me semble reconnaitre l'actuel pavillon de l'entée du jardin des tuileries: l'orangerie. Sais tu que la chanson le temps des cerises (Quand nous chanterons le temps des cerises,le gai rossignol, le merle moqueur, serons tous en fête etc..)était le chant révolutionnaire de la commune?
Bonne nuit.

GMG said...

What an idea to rebuilt the palace... I spent so many nights with a view to the Tuilleries garden that I would find it very sad to have the view blocked again... Furthermore, I think it's wise to avoid this kind of revival; destruction is also part of history!
Left an answer to your query in Blogtrotter.

Shionge said...

Gee..Wow! WOuld you be kind to be my tour guide when I visit Paris again :D

Olivier said...

La commune, un des moments les plus interressants de l'histoire de Paris.
A Evry on a un hospital qui s'apelle "hospital louise michel", l'autre jour j'y etais, et il y a une tres belle sculpture en hommage à la communarde, des jeunes (20/21 ans) arrivent et regardent la statue, et ils disent "c'est qui cette louise michel ? elle a fait quoi à Evry ?". bon, comme on dit, c'est facile de se moquer, mais faut avouer qu'en histoire (à l'ecole) on passe tres vite sur cette periode, pourquoi ?

hpy said...

You explain Paris very well and I'm sure that many other Parisians could learn a lot by reading your blog.
If they want to know you, they should read mine instead.
And now back to work - I had some problems popping up this morning and won't be able to blog more until I've solved them.

Cergie said...

Tu sais Pete, j'ai pas l'anglais infus, je ne suis pas polyglotte comme les sscandinaves. Les Français reçoivent pas le don des langues comme vous dans leur biberon alors des fois je passe à coté d'infos essentielles !!! (Ca c'est pour le vélo en dessous, AHAHA !)

Ce qui m'étonne toujours ce sont les "strates" de l'histoire, comment les événements se succèdent et marquent les lieux.
Que sommes nous dans tout ça ?
Nous durons moins que la pierre qui elle même ne dure guère, comme ton post d'aujourd'hui le montre si bien...

(Voir la cité de Troie ou les pyramides)

Cela rejoint ce que je te disais à propos des cimetières

Allez, je suis nostalgique aujourd'hui. Paris éternelle a des rides. Et en même temps elle doit évoluer.

Keshi said...

Paris is my next destination!

Keshi.

Peter said...

isabella:
Well, only a very small part of their collections can be seen in the today too limited space! Amazing!

lyliane:
"Le temps de cerises". Il y a une chanson plus "française"?

gmg:
The proposal is obviously quite serious. It should be financed by private money, but of course supported by the state and Paris city government. One argument is that the perspective from Louvre is not perfect and this can be corrected by the new (old) building. You can read the full argumentation under the Wikipedia links in my post.

shiong:
It would be my pleasure to be your guide (actually I would be upset if you visited Paris without contacting me)!

olivier:
Louise Michel! Quelle "carrière", quelle personalité, quel courage!

hpy:
Thanks for your today's story on your blog! It was so nice to meet you again!

cergie:
Quoi ajouter? Tu as tous dit et si bien!

keshi:
Welcome! Just tell the date and I hope we can meet!

Anonymous said...

A very nice shot of what I thought was a mantel of a fireplace. I liked reading your story. Nice work.

Do you think the Palace would be rebuilt? Seems like it would cost the treasury of the country as everything is super-expensive these days.

Abraham Lincoln
Just a Lily today, plus a shaft of sunshine on my oak tree. A blessing for a bountiful crop — I hope.
Brookville Daily Photo

isa said...

Peter, I've made a link on my post today to a previous one on pelicans (just click on the highlighted word in the limerick ;-)

Nathalie H.D. said...

I can't believe they are seriously thinking of rebuilding old stuff from scratch, Haven't we got enough old buildings in Paris? If they really want to display the furniture, let's build something new that will present it in a creative way... but I love the gardens as they are and I wouldn't want to block the view...

Peter your post of yesterday regarding cycling paths shows the difficulty of it all: abrupt endings that make them quite dangerous despite the wonderfully chunk here and there.

And regarding my napoleon today, being a city blogger certainly develops your awaraness of your surroundings, which is one of the most positive things that can happen to you!
Cheers!

Peter said...

abraham:
As I said above somewhere, I don't know if this project will be realized, but let's say that it's quite "serious". If so, it would not be with tax money.

isabella:
Thanks, I will be back and have another look!

nathalie:
As said above, I don't know what will really become of this project. I agree with you that you should leave space also to contemporary creation, but then I mean real CREATION!

This is exactly what I meant with my "biking post". The initiative is very good, but to really cycle around in the city under fairly safe conditions will not be that easy!

Yes, blogging helps to open your eyes!

alice said...

One of my dreams would be to spend a whole week to stroll in Le Louvre...J'adore ce musée!

Ash said...

As always, wonderful images and write-up!

Peter said...

alice:
It sounds like a dream that is possible to fulfil!

ash:
Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Très intéressant ce point sur les Tuileries : mais alors qui est le monsieur à lunettes dont on voit le buste sur la première photo ?
PS ; peter, le lien que tu as mis pour mon site, et dont je te remercie d'ailleurs, est erroné.
Voici le bon :
http://www.lavieinvisible.fr/photoblog/index.php
a bientôt

Kunterbunt said...

Really? That's unbelievable. I'm always very excited and delighted when I find parts of wonderful old buildings somewhere. You have made a great discovery.

Peter said...

catherine:
Va savoir. Je n'ai pas réussi à trouver. Quelqu'un une idée?

april:
I have noted that I open my eyes more since I started blogging.

yoko said...

Thank you for this article.
I'm reading about Marie Antoinette story now and it is helpful reading your Tuileries Place....

Do you know where was "La Force Prison" Princesse de Lamballe murdered?

I hope you can find...