January 31, 2008

Ile Saint Louis (Post # 300)

Ile Saint Louis which is just east of Ile de la Cité is a combination of what previously were two smaller islands and it started to be really inhabited only in the 17th century. I have again made a comparison of what the island looked like around 1730 and today. Actually, still today most of the buildings are from the 17th century including a beautiful baroque church. The narrow central street is full of restaurants and shops. As there is quite a lot to see and visit, I will make three different posts on this island, today rather making the tour of the exterior streets, river banks and small parks at the extreme ends. To give you a more clear idea of the surrounding geography I made this additional plan. Close neighbours are, in addition to Notre Dame, one of the most famous Paris restaurants (Tour d’Argent), the Arab World Institute (clearly worth a visit), la Bastille.

Coming from Ile de la Cité and Notre Dame, you will use a pedestrian bridge, mostly occupied by some street musicians.

On the island there are a lot of remarkable buildings including, on the eastern corner, the Hôtel Lambert with a lot of famous successive owners (today a Rothschild). During the 19th century it belonged to a Polish prince and was some kind of centre for Polish emigrants. Chopin was a frequent guest and most of his “polonaises” were created for the annual “grands bals” held here. The “hôtel” was designed by Louis Le Veau (or Le Vau) who during some 25 years was Louis XIV’s chief architect and contributed at Versailles, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Vincennes, Louvre, Institut de France (French Academy)…Another building designed by Le Veau is the Hôtel de Lauzun (or Lausun, front gate closed), now belonging to and restored by the City of Paris. You can here see the gate together with some others. The island has had a lot of illustrious occupants, in the beginning mostly French nobility, but later also Marie Curie, Baudelaire, Daumier, Blum, Chagall, Pompidou… and still has (no names here).

One of them was Camille Claudel, who lived and worked here during 14 years after she had left Rodin and until 1913 when she was forced to leave for a mental institution where she spent her last 30 years. The gate was closed, but a nice lady let me in to take a photo also from the court yard. The apartment cannot be visited; today occupied by a well known personality (no name).

Some of these pictures can also be found on my photo blog.

This is my 300th post (on this blog) in 315 days - my first post was made March 22nd last year.

35 comments:

Annie said...

Happy 300, Peter. You have given so many of us 300 reasons (actually many many more than 300) to travel and learn, even if some of us have only done it in our armchairs. Thank you very much for that.

GMG said...

Congratulations Peter!
Those 300 hundred posts have made more for Paris than most of the tourist guides available!
Your last posts between Ile de la Cité and Ile St. Louis are excellent: Palais de Justice, Sainte Chapelle, Conciergerie, and Ile St. Louis absolutely someone loving them so much to create such beauty. Thanks!
I'll be absent for a while. Meanwhile, leave you with a somehow surprising post at Blogtrotter
Wish you a great fortnight and see you by mid-February!

GMG said...

absolutely deserved someone (sorry)

Noushy Syah said...

yeyyy!!! I love your posting with comparison now and then...to be honest those days and now,they look pretty much the same aside from some changes.

Imagine those buildings from 17th century and the beautiful church!Must be amazing to sit at the river bank,sipping hot coffee and French toast!:p<---Is it really invented by French?

Congratz for the 300 posts..more to come rite?

isa said...

There are posts, and there are posts ;-) Your 300 are worth at least double that! Congratulations!

You are so discrete, Peter...can't you even give us a tiny clue as to who lives there now?

And to do a post on Ile Saint Louis and neglect to mention Bertillon? Scandalous!

Jessica said...

Wow! 300 posts! Congrats. I agree with the others: you should publish a guide book for the historically inclined. And you've already done the work! This 300th post is another great. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.

claude said...

Avec toutes ces photos et tes explications, Paris n'aura plus de "Mystères" pour personne. C'est génial ce que tu fais !

alice said...

300 posts? Bravo! D'autant plus que les tiens comptent double tant ils sont documentés et illustrés.
Quel beau quartier...Et cette lumière changeante sur la Seine, le pont Saint Louis, la pierre blanche...Une splendeur.

Olivier said...

félicitation pour ce 300th post et tu fais une pause au bon endroit pour le fêter : a coté de La Maison Berthillon. C'est un plaisir de venir se balader tous les jours avec toi dans Paris. Alors champagne avec la glace et bonne continuité

lyliane six said...

Bravo pour tes 300 posts, mais avec leur longueur et toutes tes explications, celà en vaut largement le double.
Je suis passée devant le n° 12, maison où habitait Marie Curie.
J'ai eu de la chance d'aller manger à la tour d'argent en 1976, avec un commandant de bord italien et son équipage, qui m'avait fait la cour(le commandant tout seul) à bord de son avion quand je suis allée à Rome!!
D'après tes photos l'ancienne et la récente, je vois qu'ils ont jété de nouveaux ponts sur la Seine.
Je suis entrain de lire Louis XIV, le roi soleil, de Max Gallo où l'on parle de le Vau bien sûr, tes commentaires complètent ma lecture.

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Félicitations et merci beaucoup.

Anonymous said...

Hi Peter - just dropping in for a quick visit. I'm afraid I haven't been spending as much time as I should here, but this series of posts is excellent material (iyou know what I mean) Congratulations on the 300th post - we're running pretty parallel, but you are much more punctual than me - I have 305 posts in 329 days from 7th MArch 2007!

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Merci pour le lien sur delcampe.
T s m !

Anonymous said...

Those boys setting on the wall. I just saw it and immediately thought I wonder what happens to them if they fall in?

This is another nice presentation. I don't know how you do all of this every day. It is always so wonderful to see and read and imagine what things must be like.

And, by the way, thanks for your visits to my blog, Peter.

hpy said...

Vu! 300 posts mais combien de photos?

Peter said...

annie:
Thanks! It's a pleasure to receive positive comments!

gmg:
I looked at your surprising post! Very nice!

noushy:
It's clear that this small island has not changed much! A few more bridges.

Peter said...

isabella:
I promised not to say anything!
... and for the sorbet part, there are still two episodes to follow about Ile Saint Louis.

jessica:
There are at least 300 more posts to do before I can publsih a book. Too much missing.

claude:
Merci! Tu es trop gentille!

Peter said...

alice:
Oui, c'est une ile à visiter!

olivier:
Décidemment, tout le monde pense aux sorbets de Berthillon! Ca ca venir. Patience! ... mais je vais boire du champagne ce soir avec des amis! (Pas pour less 300.)


lyliane:
Tu racontes des belles! ... et tu connaissais déjà M.!!

Peter said...

deslilas:
C'est moi qui dit merci - pour la visite!

oldmanlincoln:
I hope they can swim! The water is cleaner than it used to be.
Well, you ask me how I have the time. ... and you, with all that you produce?

hpy:
En effet, quelques milliers.

Anonymous said...

C'est bien ici,on apprend qu'un commandant de bord a fait la cour à Lyliane, que quand elle est passé à Rome avec lui, elle l'a passé par-dessus bord, mais qu'elle est quand même allée manger des glaces avec lui chez Berthillon, et là elle a rencontré Camille Claudel qui discutait avec Amédée. Dans le fond de la salle, Mister Peter parlait de Notre-Dame avec Olivier qui chantait la Marseillaise et buvait du champagne pour fêter le 300ème post de notre roi Peter Ier.

Peter said...

delphinium:

Au moins UNE personne qui a tout compris de mon texte et les commentaires !

Shammickite said...

I haven't seen all 300 of your blog posts but perhaps one day I shall browse back and read the ones I have missed. It's very enjoyable seeing the glories of Paris through your camera lens, and one day I shall come back to Paris and you (or your blogposts) will be my guide!!!
Thank you Peter, I enjoy your knowledgeable posts.

Azer Mantessa said...

ooo man, there is not much difference seen between now and then pics ... again.

this is really something you know ... like every time i go back to Penang which is up north to visit my relatives ... i always have problems in recognizing places and my wife and kids are totally annoyed everytime I ask "Ok ... where are we now?'.

Ile Saint Louis preserved!

Vagabondage said...

Bonjour Peter,

300 Posts, considérant la part d'investigation, je suis admirative. De plus, je te garde toujours pour la fin lorsque j'entreprends mon voyage blog-à-blog, m'intéresse davantage que le journal. Parce que je déchiffre tout, je vais faire des progrès considérables, un jour, je t'écrirai mon com en anglais, vrai de vrai. Je confirme, mon ancienne société organisait nombre de séminaires au Monde Arabe, bel endroit et gastronomie appropriée. Et puis toujours mon inclinaison pour Camille. Je connais parfaitement le cours de sa vie dans ce petit appartement.
Merci encore à toi Peter et bonne soirée.

SusuPetal said...

300! Congratulations, Peter! Keep up the good work, we're enjoying every word and photo!

Cuckoo said...

See, I came right on time to celebrate with you your 300th post !!

Hearty Congratulations !!

Need I mention how happy I am to see this ?

Even when I wasn't coming here, I was reading all your posts. And you are a walking-talking detailed guide for anyone who wishes to visit Paris.
Your comparisons are always awesome. I think you are just like me in comparing things. :-)

Cheers !
Cuckoo

Peter said...

ex-shammickite:
Happy to read your comments. I hope to be you personal guide!

azer:
Yes some parts of Paris are rather as they were a few centuries ago, but of course a lot dates from the Haussmann period, meaning rather 19th century.

mathilde:
J(espère que tu m'écris bientôt!

Peter said...

susupetal:
Happy to see you here so regularly!

cuckoo:
I wondered a little where you were. Missed your comments! Happy to see you here again!

Kunterbunt said...

Hi, Peter, here I'm back ;-) thanks for asking.
When I think of Ile St. Louis I think of Berthillon ;-)), the icecream-maker. You have given me more information about that old part of Paris. Next time I will have a closer look at all those details (doors especially). You have a great collection there.
And as always, I like the comparison of old and new. It seems it hasn't changed much.

Cergie said...

300 posts en 315 jours ! Il est vrai qu'au début tu ne chômais pas le WE et en plus tu postais plusieurs fois par jour (ce qui t'arrive maintenant aussi lors de tes nombreux awards ou lorsque tu fais des messages confidentiels pour trois comme le socle de la statue de la république)
Félicitation à toi et bonne continuation
L'amatrice d'ambiances est ravie par ce message avec des photos si vivantes qu'il est dommage que tu gâches en les accumulant
Il est vrai qu'il te faudrait faire quatre messages par jour avec tout ce qe tu as à dire
Les quais de l'ile de la cité st un lieu de RV merveilleux pour les amours illcites. Les escaliers tout du moins
Cette ile est vraiment pittoresque. Pas étonnant que tout le monde veuille y habiter....

PS : comment va ton bananier ?

Peter said...

april:
Yes, was missing you! Nice to dee you again!

cergie:
Alors, tu te connais se connais en RV illicites?

krystyna said...

Congratulations Peter and Thank You! Great Job!!!!

Anonymous said...

I agree with Isabella that your 300 are worth at least double, maybe quadruple! You are very good to us.

I have great memories staying on the Ile, and eating an omelette at the Brasserie Ile Ste Louis with those great waiters who never change over the years.

Wow, so many historical things there.

Kate said...

Your next 300 will give us as much pleasure as the first, I'm sure! When I miss a day or two here and there, I usually go back to visit your posts, and even tho I don't always comment, I enjoy them and want you to know I always visit!!

Peter said...

krystyna:
Sincere thanks!

ruth:
Yes, a rather untouched island, at least the last 400 years!

kate:
I appreciate!!