8th district
ELYSIUM
Champs-Elysees
Magdalene
Faubourg du Roule
Europe
The Champs-Élysées
The Flame of the Nation
under the Arc de Triomphe
L’éternité, c’est celle de notre société, c’est pourquoi la Flamme est devenue la Flamme de la nation. Le tissu originel des anciens combattants est réduit comme une peau de chagrin. Le dernier poilu étant mort. Les coupes sombres de la Seconde Guerre mondiale sont encore douloureuses, mais les vainqueurs d’avril 1945 rejoindront inexorablement les anciens. Blessures certes ravivées par les conflits des théâtres d’opérations extérieures, d’Algérie, du Tchad, d’Afghanistan, du Mali.
Depuis près de 90 ans la flamme du souvenir brûle sous l'Arc de Triomphe rendant hommage, sur la tombe du soldat inconnu, à tous ceux qui sont tombés pour que vive la France. Tous les soirs, même pendant les heures noires de l'Occupation, la flamme a été ravivée.
En période de Corona, malgré le confinement, la flamme a toujours été ravivée en petit comité.
L’éternité, c’est celle de notre société, c’est pourquoi la Flamme est devenue la Flamme de la nation. Le tissu originel des anciens combattants est réduit comme une peau de chagrin. Le dernier poilu étant mort. Les coupes sombres de la Seconde Guerre mondiale sont encore douloureuses, mais les vainqueurs d’avril 1945 rejoindront inexorablement les anciens. Blessures certes ravivées par les conflits des théâtres d’opérations extérieures, d’Algérie, du Tchad, d’Afghanistan, du Mali.
On January 28, 1921, the coffin of the unknown soldier carried by eight non-commissioned officers decorated with the military medal was placed in his final grave. The “sacred slab is sealed” over the unknown. Silence invades the deserted place… The tomb is forgotten. The inscription is almost illegible. During two years. Until the journalist Gabriel Boissy finds the solution. He writes: “I would like us to see a living flame burning on this tomb, a fire which is the palpitation, the presence of his soul, which burns like a perpetual memory of each one of us, of the entire country. On November 11, 1923, André Maginot lit the Sacred Flame. The association "La Flamme sous l'Arc de Triomphe" was declared on October 16, 1930. The members were as anonymous as they were always volunteers.
The Champs-Elysées go green
Citroen Champs-Elysees Showroom
the Champs-Elysées which go green to present agricultural production, livestock farming and the French forest. On the cobblestones, the garden. Trees, flowers, vegetables and cows, all along the Avenue des Champs-Elysées. Amazed Parisians and bewildered tourists strolled for two days in a plant setting placed on the asphalt.
On December 31, 2017, after exactly ten years of loyal service and incredible success
(10 million visitors), the C42, the flagship of the chevron brand, lowered the curtain. In question officially, a new commercial policy dedicated to favoring the multiplication of mini-exhibition spaces to the detriment of “vast” showrooms. The memory of the magic of the place remains, which enchanted young and old alike.
Christmas on the Champs-Élysées
On the Champs-Élysées
The Petit-Palais on the Champs-Élysées
Le Petit Palais vu des toits du Grand Palais.
The stamp market on the Champs-Élysées
The Petit Palais is a historic monument in Paris, now used as a museum of fine arts, which was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900 by the architect Charles Girault.
The Petit Palais is organized around a semi-circular garden.
Le marché aux timbres
Le marché aux timbres
Le marché aux timbres
Le marché aux timbres
The Paris stamp market is a real Ali Baba's cave for all stamp lovers, whatever their budget. It is located at the corner of avenues Marigny and Gabriel, near the Champs Elysées metro station. It is open Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays all day from 9am to 7pm. After the first French stamp was issued in 1849, philately developed rapidly. In 1860, in Paris, young schoolchildren who collected stamps began to meet in the gardens of the Palais-Royal to exchange them. The stamp market was born. But as these large gatherings attracted undesirable elements, the stock exchange was banned in 1864. In 1887, a wealthy postage stamp collector bequeathed the Carré Marigny land to the City of Paris on condition that it authorize the installation of a outdoor stamp market.
The Grand-Palais on the Champs-Élysées
The Grand Palais is located on the edge of the Champs-Élysées, opposite the Petit Palais. Its 77,000 m² regularly host prestigious fairs and exhibitions.
The "Grand Palais des Beaux-Arts" was built in Paris from 1897, for the Universal Exhibition scheduled from April 15 to November 12, 1900, instead of the vast but uncomfortable Palais de l'Industrie of 1855. "Monument consecrated by the Republic to the glory of French art", as one of its pediments indicates, its original vocation was to host major official artistic events in the capital.
Le grand et petit Palais vus du dôme des Invalides
Le grand et petit Palais vus du dôme des Invalides
La Seine et le Grand Palais
Le grand et petit Palais vus du dôme des Invalides
The rooster of the Élysée Palace
The association of the rooster and France was born of a play on words: the Latin word gallus means both "Gallic" and "rooster". This is why its silhouette appears on Gallic coins since Antiquity.
After an eclipse in the Middle Ages, the symbol of the French rooster was reborn in Germany in the 14th century. From the Renaissance, the animal interfered in representations of the King of France.
Its popularity grew from the French Revolution, to the point that it appeared on the seal of the Directory, and that a commission of State Councilors proposed to Napoleon I to adopt it as a national symbol. The Emperor refuses in these terms: “The rooster has no strength, it cannot be the image of an empire such as France. »
The rooster regains its political prestige on July 30, 1830, when an ordinance stipulates that it must appear on the coat buttons of the national guard and overcome its flags. The Second Republic features it on its seal, engraved on the rudder held by Seated Liberty.
Place de la Concorde
The Champs-Élysées
from the Obelisk of the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe
The sky is adorned with the colors of the French flag
On February 15, 1794, the Convention decides by decree that "the pavilion and the flag of the nation will be formed of the three national colors arranged in three equal bands so that the blue is attached to the guard of the flag, the white in the middle and the red fluttering in the wind".
The order of the colors symbolizes the victory of the people over the monarchy. The vertical lines make it possible to distinguish it from the Dutch pavilion. It was the navy that imposed this verticality.
Montaigne avenue
Church of the Madeleine
Parc Monceau
The small Parisian chronicles
In the center of Parc Monceau, I waited for a human figure to give scale to this remarkable tree.
Slowly, a young woman passed, followed, I learned it a few seconds later, by her mother who accosted me kindly, asking me why I had photographed her daughter.
I argued the beautiful look and the majestic tree.
While keeping an eye on her daughter who was walking away, she confided to me that this one was taking her first walk after being discharged from the hospital following a desperate attempt.
I was dumbfounded by this intimate conversation with a stranger.
When I saw the magnified image, in the accuracy of a hazardous situation, her unfortunate gesture from which she was now freed was exposed.!
Nissim de Camondo Museum
In a magnificent mansion inspired by the Petit Trianon of Versailles, this exceptional museum houses the collection of furniture and decorative art objects of the Comte de Camondo.
In 1869, two Jewish Italian brothers of Turkish origin – Abraham Behor and Nissim de Camondo – opened their own bank in Paris. Their sons, Isaac and Moïse, became well-known art collectors in the capital: Moïse was particularly passionate about the French 18th century and amassed a unique collection of rare decorative objects and furniture from that period. To house his treasures, he even built a splendid residence in 1912.
But the First World War broke out, and his son – who was called Nissim like his grandfather – died in an aerial combat… In his memory, Moïse de Camondo decided to bequeath the hotel and his works to the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris on the condition that the collections be shown as he had wanted. Unfortunately it was without counting on the Second World War and the Nazis who despoiled the property of the Jews! The collections must be evacuated and sheltered at the Château de Valencay in Berry...
They will be saved, but not the descendants of Moïse de Camondo, who are then deported. The museum reopened in 1990 thanks to international patronage: steeped in history, its visit is moving and plunges us into the universe of the count as if he were still there. It also allows you to discover works of extraordinary beauty and finesse, which have stood the test of time like true survivors!
St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
This neo-Byzantine Orthodox church, consecrated in 1861, is dedicated to him. She will see years later the marriage of Pablo Picasso and a Russian dancer with Jean Cocteau, Max Jacob and Guillaume Apollinaire as witnesses. Saint-Alexandre-Nevsky has been listed as a historical monument since 1983.
The Pagoda - Loo House
Gare Saint-Lazare
In the heart of the Monceau plain, district of Paris which undoubtedly has the largest number of private mansions per m², is a building as surprising as it is unusual: La Maison Loo, a Chinese pagoda.
Arriving in Paris in 1902, Ching Tsai Loo was a dazzlingly successful art dealer. He bought a private mansion built in 1880, in the classic French style, to exercise his activity there, a few steps from Parc Monceau . Mr. Loo is lucky that owners were not asked for building permits at that time. A boon for those who wish to add a little fantasy to their daily life...
The architect Fernand Bloch was then commissioned to transform this 19th century building into a sumptuous pagoda of Chinese inspiration . The mansion is raised by 2 floors, the roof is rebuilt, and the entire building is painted red.
Jacquemart-André Museum
The Jacquemart-André Museum presents the most beautiful private collection of works of art in Paris, associated with the atmosphere of a large 19th century residence.
This magnificent private mansion born from the passion of the spouses Édouard André and Nélie Jacquemart, as well as their dazzling collection composed, in particular, of major works by the great masters of Flemish painting, those of French painting of the 18th century or even the most prestigious artists of the Italian Renaissance.
St. Augustine's Church
La statue de Jeanne d'Arc devant l'église Saint-Augustin
La statue de Jeanne d'Arc devant l'église Saint-Augustin