I mentioned in my first “bridge post” that there are four pedestrian bridges crossing the Seine. Last Friday I wrote about two of them. Here follows something about the two other ones.
The most celebrated one is probably le Pont des Arts (or Passerelle des Arts). It’s the perfect link between the Louvre and the the building which is the home of the French Academies on the other side of the river.
To write something about the Louvre now and here would be too long, but maybe I should just mention that the bridge got its name “Arts” from the Louvre which was called the “Palais des Arts” during the first Empire. It was actually during the Napoleon I times that the original bridge was constructed (1804).
Opposite to the Louvre we find thus the home of the different French academies (including the most famous one, the French Academy) – “Institut de France”, which totally is responsible for some 1.000 foundations, museums, castles... all around France. The building dates from 1664, with Le Vau as architect (also involved at Versailles, Louvre, Vaux-le-Vicomte...).
In 1977 the bridge was considered as dangerously fragile (bombings during the WWs, hit by barges...) and it was closed. It finally collapsed two years later after another barge accident. The present bridge dates from 1984 and is an almost perfect replica of the preceding one. 
Today you generally find painters and musicians here and, especially summer time, a lot of picnickers. 
The second bridge today is the Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir, named after the famous author and partner to Sartre. The bridge is situated much more upstream in a recently renovated area of Paris. It connects the new Park of Bercy, completed in 1995 (see previous posts) – via steps and a waterfall - and the new building for the National Library (Bibliothèque François Mittérand, opened 1996).
The most celebrated one is probably le Pont des Arts (or Passerelle des Arts). It’s the perfect link between the Louvre and the the building which is the home of the French Academies on the other side of the river.
To write something about the Louvre now and here would be too long, but maybe I should just mention that the bridge got its name “Arts” from the Louvre which was called the “Palais des Arts” during the first Empire. It was actually during the Napoleon I times that the original bridge was constructed (1804).
Opposite to the Louvre we find thus the home of the different French academies (including the most famous one, the French Academy) – “Institut de France”, which totally is responsible for some 1.000 foundations, museums, castles... all around France. The building dates from 1664, with Le Vau as architect (also involved at Versailles, Louvre, Vaux-le-Vicomte...).
In 1977 the bridge was considered as dangerously fragile (bombings during the WWs, hit by barges...) and it was closed. It finally collapsed two years later after another barge accident. The present bridge dates from 1984 and is an almost perfect replica of the preceding one. Today you generally find painters and musicians here and, especially summer time, a lot of picnickers. The second bridge today is the Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir, named after the famous author and partner to Sartre. The bridge is situated much more upstream in a recently renovated area of Paris. It connects the new Park of Bercy, completed in 1995 (see previous posts) – via steps and a waterfall - and the new building for the National Library (Bibliothèque François Mittérand, opened 1996).
The bridge (which also allows bikes to pass) dates from 2006 and was like the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor constructed by the still existing Eiffel Company (see previous post) – brought here in one piece by barge and installed in two hours! The bridge can be quite lively during the summer months as it also connects to Paris Beach (Paris Plages – see previous post) and a floating swimming pool. 
You can find these photos "in full" and as a slide show on Ipernity.
(It’s not summer now... The days are short, the mist, the clouds ... and sometimes low sun makes it tough to take decent photos. I do my best.)
(It’s not summer now... The days are short, the mist, the clouds ... and sometimes low sun makes it tough to take decent photos. I do my best.)
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