Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation

Tucked behind the Cathedral of Notre Dame is a little visited memorial, Most people stumble upon it looking for a walk down to the river. The Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation is a memorial to the 200,000 people who were deported from Vichy France to the Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

It was designed by French architect and town planner Georges-Henri Pingusson and dedicated by Charles de Gaulle on April 12, 1962. The memorial is shaped like a ship’s prow and the “crypt” is accessible by two staircases. Inside is the tomb of an unknown deportee who was killed at the camp in Neustadt. Along both walls of the narrow chamber are 200,000 glass crystals with light shining through, meant to symbolize each of the deportees who died in the concentration camps. Worthy of a visit next time in Paris.

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Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation

Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation

Tour Eiffel

The Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel) was built by Gustave Eiffel’s in 1889 for the World’s Fair in Paris. It was supposed to be temporary and removed twenty years later. However by 1909 the use of Airships had become popular and the tower was viewed as a convenient docking station. Also the construction of radio towers on the top of the tower proved valuable during the first World War.

Today the tower is iconic and a symbolic of French Freedom. It was first viewed as being and ugly blip on teh master plan of Paris developed by L’Enfant. Now the city would not seem the same without the Tower. This picture was taken from the Trocadero plaza in 2009.

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Tour Eiffel from The Trocadero Plaza

Tour Eiffel from The Trocadero Plaza

Tour Eiffel Remains Closed

The Eiffel Tower remains closed today in the days following the cowardly bombings and murder in Paris. Although the creation of Gustave Eiffel’s masterpiece erected in 1889 was only supposed to a temporary entry arch for 1889 World’s Fair,it has remained to become the symbol of the city. I hope that soon the Champ de Mars is alive with people excited to ascend to the top and people flock to the Trocadero Plaza at sunset to see this sight.

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Tour Eiffel

Tour Eiffel

Sunday in Paris

We live in a violent world. A friend reminded me yesterday of two other hideous events that happened this week in Beirut and Bagdad where more lives were lost than in Paris. Yet the violence in Paris impacted me more. Why? I guess because I have been there a few times and Paris is familiar. Of course that doesn’t make rational sense, horror is horror and terror is terror. It does however make emotional sense in the same way that seeing the fall of the World Trade Centers forces a visceral response.

In any case today is Sunday and although the season is wrong, this is the way I think of Paris on Sundays. I hope Parisians are taking to the streets,buying baguettes and enjoying the gardens.

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Sunday in Paris

Sunday in Paris

Hall of Mirrors

It is very hard to get a good shot of The Hall of Mirrors in Versailles on the tour. The place is lousy with tourists. It occurred to me that without a tripod and a hall empty of people the best I could hope for was a decent shot of the ceiling. By itself it is a pretty great fixture of the lavish palace.

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Hall of Mirrors

Hall of Mirrors

A Light Through The Window

This image could have been taken in a number of European cities. It was taken in Paris near the end of The 20th century. I was struck with the light coming through the top window and thinking it was a great apartment to live in. Now the steps would kill me.

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A Light through the Window

A Light through the Window

Black Dog

We were exploring a small town in Provence in the mountains near Saint Tropez. I kept constantly losing my family because it seemed that every twist and turn of the narrow streets held some photographic wonder. I stopped to photograph this small green door wondering what was behind it when this black dog tentatively peeked around the corner. I have never met a dog that frightened me but thought it was time to catch up with my family. The dog was French after all and probably hated tourists, especially ones with cameras.

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Black Dog

Black Dog

A Windmill in Paris

The Moulin de la Galette is a windmill and restaurant situated near the top of the district of Montmartre in Paris. It has been there since the 17th Century and at its base is the Le Moulin de la Galette which was the “hangout” of famous artists such as Renoir, van Gogh, and Pissarro. Le Moulin is still there and this shop keeper is opening his store in the early morning in Montmartre.

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A Windmill in Paris

A Windmill in Paris

Happy Independence Day!

I am so fascinated with American’s insatiable appetite for Britain and the royal family and apparent disdain for French culture. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Without the help of the French we would have never defeated the British and won our independence. So this year when you fire up the BBQ have a nice red wine with your burger and say vive la France!

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Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July