Statues, Statues Everywhere

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One of the things I — and most visitors to Paris — admire most about the City of Light is the abundance of art that greets Parisians each and every day. From glorious architecture to historic fountains to large outdoor murals to anonymously scrawled street art, Paris offers something beautiful to gaze upon no matter where one looks. There’s so much public art that many have dubbed the city a massive “open-air museum.” And that “museum” includes statues and sculptures. Lots of statues and sculptures. In fact, Paris has more than 1,000 statues created by more than 400 artists on public display throughout the city. Continue Reading →

Paris’s Unique Street Signs

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An unusual thing that I love about Paris is its iconic green, blue and white street signs. At the top of each is the district (called Arrondissement, and there are 20 of them in Paris) in which the street is located. Then comes the street name. And for my favorite part, the bottom of the sign contains information about the person for whom the street is named, if applicable. You get a mini-history lesson on most street corners! Continue Reading →

A Promenade on the Pont Alexandre III

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Today’s Paris memories center on the city’s beautiful bridges, but especially the ornate and gorgeous Pont Alexandre III. The bridge was a gift to the citizens of Paris from Russian Czar Alexander III, and crosses the Seine between the fantastic Grand Palais and Petit Palais on the Left Bank and the Invalides complex on the Right Bank. Continue Reading →