The Paris Meridian

Paris is full of wonderful sights: historical monuments, museums, art galleries, the River Seine, many parks and gardens. But one interesting historical feature of the city is more virtual than physical: the Paris Meridian.

The Paris Merdian on the floor of the
Paris Observatory
(Photo: FredA, via Wikimedia Commons)

Lines of longitude go from pole to pole, through the equator. The prime meridian is the line arbitrarily chosen to be 0° longitude and is used as the basis for drawing maps and calculating the local time. The Paris meridian, which goes through the Paris Observatory, was established in the 17th century. François Arago used this line as a starting point for his precise calculation of the French prime meridian.

Historically, each country had its own prime meridian, which made international navigation confusing. This problem was solved in the 19th century, when an international committee selected the Greenwich meridian to be the common zero of longitude and standard of time reckoning throughout the world.

Most of Europe and North America aligned their clocks with Greenwich, but France maintained Paris time until 1911 when it at last fell into line with the international community.

Arago medallion, part of the
"imaginary monument"
created by Jan Dibbets

So, the Paris meridian, used for over 200 years, was no longer relevant. But it didn't disappear entirely. It can be traced today thanks to a work of art by Dutch conceptual artist, Jan Dibbets.

Homage to Arago is an "imaginary monument on an imaginary line" – a series of 135 bronze medallions planted in the ground along the line of the meridian.  They run right across the city from Porte de Montmartre in the north, through the Louvre, the Luxembourg Gardens, and the observatory, to Cité Universitaire in the south. Each medallion is 12cm in diameter and marked with the name ARAGO plus N and S pointers.

Missing!

Sadly, some of the medallions have vanished over the years; some were stolen, others removed during roadworks and never replaced, or simply covered over.

One of them is appropriately placed at the point where the meridian crosses the Boulevard Arago.  It is on the plinth where a statue of the astronomer once stood until it was removed by the occupying powers in 1942.

Arago’s statue has disappeared, but the Paris meridian remains.

Copyright © 2017 — All Rights Reserved — Tous droits réservés Paraic Maguire (sytykparis@eblana.eu)

Liberty in Paris

Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité!

Unveiling the Statue of Liberty, 1886
photo: Wikimedia Commons

Everyone knows the motto of the French Republic, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," which has been used since the days of the French Revolution in the 18th century.

And Liberty was one of the most famous gifts in history: from the people of France to the people of the United States on the occasion of the centenary of the American Revolution.

The Statue of Liberty was sculpted and cast by Auguste Bartholdi in France and shipped to New York in 1885, and erected on a frame designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Replica on Île aux Cygnes
photo: H. Zell
(Wikimedia Commons)

For the centenary of the French Revolution, a group of US citizens living in Paris reciprocated and made a gift of a replica of the statue to the people of France. It is on an island in the Seine, the Île aux Cygnes, and is about a quarter of the size of the original.

It's not an exact replica, though: the inscription on the book in Liberty's left hand shows not only the date of the US Declaration of Independence in 1776, but also the date of the storming of the Bastille in Paris in 1789.

Replica of Bartholdi's
bronze model
Luxembourg Garden
photo: Páraic Maguire

In 1900, Bartholdi donated the bronze model he had used to make the statue to the Musée du Luxembourg. It stood in the garden until 2012 when it was removed for conservation reasons and replaced by a bronze replica. The original can now be found in the Musée d'Orsay.

After the death of the sculptor, his family bequeathed the original plaster maquette to the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris. A bronze cast from this plaster can be seen in the grounds of the museum.

Many other replicas exist throughout France and, indeed, the world. Some are scale models, others are variations on the original.

Can you find Liberty?
Centaur, Carrefour Croix-Rouge
photo: Páraic Maguire

The smallest is well hidden on the centaur statue at the Croix-Rouge crossroad (officially: Place Michel-Debré). It takes a keen eye to spot it.

Flamme de la Liberté
photo: Ignis
(Wikimedia Commons)

The most misunderstood is an exact, full-scale replica of the torch flame, the Flame of Liberty, at the intersection of Avenue de New-York and Place de l'Alma. It happens to be near the spot where a former princess died tragically in 1997 and has been hijacked as a memorial to her.

The Flamme de la Liberté was in fact another gift to the people of France, organised by the International Herald Tribune on behalf of donors throughout the world, as a symbol of Franco-American friendship and in gratitude for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty, carried out by two French companies in 1986.

Vive la France! Vivent les États-Unis! Vive la Liberté!

Copyright © 2017 — All Rights Reserved — Tous droits réservés 
Paraic Maguire (sytykparis@eblana.eu)

Covered Passages of Paris

Window-shoppers (from À Travers Paris, 1894)
(Wikimedia Commons)

Window-shopping — one of the most popular pastimes in Paris since the invention of footpaths.

Before the introduction of separate spaces for vehicles and pedestrians, shoppers mingled with horses and carriages on the street, and usually ended up with their shoes and clothes covered in mud — or worse!

Another innovation to improve the lot of the flâneur came in the early part of the 19th century: covered shopping arcades.

Here, shoppers could move around in comfort and safety, protected from the weather and the traffic. By the middle of the century there were around 150 passages couverts in the city.

Each one connects two streets and is lined with small shops, galleries and cafés. The passages are covered with iron-and-glass ceilings to allow natural lighting in daytime.

Here are some examples of the remaining passages.

Galerie Véro-Dodat

Galerie Véro-Dodat
(Wikimedia Commons, Jean-François Gornet)

One of the shortest, at just 80 metres, is Galerie Véro-Dodat near the Louvre.
Its modest length is somewhat disguised through the impression of perspective created by the diagonal pattern in the black-and-white floor tiling, and the relatively low ceiling.
The parts of the ceiling that are not glass are decorated with beautiful engravings.
It is also one of the least frequented of the covered passages, though this adds to its charm.

Passage du Grand-Cerf

Passage du Grand-Cerf
(Wikimedia Commons, David Pendery)

Closer to the classic style is the Passage du Grand-Cerf. Its 12-metre ceiling is one of the highest of all the passages.
Opened in 1825 on the site of a hotel of the same name, it fell gradually into decay before being fully restored in the 1980s.
Today it houses fashion boutiques, furniture stores and jewellery workshops.
And if you like knitting, you’ll find what you need here.

Passage du Prado

Passage du Prado
(Wikimedia Commons, Ralf Treinen)

The Passage du Prado, named after the museum in Madrid, was built in 1785 but wasn’t covered until 1925.
It is certainly not the most chic of the passages, but it has its charm nonetheless.
The two branches of the passage are perpendicular; the junction is covered by a glass dome in a metal frame.








Many of the covered passages of Paris were destroyed during Haussmann’s restructuring in the 19th century, others disappeared as department stores became more popular.
Only around 20 survive today, each one worthy of a visit.

To find the passages described here: Google map

For more information, visit the official website of the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Copyright © 2017 — All Rights Reserved — Tous droits réservés
Paraic Maguire (sytykparis@eblana.eu)