In Opera Garnier We Trust
10 Comments Published by Cedric Benetti on Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 1/28/2009 12:56:00 PM.
Just a little preview. Got more pics coming up.
Labels: Architecture Instant Love, Interiors, Monuments
The Cathedral Project IV
2 Comments Published by Cedric Benetti on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 1/27/2009 08:12:00 PM.
Finally I'm done with this cross-section!
Check it out in high resolution on flickr.
Check it out in high resolution on flickr.
Labels: Architecture Instant Love, design, personal drawings + cartoons
The Cathedral Project III
3 Comments Published by Cedric Benetti on Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 1/24/2009 09:47:00 PM.
The Monument is continuously advancing on my papers.
The dome plans.
Labels: Architecture Instant Love, design, personal drawings + cartoons
The Napoleon Complex
7 Comments Published by Cedric Benetti on Friday, January 23, 2009 at 1/23/2009 09:42:00 PM.
On a rainy cold and windy day, what better way to spend your time than to shove your butt over to the Invalides and marvel either at Hardouin-Mansart's fascinating domed architecture or at the remains of emperor Napoleon I. The Dome of the Invalides hosts a number of important people, among others even Napoleon's brothers Joseph (King of Naples and Sicily, King of Spain and the Indies, Comte de Survilliers) and Jérome (King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort).
The doors have recently been re-guilded.
There is still a lot of restauration work going on here, though the biggest part has already been finished (re-guilding the iterior of the dome)
To the greatest joy of massive flocks of camera-swinging tourists from all over the world and empire-obsessed french royalists, here lies the man with the plan.
God Napoleon illuminating the world, long before Edison created the lightbulbs. Napoleon also was a fitness buff, working out 27 hours per day, hence his massive muscular body. Arnold was a fan.
The tomb of Marechal Foch in marvellous blue light.
Napolen, minutes before declaring "I am the man!"
A signature, saying "Napole". No need to elaborate when everybody knows your name.
The freshly guilded dome
There is still a lot of restauration work going on here, though the biggest part has already been finished (re-guilding the iterior of the dome)
To the greatest joy of massive flocks of camera-swinging tourists from all over the world and empire-obsessed french royalists, here lies the man with the plan.
God Napoleon illuminating the world, long before Edison created the lightbulbs. Napoleon also was a fitness buff, working out 27 hours per day, hence his massive muscular body. Arnold was a fan.
The tomb of Marechal Foch in marvellous blue light.
Napolen, minutes before declaring "I am the man!"
A signature, saying "Napole". No need to elaborate when everybody knows your name.
The freshly guilded dome
Labels: Monuments, MUSEUMS, Royalist stuff
Liberty's Last Stand in Paris
4 Comments Published by Cedric Benetti on Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 1/22/2009 12:33:00 PM.
The statue of Liberty was constructed in the 17th arrondissement, at 25 rue de Chazelles in the Workshop of Gaget, Gauthier et Cie . The workshop in which she was assmbled is long gone and replaced by an ugly apartment building.In a letter to the chairman of the American Committeefrom December 19, 1882, Bartholdi wrote: "Our work advances. The Statue commences to reach above the houses, and by next spring we shall see it over-look the entire city, as the large monuments of Paris now do."
The workshop around 1878
According to Bartholdi, during the course of the fabrication of Lady Liberty, more than 300,000 people visited the shop, including General Ulysses S. Grant in 1877.
Check out the last position of Lady Liberty before she got put into pieces and sent over to her new home in New York:
According to Bartholdi, during the course of the fabrication of Lady Liberty, more than 300,000 people visited the shop, including General Ulysses S. Grant in 1877.
Check out the last position of Lady Liberty before she got put into pieces and sent over to her new home in New York:Labels: Monuments, New York, paris history
Found on Quai des Célestins next to metro Sully Morland.
Labels: TOILETS of PARIS
Outlining the Bastille
6 Comments Published by Cedric Benetti on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 1/21/2009 11:36:00 PM.
Have you ever crossed Place de la Bastille and wondered where the hell the old Bastille prison actually stood? Well if you're on the right side (Rivoli street side that is), just look down on the ground and you shall notice the old tracing of the infamous prison demolished in 1789.
The markings are made on the cobblestoned street itself and some on the sidewalks.
Can you see one of the Bastille's round corner towers on this pic?
The Bastille was built as the Bastion de Saint-Antoine during the Hundred Years' War. The Bastille originated as the Saint-Antoine gate, but in the 1370s the gate was extended to create a fortress to defend the east end of Paris from frequent invasions.
On Googlemaps the tracing is very visible, but I recolored the marked parts in yellow for you history freaks. Notice that the main entrance is pointing straight onto the column in the center of the Place.
Labels: Monuments, paris history, Paris street stuff (NOT a TOILET)
A platform has a meeting with destiny
Ghosts of the past reappear
Presences that haunted your mind
Even the Penguin, they dragged out here
For a last showdown before vanishing into darkened history
Sending him off
The last goodbye
And gone
Ghosts of the past reappear
Presences that haunted your mind
Even the Penguin, they dragged out here
For a last showdown before vanishing into darkened history
Sending him off
The last goodbye
And gone
Labels: drunk politicians, Obamalicious, photography, Politics
From a French newspaper cover.
The Obama portrait is being integrated in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC.
Labels: celebrations, Obamalicious, Politics
TOILETS of PARIS
5 Comments Published by Cedric Benetti on Monday, January 19, 2009 at 1/19/2009 06:22:00 PM.
The most famous toilet of Paris is actually a urinal, turned into a 'ready-made' piece of art by Marcel Duchamp. How weird that I forgot to add this one to the list of the Toilets of Paris...
Can be found in the Pompidou Center
Labels: Art, MUSEUMS, TOILETS of PARIS
