On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
I love these photos and this peek into life in this Paris neighborhood. ~WaterGirl
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I spent a couple days in June 2019 in the Montparnasse neighborhood of Paris, while waiting for my wife’s plane to arrive. I didn’t realize until I picked up a book of local walking tours that this neighborhood was the center of the famous artistic scene of the 1920s where so many famous artists, writers and musicians mingled (depicted in Midnight in Paris).
I tend to take photos of quirky things that interest me more than beauty shots, which I have no eye for. I hope that my fellow jackals find this interesting as well.
The organ of St. Sulpice Church. For many of us, Notre Dame is the most famous church in Paris, but in musical circles, St. Sulpice is at least as well known, perhaps more so, for the famous organists who have played and served there. So this is a very famous instrument.
Another shot of the interior of St. Sulpice.
Around the corner from St. Sulpice is this wall with the poem “Le Bateau Ivre” (The Drunken Boat) by Arthur Rimbaud, who wrote the poem in 1871 at the age of 16, reportedly at a cafe near this location.
While wandering around the neighborhood of Notre Dame Cathedral (which was closed due to the fire), I saw this poster for a Gospel concert to be held the next night. “Authentic songs of the Afro-American church.” The right half is from the concert itself, using my primitive Photoshop (actually Gimp) skills.
These performers are not English-speakers. Other than the songs themselves, there was not a word of English heard. Most are from francophone Africa and they do not come from the Gospel tradition. A fantastic concert and a wonderful multi-cultural experience.
One of my few more-traditional touristy subjects: the Jardin du Luxembourg, built in 1612 and I believe the oldest park in Paris. It is located on the grounds of the Palais du Luxembourg, where the French Senate meets.
This is another garden, the Jardin des Tuileries outside the Louvre. You can see the Eiffel Tower in the background. Although I didn’t go into the Louvre and mostly avoid major tourist attractions, I would have actually visited the Eiffel Tower. But there were no open slots.
This park, the Bois de Boulogne, is a little out of the way but definitely worth going to (during daylight; it has a little bit of a reputation at night). According to the Wikipedia article, it has been the site of an abbey, royal hunting preserves and chateaus, a failed royal silk industry, and invading armies. It is full of beautiful woods and walking trails, a big contrast to the urban center but only a short distance away.
One last shot from the Montparnasse neighborhood. This is a plaque on a hotel which lists some of the famous people who stayed there during the “creative effervescence” of the 1920s. The poem is by Louis Aragon, who lived there with his lover (later wife) Elsa Triolet. The poem, “Il ne m’est Paris que d’Elsa” was written in 1964. I think that translates as “It is only Paris for me with Elsa”.
Lapassionara
These are lovely. We stayed in the Montparnasse area once. Just a regular neighborhood in one of our planet’s most beautiful cities. I have never seen the wall with the Rimbaud poem though, so I am putting it on my list.
Thank you.
Auntie Anne
Oh, these are interesting! Paris is full of quirky delights that are easily missed, so I’m glad you’ve captured some of them. I was enchanted by the Tuileries and all the public gardens. Bois de Bologne is going on my list, as is Saint Sulpice. Thank you for sharing these.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
It was just a fluke that I ended up there. It was just where hotels.com decided to put me when I was looking for a reasonably-priced hotel to spend a couple nights, close to the Metro and to the center of things. I was amazed when I started reading the info on the walking tours and realized where I was.
I did a LOT of walking that weekend since I was alone and didn’t have much else to do. Wasn’t much in the mood for museums, though I did check out a science museum that was pretty cool.
Lapassionara
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I am not a big museum goer. I do not like crowds. But there are so many things to see and do in the ordinary parts of Paris, so you chose wisely, in my opinion.
Auntie Anne
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: That’s the thing about Paris, I think – there are so many wonderful areas, and you can walk for hours. We spent three days just roaming around the city, and could easily have spent a whole week there.
K488
K488
Wonderful pictures, and I was thrilled to see the organ at St. Sulpice! So much music history surrounds that instrument. Paris is full of famous instruments, including the one at Sainte-Trinité, where Olivier Messiaen was the titular organist for more than 60 years.
Tehanu
Really nice pix. Many years ago we stayed in an ultramodern highrise hotel in Montparnasse, primarily frequented by Japanese businessmen, and imagine our surprise when we went down to breakfast one morning and found ourselves being entertained by a mariachi band from our hometown, Los Angeles.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@K488: I attended Sunday morning services at St. Sulpice. The organist was, as you might expect, a virtuoso. But the choir (which had a separate director) much to my surprise was just awful.
Didn’t take away from how cool it was to be attending church there.
Jacel
When I was last in Montparnasse in 1996 , I was part of a costumed group (Impressionists era) dancing in a park below the church as part of a several week dance class in Paris, Prague, and Vienna. So many people looked down at us in wonderment that afternoon.
randy khan
It’s such a great walking city. You never know what you’ll find.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Montparnasse may be my favorite neighborhood in Paris– with the possible exception of the islands
and this is my favorite part of Paris, je t’aime, in spite of Margo Martindale’s accurate for the context but painful accent.
eclare
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Good video. I love Paris too.
There go two miscreants
Love those huge pipe organs! And the shot across the gardens toward the tower is very nice.
Miss Bianca
If I recall my Dumas correctly, the Bois de Boulogne was also known as a duelling ground.
J R in WV
@There go two miscreants:
Without visiting, I hesitate, but from the photo, that’s actually a very small organ for it’s fame.
ETA: Lovely photos, a wonderful glimpse of a curious and ancient city. After spending two nights and one full day there, I want so much to go back for a couple of weeks. All these photo sets from that city, all so different. What a great idea from WaterGirl !!