Introduction

Studying history in Paris was a transformative experience, but I wanted to bring my gymnastics experience along for the ride. This blog contains photos of me doing handstands in some of my favorite historical places throughout the city, along with the interesting information and history that I learned in each place.  Enjoy!

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont

These photos were taken at the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, which is a park located in the 19th arrondissement and is the 5th largest park in Paris. It was opened in 1867 and was a big hit for Parisians. The first photo features one of the two bridges that connect the island that contains the the gazebo in the second photo, which is called the Temple de la Sibylle. The park also features an artificial lake. The temple was modeled after the ancient roman temple of Vesta and the model was used in many paintings from the 17th and 18th century. 

Modern Paris - La Defense

This photo was taken at the Carousel in La Defense, which is a major business district just west and outside of Paris. This area is named after the bronze statue called La Grande Arche de la Defense. This area looked completely different from 17th and 18th century Paris that we had explored earlier in the trip. 

Foundation Louis Vuitton

One of the newer museums in Paris, the Fondation Louis Vuitton, was officially opened in 2014 and was designed by Frank Ghery. At the time we visited the museum, there were multiple contemporary African art exhibitions on display called Art/Afrique, le novel atelier. This photo was taken on the upper terrace of the museum, which are there to give visitors a view of different parts of Paris. In this photo, you can see the downtown area of modern day Paris. 

What makes the architecture of the museum so interesting is the unique placement of glass sails that twist and turn, with odd angles. The bulging was commissioned by Bernard Arnault who is the head of the LVMH brand empire. The museum ended up costing $143 million to build and it is now run as a nonprofit entity as Louis Vuitton’s promotion of art and culture. 

Chateau de Versailles

The next Chateau was hands down, the most tourist filled of any place that I saw in Paris. Covered in gold plating and marble finishes and with a huge line of thousands of people outside on any given day, this palace is famously known as the home of Louis XIV. It is also one of the largest castles in the world and is an example of 18th century French architecture and art. 

The palace contains the infamous Hall of Mirrors that contains 357 mirrors in total and 250 acres of landscaped lawns and fountains. This photo was taken on the checkerboard floors outside the front doors of the palace, also known as the “floors of puzzles.” When the palace was built, the architect decided to use black and white checkerboard floors as a way of evoking elements of ancient Rome. 

Chateau Vaux le Vicomte

The Chateau Vaux le Vicomte was hands down, my favorite place in Paris. It was another one of our bus excursions outside of Paris and we bussed on a Saturday night to see the palace and the candles that lit up around it after the sun went down. It was built from 1658-1661 by Louis Le Vau for the kinds superintendent of finances, Nicolas Fouquet, and Le Vau later went on to design Versailles. 

What made the palace so amazing was the lack of tourists and the realistic experience that we had as visitors. There are many different illusions that the gardens create for the viewer. One of them is that the gardens have what is called “anamorphosis abscondita” which allows the garden design to have a decelerated perspective. The pools look narrower at the closest point to the viewer than the farther ones. At the farthest point in the gardens, there is a canal and the statue of hercules lies on the other side. 

Chateau de Vincennes

The Chateau de Vincennes was one of our long trips, a little bit outside of the city that allowed us to explore different elements that were important to the history of Paris. Just to the east of Paris, the royal fortress built by Charles V of France stands. The castle forms a rectangle all together and has 6 towers. A couple of the towers were connected with bridges, such as the one in my picture, which connected the ramparts to the castle. It originated as a hunting lodge for Louis VII and was used as a royal residence from the 12th to the 18th centuries and Louis XI was the first king to use the fortress as a place to keep prisoners. Although it doesn’t have the glitz and gold like Versailles does, it is still a gem of history to France. As a visitor, it was obvious that many elements of the castle were imitations of the past, but it still gives the viewer a glimpse into the past in a creative way and contains a peaceful simplicity. 

Jardin du Palais-Royal - Court of Honor

On the south side of the Palais Royal, we visited the Court of Honor in the Jardin du Palais-Royal. Louis Philippe II controlled the Palais Royal and since then, it has developed along with its surrounding structures. It is decorated and modernized with black and white striped posts of all different sizes. The Court of Honor is a ceremonial three-sided courtyard that is architecturally named because of its three sides and symmetrical advancing secondary wings containing mirror rooms. When the striped columns, named Buren's columns, were added in 1980, there was a lot of controversy because people believed that it adopted poor taste. I found myself and my classmates walking around saying "what are these?" I later discovered that the pillars were placed there as a way of offering the somewhat empty space to art. Buren wanted to make the open space more inviting, but not too comfortable so that people would pass through and acknowledge it, but it would still remain a place of passage. 

It was a fun challenge to see which pillar I could attempt a handstand on... but the lower pillars were much safer! 

Galerie Vivienne

Located in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, Galerie Vivienne is a covered passage between the Palais Royal and the Grands Boulevards. There are entrances located on Rue Vivienne and Rue des Petits-Champs. It is covered with an elegant canopy, mosaics, paintings, and sculptures. The mosaic floors were created by Giandomenico Facchina. 

Built in 1823, the gallery has been registered as a historical monument because it attracted many visitors with its shops, cobblers, wine shop, restaurant, bookstore, confectioner, and more. 

Popular in the 19th century, covered passages were a popular form of shopping arcade in Paris. Only a couple of covered passages remain in Paris today because of Haussmann’s renovation of Paris.