Last weekend I attended the annual IRC Congress in
Paris. Despite some misgivings beforehand, I remain the vice-chairman and one
of the policy steering troika. On Saturday evening we had an entertaining dinner
at the Yacht Club de France, near the Arc de Triomphe and then an amusing bus
tour of the Champs Elysees, Eiffel Tower et al. Whilst the Saturday meeting
took place in the dungeon of the hotel, we had the smaller meeting on Sunday
morning on the 7th floor with lovely views out over the Paris
skyline.
After lunch on Sunday I caught up with Deb at La
Defense, the amazing high rise area on the western outskirts of the city, whose
development was initiated in the 60’s and still continues. It features some
very impressive glass towers. The focus of this area is La Grande Arche which
completes the historical axis of Paris beginning with the Louvre, the
Tuileries, Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysees. Its symmetry is
somewhat spoilt by the lift frames and awnings, but they at least afford
interesting shapes to photograph.
I
was quite taken by the funky but elegant simplicity of the EDF building. It was
no surprise to subsequently discover that the architect was I M Pei, he of the
Louvre steel/glass pyramid and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong. It seemed
to me a brave decision by the main state owned electricity company to
commission such a radical but dogmatic architect. I am glad they did.
Most times I have been in Paris, I have tried to
visit the Grande Palais, that magnificent edifice built for the 1900 Universal
Exposition. Whilst the stone façade is typical over-the-top Beaux-Arts, it is
the iron/steel/glass dome structure that I find fascinating and inspiring. But,
as always, I was not able to visit the interior as they were setting up another
exhibition.
As consolation, I decided to visit the Orangerie in
the Tuileries, forgetting that it housed amongst others, Claude Monet’s
“Nympheas” - hence the 150 m long queue outside. I continued walking east along
the Seine past the Louvre, to see the Art Nouveau/Deco extravaganza “La
Samaritaine” department store, which was of course closed for renovation. My
mood was much improved by an excellent, simple lunch at a brasserie on the Rue
de Rivoli, with the passing entertainment of rich ladies shopping.
I wandered on past Notre Dame and the Ile
Saint-Louis to see the glass houses in the Jardin des Plantes. To continue the
steel/glass structure motif, I took in the Gare d’Austerlitz and Gare de Lyon
with their wonderful spans. I then strolled along the Canal Saint Martin before
Metro-ing to the Gare de l’ Est and catching the 320 kmh TGV back to
Luxembourg.
No comments:
Post a Comment