This year, the Hôtel de la Trémoille, kept the attention of the visitors. This place, build at the beginning of the century by Ernest SANSON accomodates the Serbian embassy since 1936.

Honoré de Balzac is one of the most famous french writer. He lived, between 1840 et 1847, in a house at Passy, a small village now included in Paris. This mansion became a Museum where you can see the his library and the genealogy of all of the caracters he invented.
The legend says he had two ways to escape from the sheriff’s officer coming to claim for debts. The old caves on the top from where he could gain access to near building’s cellars and the bottom door leading to the “rue basse”, nowadays rue Berton.

At the very end of the garden, there is a bust of the writer, under the foliage. Balzac seems to observe people from his retreat, as the witness of the Parisian society he described so precisely in his prolific work.

By the way, the Paris’s meridian, known as the Rose line in the book, has its origin in the Paris Observatory. But infortunately, as you can verify here, this imaginary line cross the Louvre a few yards on the east side. The line doesn’t even cross Saint Sulpice’s church.

Don’t you think it looks like a Jules Verne’s flagship waiting to take off to some mysterious places.

Now the Grand Palais is mainly used for painting exhibits or special events. If you have the opportunity to get in, don’t miss it. Look up and you will see, it’s a kind of magic, especially at sunset.

On the north east side of Paris, this bridge is the only elevating one. In order to let the boats get through the bridge open up, lifted by four cables rolling on the four wheels. Beside there is a pedestrian bridge with these typical steps and lamposts.

Let me introduce to you the bridge Simone de Beauvoir.
She was a writer (the second sex) and a philosopher, married to She shared the life of Jean Paul Sartre (thank you Sarah).

This bridge looks like a roller coaster on the photo, but it is only an optical illusion. The architect, Dietmar Feichtinger, wanted to give this bridge the curves of a women. A tribute to femimity depicted so well by Simone de Beauvoir.

RFR, a Paris based team of engineers worked on the sketch design of this bridge.

And guess where this bridge is leading to ? To the French National Library (Tres Grande Bibliotheque).