The introduction of the walk reads, "on this walk you will follow a path that has been taken by French protesters since they tore down the Bastille in 1789." It must have been our lucky day because, low and behold, we witnessed a protest. How cool is that? Come to tour the old grounds of the Bastille and find yourself in the middle of a protest. It was all very fitting.
I was slightly disturbed by this part. Something about covering the statues of victory and freedom with black was a little unnerving. Or maybe I was just feeling claustrophobic for the statue. Yes, that may have been it.
Notice the police walking through the middle of the street. Apparently these protesters have to receive permission to protest, and then they are heavily guarded by the gendarmes. Notice the current sate of the poor statue, and the red cloth draped around the main statue.
Once we tore ourselves away from the excitement of the protest we wandered down the next street over and saw this house where Gustave Flaubert lived, the nineteenth century French novelist who wrote Madame Bovary.
This modern building is the Opera Bastille, and it sits nearly on the spot where the Bastille actually stood.
This long brick display on the left is the Viaduc des Arts. It was originally a railroad bridge, but is now filled with shops along the bottom and a fun walkway on top.
Walkway on top of the Viaduc
This was a fairly short walk, but it was definitely one of the most interesting ones I have been on. It was a very real experience to see a protest while reading the history of the Bastille. Nothing like living history.
No comments:
Post a Comment