A day visiting H and I in Paris

Let us start out this morning venture over to the Montmarte area (we will see MORE of this area on "M" day... oui... you now know what will be coming up next week)... here we will visit La Halles Saint Pierre... ART BRUT - ART SINGULIER... I know I did say morning... but tis photo of it is soooo pretty at night... I didn't want you to miss this site...

      

In a beautiful architectural style Baltard facing the gardens of the Butte Montmartre, the Halle Saint Pierre is a museum and gallery, a library, an auditorium, a cafe. C'est dans ce cadre harmonieux et lumineux que sont présentées les grandes expositions temporaires et les multiples activités artistiques et culturelles dédiées aux formes les plus inattendues de la création. In this harmonious and bright as presented major exhibitions and the many arts and cultural activities dedicated to the most unexpected forms of creation. (via the Halle Saint Pierre official site)

interesting area to perhap sip a café creme, non?

currently on exhibit until January 2011... Art Brut Japonaise... Dazzling Collection by Disabled Japanese Artists...

Now... that I have taken you to one part of Paris for the letter "H"... we hop on the metro and dart across Paris to the "I"slands of Paris... oui the islands of the Seine... Île de la Cité, Île Saint-Louis and the Île des Cygnes which an artificial island. (islands info and photos via Wikipedia)

First... The Île de la Cité is one of two natural islands in the Seine within the city of Paris (the other being Île Saint-Louis, the Île des Cygnes being artificial). It is the centre of Paris and the location where the medieval city was refounded. Here is the view from the east... love hints of PINK...

The Île de la Cité is connected to the rest of Paris by bridges to both banks of the river and to the Île Saint-Louis. The oldest surviving bridge is the Pont Neuf ('New Bridge'), which lies at the western end of the island. 

The oldest remaining residential quarter is the Ancien Cloître. Baron Haussmann demolished some of the network of narrow streets, but was dismissed in 1869 before the entire quarter was lost.
Three medieval buildings remain on the Île de la Cité (east to west):

• The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, built from 1163 on the site of a church dedicated to Saint Étienne, which in turn occupied a sacred pagan site of Roman times. During the French Revolution the cathedral was badly damaged, then restored by Viollet-le-Duc.
• Louis IX's Sainte-Chapelle (1245), built as a reliquary to house the Crown of Thorns and a piece of the True Cross, enclosed within the Palais de Justice.
• The Conciergerie prison, where Marie Antoinette awaited execution in 1793.

Second... The Île Saint-Louis is the other natural island in the Seine river... named after King Louis IX of France.  The island is connected to the rest of Paris by bridges to both banks of the river and by the Pont Saint Louis to the Île de la Cité. This island was formerly used for the grazing of market cattle and stocking wood. One of France's first examples of urban planning, it was mapped and built from end to end during the 17th-century reigns of Henri IV and Louis XIII. A peaceful oasis of calm in the busy Paris centre, this island has but narrow one-way streets, no métro stations and two bus stops. Most of the island is residential, but there are several restaurants, shops, cafés and ice cream parlours at street level, as well as one large church, Saint-Louis-en-l'Île Church.
J'adore this photo... if I had more time I would paint it with several touches of PINK... perhaps I will find time to add it to this over the weekend...

Anddddd last but not least... Île des Cygnes (Isle of the Swans) is a small island in the Seine in Paris, France, located in the 15th and 16th arrondissement. It is an artificially-created island, formed in 1827 to protect the port of Grenelle. It derives its name from an earlier Île des Cygnes which was attached to the Champ de Mars in the late 18th century. (via Wikipedia)

A notable feature is a one-fifth scale replica of the Statue of Liberty, 22 meters high and facing west in the direction of its larger sibling in New York City. This monument, which was inaugurated by French President Carnot on 4 July 1889[1] (nearly three years after its counterpart), was given by the Parisian community living in the United States to the munipality of Paris, commemorating the centennial of the French Revolution. The statue initially faced east, toward the Eiffel Tower, but it was turned west in 1937, for the exposition universelle hosted by Paris that year. (via Wikipedia)

Its base carries a commemorative plaque, and the tablet in its left hand bears the inscription IV Juillet 1776 = XIV Juillet 1789, recognizing the American Independence Day and Bastille Day, respectively. An even smaller statue is located in the Jardin du Luxembourg, and a third copy can be seen in the Musée des Arts et Métiers. (via Wikipedia)

Oui... a connection between Paris and the USA... like moi living in the US and longing to be in Paris!!!

Bon week-end... rememeber to visit other A to Z Challenges and PINK Saturday participants!!!