Thursday; May 13
Pont de Bir-Hakeim and the Statue of
Liberty....yeah, you read right
Pont Bir-Hakeim
The pont de Bir-Hakeim, formerly the pont de Passy, is a
bridge that crosses the Seine River in Paris, France. It connects the city's
15th and 16th arrondissements, and passes through the île des Cygnes (where one
of the Statues of Liberty is located!).
The bridge, made of steel, is the second
to have stood at the site. It was constructed between 1903 and 1905, replacing
an earlier bridge that had been erected in 1878. An arch bridge, it is 237
meters (777 ft) long and 24.7 meters (81 ft) wide.
The bridge has two levels: one for motor
vehicles and pedestrians, and a viaduct above, through which passes Line 6 of
the Paris Métro. The railway viaduct is supported by metal colonnades, except
where it passes over the île des Cygnes, where it rests on a masonry arch. Many
commemorative plates decorate the viaduct bridge, including several dedicated to
soldiers fallen in Belgium during the Second World War.
In addition, the central arch of the
viaduct, at the level of the island, is decorated with four monumental stone
statues in high-relief: figures of Science and Labor by Jules-Felix Coutan, and
Electricity and Commerce by Jean Antoine Injalbert.
Originally named the pont de Passy
(after the former commune of Passy, which it reaches), it was renamed in 1948 to
commemorate the Battle of Bir Hakeim, fought by Free French forces against the
Nazi Afrika Korps in 1942
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Note the train on top the bridge
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The Statue of Liberty
Everyone knows the Statue of Liberty was given to America by
the French. But did you know that several replicas are around France, on
display. They were used as models for the original, or reporduced for display.
Two are close by our flat, so I have presented them here; the first two
described below..
Jardin
du Luxembourg
A model in Jardin du
Luxembourg, Paris. It stands in the Jardin du Luxembourg: an information panel
on the pedestal claims that it is a bronze model used by Bartholdi as part of
the preparatory work for the New York statue; the artist offered it to the
Luxembourg museum in 1900 and it was placed in the park in 1906. The date
written on this statue's tablet (where the New York statue has "JULY IV
MDCCLXXVI") is "15 de novembre 1889" (November 15, 1889), the date at which the
larger Parisian replica was inaugurated.
Pont de Grenelle
Statue of Liberty on the Île des Cygnes, river Seine in
Paris, France. Given to the city in 1889, it faces west, towards the US Liberty
in New York Harbor. This second Statue of Liberty in Paris is near the Grenelle
Bridge on the Île des Cygnes, a man-made island in the river Seine (11.50 m (37
feet 9 inches)) high. Inaugurated on July 4, 1889, it looks towards the Atlantic
Ocean and hence towards its "larger sister" in New York Harbor, which had been
erected nearly three years earlier. Its tablet bears to dates: "IV JUILLET 1776"
(July 4, 1776: the United States Declaration of Independence) like the New York
statue, and "XIV JUILLET 1789" (July 14, 1789: the storming of the Bastille).
This statue is shown in the movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets as one of
the historic locations.
Musée des Arts et Métiers
A third copy, also produced by Bartholdi is located in the
Musée des Arts et Métiers.
Bordeaux
Another replica is the Bordeaux Statue of Liberty. This 2.5 m (8 ft) statue is
in the city of Bordeaux in Southwest France. The first Bordeaux statue was
seized and melted down by the Nazis in World War II. The statue was replaced in
2000 and a plaque was added to commemorate the victims of the September 11
terrorist attacks. On the night of March 25, 2003, unknown vandals poured red
paint and gasoline on the replica and set it on fire. The vandals also cracked
the pedestal of the plaque. The mayor of Bordeaux, former prime minister Alain
Juppé, condemned the attack.
Barentin
There is a replica in the northwest of France, in the small town of Barentin
near Rouen. It was made for a French movie, Le Cerveau ("the brain"), directed
by Gérard Oury and featuring actors Jean-Paul Belmondo and Bourvil.
Colmar
A 12 m (39 ft 4 in) replica of the Statue of Liberty in
Colmar, the city of Bartholdi's birth, was dedicated on July 4, 2004 to
commemorate the 100th anniversary of his death. It stands at the north entrance
of the city.[3][4] The Bartholdi Museum in Colmar contains numerous models of
various sizes made by Bartholdi during the process of designing the statue.
Other French cities
Other "Liberty enlightening the world" are displayed in
Poitiers and Lunel. The Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon owns a terracota version.
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