I let things slide last week and didn’t challenge your knowledge (or mine for that matter) about Paris but now’s the time to fire up your brain cells.
Question:
How many bridges span the Seine river?
- 16
- 26
- 36
- 46
A number of beautiful and not-so-beautiful bridges carry pedestrians and traffic back and forth between the right and left bank and onto the city’s two islands. Each has its own unique tale to tell and place in Paris’ history. These are three of my favorites.
The Pont Alexandre is surely the most over-the-top beautiful bridge. It was built for the Paris Exposition of 1900 taking visitors from the esplanade des Invalides to the Grand and Petit Palais on the Right Bank. Covered in sculpture and gold leaf, lit by beautiful lanterns with hand-blown glass, it looks magnificent from every angle at any time of the day.
From one end of the spectrum to the other, the Pont des Arts is clearly much simpler but instead of being visually spectacular, it becomes interesting by the people it attracts. Crossing over it, you will no doubt see artists creating and selling their work, rollerbladers adding some danger to the whole process and sightseers just resting on benches, taking it all in.
This is Pont Saint Louis. It’s history isn’t very special, it isn’t splendid, nor the simplest. But it is my favorite. The reason being, in order to get to it you must walk along side Notre Dame on rue du Cloitre Notre-Dame which takes you past a part of the cathedral that you would most likely miss all together. You go past the small garden to the rear of the church and then cross this bridge to Ile Saint Louis. This tiny enclave is home to the luckiest people, whoever they are, living there. Imagine stepping back in time, to the 17th century, where all the craziness of Paris gets left behind and life takes place on narrow, cobbled streets. That is exactly what happens here. For me, this adventure is made great by both the journey and the destination.
Oh, almost forgot to give you the answer: 36.
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