“The Red Bridge is leaving for Saint-Cloud!” This dramatic cry once echoed through the streets of Paris. It announced the collapse of the Avenue du Pont Royal’s predecessor, a wooden structure swept away by icy waters in 1684. Today, we stand before a more enduring testament to time – the Avenue du Pont Royal, a stone sentinel bridging the Seine. The Avenue du Pont Royal we see today wasn’t the first attempt to tame this stretch of the river. The first bridge, built in 1632, was a colorful, wooden affair known as the “Pont Rouge”. It saw its fair share of disasters, from fires to floods, before finally succumbing to the icy grip of winter. Following this final collapse, King Louis XIV, perhaps tired of rebuilding, commissioned a grand stone replacement. This new bridge, completed in 1689, would bear the royal name, a testament to its regal sponsor. And so it stands today, a silent witness to centuries of Parisian life. While its initial namesake, the Tuileries Palace, is no more, the Avenue du Pont Royal remains, a enduring link to a regal past.
Église Notre-Dame de l’Air
Beneath what appears to be a simple stone and wood structure lies a history interwoven with faith aviation and community.