Do you know that the Pont Louis-Philippe witnessed the flames of revolution? We stand here on this magnificent arch bridge, spanning the River Seine in Paris. It connects the Île Saint-Louis with the Saint-Gervais neighborhood on the right bank. But the bridge we see today wasn’t always here. This majestic arch bridge was built in 1860, a little further upstream than its predecessor, a suspension bridge. In 1834, King Louis-Philippe inaugurated the original bridge. The bridge was named after the king, a bold choice for a country still recovering from the French Revolution in 1830. But the revolution wasn’t done with Paris yet. In 1848, during the French Revolution, this bridge caught fire and was destroyed. It was rebuilt and renamed the Pont de la R\u00e9forme, a testament to the hope for reform in those turbulent times. The name did not last long, though, and the bridge was renamed Pont Louis-Philippe once again in 1862. Today, we stand on a bridge that has witnessed history, a bridge that links the past to the present.
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.