"New" Paris Finds -- La Ruche & the T-3 Tram
Aug 10th, 2012, 09:44 AM
#1
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"New" Paris Finds -- La Ruche & the T-3 Tram
I qualify my "finds" as being new to ME, not the finds themselves.
I was on a mission this summer to locate and view La Ruche, an old artists residence in the 15th along the Passage de Dantzig in the 15th. La Ruche translates to the "Beehive", as it is circular in shape and resembles a beehive. It was designed by Gustave Eiffel as a wine rotunda for the Great Exhibition of 1900 -- well, all this info you can get from Wiki. I wanted to see it because . . . well, I hadn't . . . and because the likes of Modigliani, Diego Rivera, Chagall, and Leger had either lived or hung out here.
I knew that we couldn't get in the building itself, but I thought it would be fun to photograph it and check out the secret garden surrounding it. I'm not sure whether one can actually get into the enclosed garden surrounding it, because there is a gate with an entry buzzer/combo lock, but we happened to be there at a time when an electrician was there installing a new buzzer, and he had no qualms allowing us past him to walk the inside grounds.
What a find!!! There are little nooks and crannies everywhere, and lots of sculptures and artistic accents. A few benches here and there to sit and read or write or draw. A truly cool artistic secret garden! The building itself is a neat architectural curiosity.
To get to La Ruche, we took the Metro to Porte de Versailles, and planned to walk up Bd Lefebvre to Rue de Danzig and onward. What we found getting off the Metro, along Bd Lefrebvre was a long stretch of green grass down the middle of the street (Lefebvre is a really wide street!) with a space age looking tram running up and down it!
One thing we didn't know is the existence of this tram (which opened in 2006). We also didn't know where it went or whether we could use the Mobilis pass. It turns out the metro and bus tickets and passes CAN be used on the T3, and this tram hits 17 stops and basicaly goes around the southern periphery of the City.
It turns out Kerouac (who else!) has already found this little treasure (the tram, that is) and took a ride on it. Here's his discussion:
http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com...ad=4931&page=1
Just thought I'd pass this on, since people are always looking for something "new" in Paris!
I was on a mission this summer to locate and view La Ruche, an old artists residence in the 15th along the Passage de Dantzig in the 15th. La Ruche translates to the "Beehive", as it is circular in shape and resembles a beehive. It was designed by Gustave Eiffel as a wine rotunda for the Great Exhibition of 1900 -- well, all this info you can get from Wiki. I wanted to see it because . . . well, I hadn't . . . and because the likes of Modigliani, Diego Rivera, Chagall, and Leger had either lived or hung out here.
I knew that we couldn't get in the building itself, but I thought it would be fun to photograph it and check out the secret garden surrounding it. I'm not sure whether one can actually get into the enclosed garden surrounding it, because there is a gate with an entry buzzer/combo lock, but we happened to be there at a time when an electrician was there installing a new buzzer, and he had no qualms allowing us past him to walk the inside grounds.
What a find!!! There are little nooks and crannies everywhere, and lots of sculptures and artistic accents. A few benches here and there to sit and read or write or draw. A truly cool artistic secret garden! The building itself is a neat architectural curiosity.
To get to La Ruche, we took the Metro to Porte de Versailles, and planned to walk up Bd Lefebvre to Rue de Danzig and onward. What we found getting off the Metro, along Bd Lefrebvre was a long stretch of green grass down the middle of the street (Lefebvre is a really wide street!) with a space age looking tram running up and down it!
One thing we didn't know is the existence of this tram (which opened in 2006). We also didn't know where it went or whether we could use the Mobilis pass. It turns out the metro and bus tickets and passes CAN be used on the T3, and this tram hits 17 stops and basicaly goes around the southern periphery of the City.
It turns out Kerouac (who else!) has already found this little treasure (the tram, that is) and took a ride on it. Here's his discussion:
http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com...ad=4931&page=1
Just thought I'd pass this on, since people are always looking for something "new" in Paris!
Aug 10th, 2012, 01:43 PM
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If you're interested in more about La Ruche, there's a PBS video, Paris the Luminous Years, that covers the early years of the 20th century and the artists, writers and others who were important in the transition to modernity including those who lived and worked in La Ruche. It's available from Netflix.
Aug 10th, 2012, 04:15 PM
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Wonderful stuff, surfergirl. Thank you! Isn't it amazing that there's always something new and wonderful to discover about Paris? I suppose that's true of most anyplace, including DC, where I live and am always discovering new stuff, but somehow it has an extra measure of specialness in Paris.
