Fontaines - Porte de Saint-Cloud

An errand this morning took us to the Porte de Saint-Cloud, not too far from our apartment. These two huge fountains, over 10 meters each, were created by sculptor Paul Landowski (the same sculptor who did the huge statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio) and have been in this traffic circle since 1936. A little research tells me that they were the first illuminated fountains in Paris and were constructed as part of the work undertaken to beautify the city preceding the 1937 Universal Exposition. They were restored from 2019 to 2021 and apparently people are still rethinking how they might be more accessible to people in the neighbourhood. Right now, with a very busy traffic circle around them, you'd be taking your life into your hands to reach them! The subject they represent is the sources of the Seine.

Personally, I've started to like this sort of sculpture and architecture from the 1930s more and more in the last ten years. I have a soft spot for Landowski in particular since he was married to the daughter, Amelie, of Louise Cruppi, one of the authors I have been working on.

Quiet day besides this outing. At the end of it, I sent a draft of my article off to a couple trusted readers for feedback. J took his bike out and rode all around the Bois de Boulogne. Got to speak to both daughters and my Mom tonight too - good day!