Monolith Monday

 Flexing and flaunting for over a century... One muscle at a time.

 

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In Greek mythology, the atlante (also called a telamon) comes from the Greek Titan Atlas, who was condemned by Zeus to hold up the sky on his shoulders for eternity. In classical architecture it is a support column or pillar sculpted in the shape of a man, the male counterpart to the female caryatid. Its massive size - the oldest still around are over 24 feet tall - became a classic Beaux-Arts/early-20th-century Parisian decorative architectural feature, and this pair, sculpted by Sylvain Kinsburger for a post-Haussmannian apartment building on rue de Rivoli, has been around since 1905. - BPJ

A door adorned

 

The Art Nouveau door on Avenue Rapp.

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  The Art Nouveau movement, characterized by flowing lines, natural motifs, and innovative materials like iron, glass, and ceramics, left its mark on various buildings across Paris. This door, a prime example at 29 Avenue Rapp, designed by Jules Lavirotte in 1901, is a top contender for the most beautiful door in Paris.

When the door first appeared, it caused a stir for its intricate carvings, lavish sculptural ornamentation such as Adam and Eve and the door's rumored naughty overtones, which only added to its allure. 

Despite soaring popularity, the movement began to fade around the early 1910s, its decline often linked to the onset of World War I in 1914. By then, the style’s exuberant, ornate designs began to give way to the more geometric and streamlined forms of Art Deco which better suited the post-war desire for modernity and simplicity.

Today there are Art Nouveau touches all over the city if one but keeps their eyes open. Probably the best-known and most-spotted are Hector Guimard's whimsical metro station entrances. - BPJ

 

Trop tard Tuesday

 

A small crêperie closes for the night.

 

Night stroll

Paris in the rain.

 

Foliage Friday

A door on a Montmartre side street peeks out from under a cascade of foliage just starting to change colors.

 

Window Wednesday

 

The windows atop these doorways are done up with flowers, plants and neon lights.

Complementary

Yellow door purple wall.

Shut tight

 The small Montmartre Museum, like all museums in Paris, remains closed.

Musée de Montmartre

12 rue Cortot 75018

Blue doors

Two bright blue doors crown rue des Saules.

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 Autumn in Montmartre

Shell of itself

La Coquille d'Or is said to have been a popular cabaret in the early 19th century.

Double door

A door in the Marais as seen from a double door across the street. Who lived there?

Poet's door

A former residence of poet Théodore De Banville.

 

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Nous n’irons plus au bois, les lauriers sont coupés.

 

We will no longer go to the woods, the laurels have been cut off.

 

 

 

Open door

Door of an apartment building attached to L'Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis.

Behind doors

Double doors of what appears to be an ordinary apartment building conceal a long passageway.

Sad door

An old door just before residents of the building chipped in to have it repaired.

Sortie

A thick double door, usually locked from the outside, has been left open.

Turquoise door

 

 

A beautiful old door that has become one of my favorites.

Corner door

Light blue door in the Daniel Buren courtyard at the Palais Royal.

Angel faces

A graceful art nouveau door in the 12th arrondissement.

Studded door

Paris doors are famous for their simplicity and beauty.