Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Parc des Buttes Chaumont - le carrousel


Carousel in Parc des Buttes Chaumont


It was only on my third visit to this park 
that I discovered the petite, colorful carousel.  
The top makes me think of le Petit Prince 
with its stars, moon, and rocket ship.
The rides are over-sized rabbits, cats, and other animals, 
along with a rocket and a fire truck.


The park itself is beautiful, particularly in the spring, 
but has a checkered past.  
It is close to Gibet de Montfaucon, 
a notorious site where criminals were hanged 
and their bodies put on display 
from the 13th century until mid-18th century.  


After the French Revolution it became a refuse dump,
and then a spot for cutting up horse carcasses.  
Baron Haussmann chose this site for a new park 
for the rapidly growing population of the 19th and 20th arrondissements.


Work began in 1864 and the park was opened on April 1, 1867.  
To see the park today one would never imagine its nefarious history.



Parc des Buttes Chaumont
75019, Paris
Métros Buttes Chaumont et Botzaris

16 comments:

Merisi said...
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Merisi said...
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Merisi said...

Such happy colors, to think of what lies beneath seems almost impossible. Maybe that is how it should be, to enjoy life, but being aware of those who have come before us.

martinealison said...

Bonjour chère Génie,
Je suis heureuse que cet endroit ait changé. Nul aurait imaginé qu'à ce jour un joyeux manège tournerait au son d'une joyeuse mélodie...
Gros bisous

Joe said...

Wow - the vibrant colours and circus theme provide not a hit of the dark and gruesome past of this area Genie.

Alain said...

Je connais ce manège. Le week-end c'est la guerre pour avoir une place !

Andy said...

Excellent colour photography.

Revrunner said...

Yikes! All those ghosts from the past wandering the park.

Jeanie said...

what a magical carrousel! It just makes me so very happy!

Alexa said...

I was going to say pretty much exactly what Revrunner said! Good to know the history, but maybe I'll try not to think about it too much when I'm enjoying that beautiful park.

Starman said...

i LOVE carousels and this one is particularly great.

Jack said...

You are right, Genie. From this colorful and happy carousel, one would not expect a dark history.

William Kendall said...

It's a peculiar spot for a park, with that history. It's a lovely looking carousel!

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Alain, the carousel is so very small for such a grand park and I have another photo of the carousel with such a crowd. I wish that I had run into you on this day.

The older cities in our world often have such tormented sites. Most tourists today walking through Place de la Concorde probably do not know the guillotine stories of the Revolution. Now you know why there are so many stories of ghosts in Paris.

I almost left those details out, but the history does make it more interesting. Merci beaucoup for your comments.

Bises,
Genie

TheChieftess said...

Definitely colorful!!!

Anonymous said...

Love, love carousels. I have pictures of a few taken in various countries. I don't have any like this.