Thursday, March 20, 2014

Rue de Lyon - les details


the door


Typical of many Paris doors from the 19th century, the details of the stone architecture are unique in design and frame beautifully the well-preserved heavy doors.  The cart belongs to the postman (le facteur) to transport the mail as s/he walks the neighborhood.  The ornamental wrought iron piece at the foot of a door is called a "chasse-roue" and was a practical implement to protect the door or gate from the carriage wheels.  You will see them all over Paris, some of wrought iron as seen here, and others of stone.  It would be interesting to photograph a collection of the different designs.



Rue de Lyon
75012, Paris

14 comments:

Oakland Daily Photo said...

A chasse-roue? Who knew they had a specific name? My French vocabulary has now grown by another word. Have you noticed that if you have the proper word for something, you start to notice it more? Thanks.

Joe said...

The grandness of this entry is overwhelming Genie. How very special it would be just to walk inside.

Joe said...

The grandness of this entry is overwhelming Genie. How very special it would be just to walk inside.

Revrunner said...

That would be an interesting and, in all probability, an all-consuming project.

Jeanne said...

I agree Genie, this would be interesting to see the different designs. I have only seen a couple of them but will look more closely at my door pictures to see if I happened to get a shot of them.

M said...

Grand ... Makes you want yo peek inside.

Sylvia K said...

Beautiful old door and this brings back so many of my memories of Paris! Wonderful detail and a superb capture, Genie!!

William Kendall said...

They're magnificent doors! They feel quite sturdy.

Here the letter carriers have a bag with a certain amount of mail, and as they go along their route, they'll pick up the next batch of letters to be delivered at a dropbox. It's easier than hauling the whole day's mail around.

Alexa said...

What a gorgeous doorway! And I think you should get right on that little project. :~}

Anonymous said...

Doors and windows can be so interesting. Thanks for the history. Fab picture.

PeterParis said...

You gave me a good idea! I will go out and take photos of "chasse-roues" - if you allow me to steal the idea! :-)

Randy said...

I love how strong they look.

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

The creativity of the designs in les chasse-roues are quite varied. I am not certain if you call the curved stone pieces at the corners of buildings the same name or if there is another name. Like these wrought iron pieces seen here they were used to protect the corners of buildings in the same way.

Peter, I think that would be a great collection. My style of daily posting does not usually show "collections" so I will be thrilled to see what you have.

Many thanks to all for reinforcing my love of architecture and the details of design and utility.

Bises,
Genie

Starman said...

Thanks for sharing this information with us!