Once again, Invisible Bordeaux has been busy touring the city with a batch of old postcards in one hand and a camera in the other. And here is the photographic evidence, starting out in front of Porte Cailhau, the fortified gate into the medieval incarnation of Bordeaux.
Porte Cailhau:
not much has really changed in over a century, other than all those
bollards to regulate traffic and parking. There are dozens on the 2018
view below, and they still didn't prevent an unmarked white van from
photobombing the picture!
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Place Pey-Berland and Palais Rohan city hall: the 1971 postcard shows that the square was a busy car park rather than today's location for a pleasant stroll. In the 1980s and 1990s the situation changed further still as the area was an inhospitable mass of traffic!
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Place de la République / Saint-André hospital: this space that
lies between the hospital and the city's Palais de Justice used to
be home to the elaborate "monument des Enfants de la Gironde morts pour la
Patrie en 1870-71", inaugurated by French president Raymond Poincaré in
1913. The statue has been relocated to another spot on the square, and
this area is now used as a terminus for buses!
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Place Picard/Statue of Liberty: This replica of Bartholdi's most famous creation has already appeared on the blog.
The original 1888 statue, with its ornate base and fountain (which
disappeared in 1941), was far grander than the resin replica which has
been in position since 2000.
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Maison Gobineau: to remain in a New York state of mind, this distinctive triangular building on Allées de Tourny (completed in 1789) is often compared to the legendary Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue (built in the early years of the 20th century).
With all those traffic lights and tram lines, pedestrians have to be
careful where they walk these days and it's more difficult to pose for the camera in the middle of the road, but the most noticeable difference
is surely the fact that an extra storey has been added to the building!
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Gare Saint-Jean: some things clearly never change! Cars can no
longer drive right up to the railway station but now, as then, the
esplanade is a public transport hub. Today's paving is arguably smoother
than the cobblestones of yesteryear!
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Place Gambetta: in many ways, the flowerbeds of 1951 have changed
little over the years. There are certainly less seats to sit and enjoy
the view than there were back then. Over to the right, what was the
"Librairie Picouot" bookshop is now the Pruilh home accessories shop,
while the "Petit Paris" establishment on the corner of Cours de
l'Intendance is now a Hippopotamus steakhouse. The square is about
to undergo a massive overhaul and may be about to change beyond
recognition though!
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Quai Louis XVIII: out with the horse-drawn carriages and dogs wandering around freely! The tramlines are more or less back where they were in the early years of the 20th century though... The "Café Américain" establishment on the corner now trades as Café Via Luna.
Love it !
ReplyDeleteThank you sir, I appreciate it!
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