Île Saint-Louis
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"The first time that we met Baudelaire was towards the middle of the year 1849, at the Hotel Pimodan, where we occupied, near Fernand Boissard, a strange apartment which communicated with his by a private staircase hidden in the thickness of the wall, and which was haunted by the spirits of beautiful women loved long since by Lauzun."--Théophile Gautier's preface to Les Fleurs du mal |
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The Île Saint-Louis is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France (the other natural island is Île de la Cité, the Île des Cygnes is artificial). The island is named after King Louis IX of France (Saint Louis).
The island is connected to the rest of Paris by bridges to both banks of the river and by the Pont Saint Louis to the Île de la Cité. This island was formerly used for the grazing of market cattle and stocking wood. One of France's first examples of urban planning, it was mapped and built from end to end during the 17th-century reigns of Henri IV and Louis XIII. A peaceful oasis of calm in the busy Paris centre, this island has but narrow one-way streets, no métro stations and two bus stops. Most of the island is residential, but there are several restaurants, shops, cafés and ice cream parlours at street level, as well as one large church, Saint-Louis-en-l'Île Church.
Bridges that connect to the Île
- Pont Saint-Louis from the Île de la Cité;
- Pont de la Tournelle from the Rive Gauche;
- Pont Louis-Philippe from the Rive Droite;
- Pont Marie from the Rive Droite;
- Pont Sully from the Rive Droite and the Rive Gauche.
See also
