Bridges of Paris by Michael Saint James (review)

Paris at night. Paris in springtime. Paris in the rain. Paris in the movies, hundreds of them, from Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca to Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. Everybody knows about Paris even if they haven’t actually been there, though almost everyone has, heeding Audrey Hepburn’s wistful farewell to Bogie, as Sabrina draws to a close: “Paris is always a good idea.” This most famous of all of the world’s cities has never lost its appeal--from first mention of the Parisii tribe in Julius Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic War (Book VII) in 51 BC. Admittedly, its historical ascendancy and the accompanying artistic hegemony among European capitals did not arrive until the waning of the Renaissance in Italy. Likely it began with the incredibly successful 72-year-long reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King (1643-1715), which made France the leading European power and, in turn, made possible the Enlightment of the philosophes, an intellectual revolution that would catapult Paris into the undisputed cultural center of Europe in the nineteenth and the larger portion of the twentieth century.

It was another of its great public figures, Napoleon III (1808-1873), wielding not only political power but a daring renovating zeal, who would so completely transform his nation’s capital into the magnificent city it remains today. He chose Georges Haussmann, the ambitious Prefect of the Seine district, as the chief architect of the largest public works project ever undertaken before or since. During a seventeen-year period, Baron Haussmann carried out a total remake of Paris with tens of thousands of workers under his command. New broad boulevards were opened, railroad stations inaugurated (Gare de Lyon, Gare du Nord), extensive parklands expropriated (Bois de Boulogne, Jardin du Louxemburg), central markets consolidated (Les Halles), sumptuous buildings erected (Paris Opera), and bridges built or rebuilt across the river Seine. All the sooner the better, since the Emperor wanted to show off his city at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1855; never mind that there were four more to come in the 19^th century. Eventually it was all done to the tune of 2.5 billion francs, a staggering sum that not even Haussmann’s or Napoleon’s staunchest supporters could stomach. The former was fired by his friend the emperor to save himself, but as we now, to no long-term avail—Napoleon was out of power and in captivity only a few months after Haussmann’s exit. Today, we may think it was all worth it: the billions spent, the disgrace of its architect and the defeat of an emperor. Paris is what it is because of these two brilliant and determined men.

Hundreds of bridges cross the Seine, and though most were built in the nineteenth century, a couple of them are nearly two thousand years old. In Bridges of Paris Michael Saint James focuses his camera on the thirty-seven that lie within the city of Paris itself, and the results are over three-hundred and fifty color photographs where Hussmann’s indelible and recognizable signature can be appreciated. Because all 37 cross the Seine and lie within the city boundaries, they are neither as long (the longest one is the Pont Aval which is 312 meters long) nor as widely known as, say, New York’s Brooklyn Bridge (1,825 meters) which spans the East River, connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. And, of course, no bridge in the world is as famous (ie., as often photographed), nor as long as San Francisco’s Golden Gate (2,737 meters) which traverses the Bay and connects the city with Marin county.

In order to better deal with such a large number of subjects, Saint James divides his 280-page book into four categories: the Island Bridges (13), the Palace Bridges (9), the Downstream Bridges (7) and the Upstream Bridges (8). The first section, Island Bridges, includes the oldest structures, such as the Petit Pont (ca. 50 B.C.) which connects the le...