Hôtel de Ville

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Hôtel de ville is the French term for city hall, and this is the Hôtel de Ville in Paris (the Paris city hall). I rather like the style of the building, although it was criticized for being gaudy and too ornate when it was built. The mayor actually lives here, in principle, although I don’t think this is mandatory, and I don’t know if the current mayor has chosen to avail himself of the free accommodation.

It’s hard to get far enough away from the building to photograph it without a wide-angle lens; sorry about that. You are looking southeast in the photo.

The islands on the Seine River and the Left Bank are off to the right (but not visible here), and this spot is on the Right Bank. (If this is confusing, remember that “left” and “right” in reference to banks of the river are based on the direction in which the river flows, and it is flowing from the background to the foreground relative to this photograph—yes, this will be on the final exam!) The Bastille is almost straight ahead, a bit to the left and about 1.5 km beyond the Hôtel de Ville. The rue de Rivoli is off to the left and extends back towards the Champs-Élysées and forward towards the Bastille.

In wintertime, the City of Paris sets up a free ice rink on this spot.

Photographed on August 27, 1999.