Voltaire

5 March 2011
Walked to the left bank to take a photo of  Geoffrey with Voltaire which proved far too difficult for me as you can see.









Voltaire
French writer (1694-1778)
Square Honoré Champion, 6th arrondissement
The State commissioned Léon Drivier to make this statue of Voltaire to replace Caillé’s statue which was melted down during World War II. The new stone statue was supposed to fit the old statue’s pedestal located on Quai Malaquais. But its reduced scale, its more modern style, and certain academicians’ desire to clear the area around their Institut resulted in a controversial removal of the great man to one of the recently created small squares behind the Institut. Intense debates on the aesthetics and politics of such a drastic move dragged on for so long that Drivier’s piece, created right after the war, didn’t take its rightful place in the greenery until 1962, well after the sculptor’s death.

Statue of Henri IV on le Pont Neuf

On the way back home we saw the Highlander Pub and the Arsenal vs Sunderland game for 16h00 was going to be shown, so we went back for the kick-off.

The Highlander Pub is on the left bank, opposite the Pont Neuf.
THE HIGHLANDER is THE Scottish pub in Paris.


à bientôt