christine anne photography: Les Ponts de la Seine -- Bridges of the Seine

The Seine River, headed west and downstream out of Paris.

Our Silver Paris

Welcome to my Paris travel journal,

where I share our experiences of our special journey to Paris.

Please use these posts as a guide for your own travels

to this amazing and wonderful city!

Or simply read, and dream...

Before I write my final Paris Travel post, I wanted to revisit this one subject. Images of the Seine River are sprinkled throughout several different posts, but I have gathered them all here in one post. Not all of the bridges are romantic, and I don't have images of every single bridge along the Seine in Paris, but I'm going to post the ones I have, for you and me both to enjoy.

I'll start at la tour Eiffel, and make my way east (generally) along the Seine (which would be upriver).

When you visit Paris, you'll need a good map to help you spot the bridges, and also just to get around--I recommend one from Streetwise Maps. (Mine is a 2012 map; ISBN 978-093503925-2, about $8 US.)

From the top of the Eiffel Tower, you can see many of the bridges along the Seine in Paris! At the time we were there, however, I didn't think about documenting all those bridges. I was having too much fun just being there with my honey, sipping our champagne and enjoying the incredible view.

Here is an image showing the bridges west, downstream and away from Paris:

From the first bridge toward the bottom of the image:

Pont de Bir Hakeim,

a Métro bridge (at an angle in the center, crossing the Allée des Cygnes,

and pont de Grenelle.

And that is where I run out of map and bridge names. :)

The same bridges during our descent to the third level.

From the base of le tour Eiffel, this bridge, pont d'Iena, leads you to the Trocadéro with its pools, fountains, and museums.

Pont d'Iena.

Passage Debilly (a pedestrian bridge) on the left and pont de l'Alma on the right.

Spot passage Debilly (the pedestrian bridge in the extreme lower left corner),
then go east (toward the right) and find
pont de l'Alma,
pont des Invalides,
pont Alexandre III (with the four gold-topped pillars),
and pont de la Concorde.

Here is where my photo tour begins in earnest: Pont Alexandre III in all its glory. :)

Here is an aerial view of this spectacular bridge, taken from the top of the Eiffel Tower:

From left to right: pont des Invalides, pont Alexandre III and pont de la Concorde.

Pont Alexandre III as seen from street level.

Pont Alexandre III as seen from our boat on the Seine.

Detail of pont Alexandre III from boat level.

One of the columns on pont Alexandre III.

After pont Alexandre III comes pont de la Concorde, then passage Solferino (another pedestrian bridge), neither of which I captured at all. The next bridge we come to is pont Royal, below.

Pont Royal.

Continuing east, we encounter another pedestrian bridge, pont des Arts.

Pont des Arts.

Next, we come to pont Neuf, the point where the Seine River splits to flow on either side of two islands, Ile de la Cité and Ile St. Louis.

Pont Neuf (northern side).

Now I'll try not to be too confusing here, as the the bridges abound at this point. :)
After pont Neuf, heading east, the next set of bridges that cross the Seine are:

From the Rive Droite (Right Bank, or north side on our left) to Ile de la Cité -- pont au Change
From Ile de la Cité to the Rive Gauche (Left Bank, on our right)-- pont St. Michel (I don't have a picture, boo)

Pont au Change is noted for its "N," which stands for Napoleon.

Pont au Change

Still heading east, the next set of bridges are:

From the Rive Droite to Ile de la Cité -- pont Notre Dame
From Ile de la Cité to the Rive Gauche -- petit Pont (no image, double boo)

pont Notre Dame

Pont Notre Dame, as seen on our boat tour with a sunstar.

The next set of bridges are:

From the Rive Droite to Ile de la Cité -- pont d'Arcole
From Ile de la Cité to the Rive Gauche -- pont au Double

The bridge with the railing is pont d'Arcole (then pont Notre Dame and pont au Change beyond).

Detail of pont au Double.

Where the two islands meet in the river, a series of three bridges cross:

From the Rive Droite to Ile St. Louis -- pont Louis Philippe
From Ile St. Louis to Ile de la Cité -- pont St. Louis
From Ile de la Cité to the Rive Gauche -- pont Archèveché

First, pont Louis Philippe, in shadow. Not the best way to capture the bridge, but that wasn't the focus of this image. :)

Pont Louis Philippe.

I did take a picture of pont St. Louis, but it won't show too much detail. We were sampling our first taste of Berthillon ice cream (read about that here), and pont St. Louis was behind us, with Notre Dame peeking out way in the back.

I have several images for pont Archèveché, so please enjoy this interesting bridge! A legend began not too long ago, that lovers write their names on a padlock, then attach that padlock to the fenced railing along this bridge. By doing this, the lovers would seal their love and be together forever.

Standing on pont Archèveché, looking at la cathédrale de Notre Dame.

The next set of bridges cross over Ile St. Louis:

From the Rive Droite to Ile St. Louis -- pont Marie
From Ile St. Louis to the Rive Gauche -- pont de la Tournelle

Pont Marie has a special place in my heart, for it is the first Seine bridge that we saw on our first evening walk from our appartement to the Seine River. I will never forget the wonder when we crossed the last street and stood there above the Seine, looking out on a beautifully illuminated bridge, and all the bridges and lights beyond.