Paris, France has long been one of the Worlds leading cities. These photographs of Paris in the olden days take us back to a time when the Eiffel Tower had just been built to celebrate the Worlds Fair which was being hosted in the city. Alot has changed since them, and yet so much is recognisable and still exists today.

The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest building in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair. In this gallery we look back at the construction of the Eiffel Tower.

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Composed completely of photographs.

A project by Luke Shepard, a student at The American University of Paris.

Location: Paris, France
Camera: Nikon D90
Music: ‘Intro’ by The XX (thexx.info)

Check out this interview for some background on the project:
blogs.nationalgeographic.com/​blogs/​intelligenttravel/​2011/​03/​paris-in-2000-images.html

Special thanks to Henry Farrow Miller.

The Strasbourg astronomical clock is located in the Cathédrale Notre-Dame of Strasbourg, Alsace, France. It is the third clock to make its home there and was built at the time of the first French possession of the city (1681–1870). The first clock had been built in the 14th century, the second in the 16th century, when Strasbourg was a Free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire.

The current, third clock dates from 1843. Its main features are a perpetual calendar (including a computus), an orrery (planetary dial), a display of the real position of the Sun and the Moon, and solar and lunar eclipses. The main attraction is the procession of the life-size figures of Christ and the Apostles which occurs every day at 12:30pm, that is at noon clock time. The walkabout also occurs at midnight clock time.

The second clock stopped working around 1788 and stood still until 1838, when Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué (1776–1856) started to build the current clock. He designed new mechanisms to replace the old ones and which were meant to be state of the art. Schwilgué had wanted to work on the clock since his boyhood, but he only got the contract 50 years later. In the meantime, he had become acquainted with clockmaking, mathematics, and mechanics. He spent one year preparing his 30 workers before actually starting construction. Then, construction lasted from 1838 until June 24, 1843. The clock, however, was inaugurated on December 31, 1842.

This clock contains the first perpetual mechanical Gregorian computus, designed by Schwilgué in 1816.

Many visitors to France like to see a vineyard or visit the occasional wine chateaux for a little sampling of the local produce, while many wine enthusiasts make an entire visit planned around visiting the vineyards of their selected region.

The map below shows the main wine-producing regions of France:

Impressionism was a 19th-century French art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence in the 1870s and 1880s. The name of the movement is derived from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant), which provoked the critic Louis Leroy to coin the term in a satiric review published in Le Charivari.

Characteristics of Impressionist paintings include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on the accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, the inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles. The emergence of Impressionism in the visual arts was soon followed by analogous movements in other media which became known as Impressionist music and Impressionist literature.

Impressionism also describes art created in this style, but outside of the late 19th century time period.

Monet: Father of Impressionism

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Impressionism: French Art

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From France With Love: A collection of images of distinct French architecture, taken with a HDR camera.

Counting in French – 1 to 1,000,000

Even if you’ve only been studying French half-heartedly until now, you will probably have encountered lessons on French numbers. Most of us are pretty comfortable with un, deux, trois, quatre… so the following table will come as no shock to you! It represents the general way to form numbers.

Pay attention to the number 21 (vingt et un) in which the “one” is attached like “twenty and one” as opposed to 22 (vingt-deux), 23 (vingt-trois) and so forth.

Be sure to listen to the audio that follows, since pronunciation can be a lot different to what you’d expect!

Numbers 0 — 10

• 1 = un
• 2 = deux
• 3 = trois
• 4 = quatre
• 5 = cinq
• 6 = six
• 7 = sept
• 8 = huit
• 9 = neuf
• 10 = un

Numbers 11 — 20

• 11 = onze
• 12 = douze
• 13 = treize
• 14 = quatorze
• 15 = quinze
• 16 = seize
• 17 = dix-sept
• 18 = dix-huit
• 19 = dix-neuf
• 20 = vingt

Numbers 21 — 30

• 21 = vingt et un
• 22 = vingt-deux
• 23 = vingt-trois
• 24 = vingt-quatre
• 25 = vingt-cinq
• 26 = vingt-six
• 27 = vingt-sept
• 28 = vingt-huit
• 29 = vingt-neuf
• 30 = trente

But wait ’til you see the seventies…

We said things get a little more difficult past number 70. Here’s what we mean:

• Sixty = Soixante
• Sixty-two = Soixante-deux
• Seventy = Soixante-dix
• Seventy-two = Soixante-douze

Right about number 70, our numbers switch from being base-ten (like in English) to being base-twenty. So instead of “seventy” being “seventy”, it’s called “sixty-ten”. Seventy-two is called “sixty-twelve”.

It might be a little confusing, but at least it means you don’t have to remember another number — just recycle the ones you’ve learned already!

Four twenties and twelve?

That’s not the end of things. The 80s and 90s bring more confusion.

• Eighty = Quatre-vingts Literally: four-twenties
• Eighty-eight = Quatre-vingt-huit Literally: four-twenty-eight
• Ninety = Quatre-vingt-dix Literally: four-twenty-ten
• Ninety-five = Quatre-vingt-quinze Literally: four-twenty-fifteen

It gets even more confusing if you venture into any other French-speaking countries: In Belgium and Switzerland they use septante (seventy) instead of soixante-dix (sixty-ten) and nonante (ninety) instead of quatre-vingt-dix (four-twenty-ten). In Switzerland (but not in Belgium) they also use huitante for eighty, instead of quatre-vingts.

If this all seems too confusing for you, just stick with the French-French numbers we’ve outlined below. Regardless of which country you visit, these numbers will always be understood, even if they’re not conventionally used.

The pattern for French numbers over 20:

• 20 = vingt
• 21 = vingt et un
• 22 = vingt-deux
• 30 = trente
• 40 = quarante
• 50 = cinquante
• 60 = soixante
• 70 = soixante-dix
• 71 = soixante et onze
• 72 = soixante-douze
• 80 = quatre-vingts

• 81 = quatre-vingt-un
• 90 = quatre-vingt-dix
• 91 = quatre-vingt-onze
• 100 = cent
• 110 = cent-dix
• 200 = deux cents
• 250 = deux cents cinquante
• 500 = cinq cents
• 1,000 = mille
• 2,000 = deux mille
• 1,000,000 = un million

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Paris is the capital and largest city in France. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region. The city of Paris, within its administrative limits largely unchanged since 1860, has an estimated population of 2,193,031 (January 2007), but the Paris metropolitan area has a population of 11,836,970 (January 2007), and is one of the most populated metropolitan areas in Europe.

In 2009 and 2010, Paris has been ranked among the three most important and influential cities in the world, among the first three “European cities of the future” – according to a research published by Financial Times and among the ten cities in the world “where to live in” according to the British review Monocle (June 2010). An important settlement for more than two millennia, Paris is today one of the world’s leading business and cultural centres, and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world’s major global cities. Paris also ranks among the 10 European greenest cities in 2010 and the projected top ten wealthiest cities in 2020 and 2025 together with London, São Paulo, Tokyo, New York City and Shanghai.

Paris and the Paris Region, with €552.7 billion in 2008, produces more than a quarter of the gross domestic product of France. According to 2007 estimates, the Paris urban agglomeration is Europe’s biggest city economy and the sixth largest in the world. The Paris Region hosts 38 of the Fortune Global 500 companies in several business districts, notably La Défense, the largest purpose-built business district in Europe. Paris also hosts many international organizations such as UNESCO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the informal Paris Club. According to the latest survey from Economist Intelligence Unit in 2010, Paris is the world’s most expensive city to live in.

Paris is the first tourist destination in all the world with 45 million tourists annually, 27 million of whom are foreign visitors. The city and region contain numerous iconic landmarks, world-famous institutions and popular parks.

During the early 1700s, French colonists settled and built houses in an number of area’s of the USA, including the Mississippi Valley, especially Louisiana. An eclectic “Creole” house architecture evolved, combining building traditions from France, the Caribbean, the West Indies, and other parts of the world.

Creole houses from the Colonial period were especially designed for the hot, wet climate of that region. Traditional French Colonial Creole houses had some or all of the features below:

• timber frame with brick or “bousillage” (mud combined with moss and animal hair)

• wide hipped roof extends over porches

• thin wooden columns

• living quarters raised above ground level

• wide porches, called “galleries”

• no interior hallways

• porches used as passageway between rooms

• french doors (doors with many small panes of glass)

Below are some examples of these Colonial Houses.

French Colonial Plantation Home:

This grand stone mansion combines a variety of styles from France:

After World War I, soldiers returning to the United States and Canada brought a keen interest in French housing styles. Building plan books and home magazines began to feature modest homes inspired by French building traditions. Grand homes like the one shown here were constructed with a fanciful mix of French details. Details vary, but French-inspired homes are distinguished by their distinctive hipped roofs and flared eaves.

French Normandy style house:

Some French style homes borrow ideas from Normandy, where barns were attached to the living quarters. Grain or ensilage was stored in a central turret. The Norman Cottage is a cozy and romantic style that features a small round tower topped by a cone-shaped roof. Other Normandy homes resemble miniature castles with arched doorways set in imposing towers. Like Tudor style houses, 20th-century French Normandy homes may have decorative half-timbering. Unlike Tudor style homes, however, houses influenced by French styles do not have a dominant front gable.

French Provincial House:

Provincial houses tend to be square and symmetrical. They resemble small manor homes with massive hipped roofs and window shutters. Frequently, tall second floor windows break through the cornice. Unlike French Normandy houses, French Provincial homes do not have towers.

French Eclectic Cottage:

French Eclectic homes combine a variety of French influences. The cottage pictured above is a charming example of a home inspired by the symmetrical Provincial style. It was built in 1938 and is sided in Austin Stone.