Pont Bir-Hakeim is one of Paris’ Newer Bridges and Lovely to Behold

Pont Bir-Hakeim is definitely not one of Paris’ older bridges but if you want an elevated view of the Eiffel Tower, then your trajectory will take you right across it!. I boarded the Metro Line 6 at Montparnasse traveling in the direction of the Passy Metro stop. I was so taken with the views that I totally forgot to put the camera in action. That is as it should be. The views between the buildings are sometimes fleeting so they are best enjoyed in their entirety. There will be plenty of good photo opportunities once you descend.

October 2016 – Pont Bir-Hakeim

Since I descended at the Passy stop, you should know that this bridge was once called Pont de Passy. The name changed in 1948 to commemorate the Battle of Bir Hakeim which took place in the Libyan dessert in 1942. That’s it for details. If you want the length, style, material, etc type of information on the bridge, Wikipedia can supply all that. For now, just look and enjoy! Look at the architectural lines and the shadows they morning sun casts.

I road the metro over the bridge and as I said before, the views were wonderful. However, you can also drive or walk across the bridge. Here you can see the pedestrian path which runs under the metro line. Cars pass on either side.

I stood here forever just watching the light change as the morning sun changed. I think I fell in love with the bridge at this point!

Next I headed in the direction of the Eiffel Tower to see what kind of early morning photos I might capture. This was about 8am morning sun in October.

As I wandered toward the Eiffel, I was not disappointed with the views that I discovered. The beautiful morning breeze was scattering the clouds and all the autumn leaves were a perfect frame for the lovely la Dame de fer or iron lady.

Pont Bir-Hakeim 2017

The next October we approached Pont Bir-Hakeim from the direction of the Eiffel Tower just as the sun was setting. Even though there was a tremendous amount of cloud cover and frequently misting rain, it was still a beautiful sight to behold.

Our evening stroll led us through the Champs de Mars. Here we bemoaned the fact that the new wall being constructed for security around the Eiffel Tower is really inconvenient. I loved walking straight through the middle and being able to gaze upward, but without a ticket for the tower, that can’t happen now. It is sad that our world has come to this point.

 

 

We crossed the Seine at the carrousel on Pont d’Ilena. Ahhh! Such majesty! It’s less than a 10 minute walk down to Pont Bir-Hakeim but it will probably take you much longer! Who wants to rush when you have such lovely views. I should point out that by now that mist was more like rain and we had no umbrella. Paris is truly lovely in the rain!

 

 

This cast iron sculpture above is the work of Gustave Michel. It commemorates the ironsmith riveters who worked on the bridge. There are a series of these sculptures on the bridge supports.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this as I think I’m going to focus on a couple of other bridges in the coming days/months, depending on what my collection of photos provides for inspiration.

Once you walk from Pont Bir-Hakeim to the Eiffel you are super close to some amazing Art Nouveau buildings in the 7th arrondissement that I highly recommend!