Paris, France

This card is from a lovely French woman I sent an official to recently. She really liked it and asked if I'd like to swap with her. Sure I did, it's not like I receive postcards from France every day, plus she was super nice and it's always great to swap with people like her. :)



I like it how this is a slightly different view of Paris, even if you can still see the Eiffel Tower in it. On the front you can see Pont Alexandre III, an arch bridge that spans the Seine, connecting the Champs-Élysées quarter and the Invalides and Eiffel Tower quarter, widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in Paris. The bridge, with its exuberant Art Nouveau lamps, cherubs, nymphs and winged horses at either end, was built between 1896 and 1900. It is named after Tsar Alexander III, who had concluded the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1892. His son Nicholas II laid the foundation stone in October 1896. The style of the bridge reflects that of the Grand Palais, to which it leads on the right bank. The construction of the bridge is a marvel of 19th century engineering, consisting of a six-metre high single span steel arch. The design, by the architects Joseph Cassien-Bernard and Gaston Cousin, was subject to strict controls that prevented the bridge from obscuring the view of the Champs-Élysées or the Invalides. The bridge was built by the engineers Jean Résal and Amédée d'Alby and inaugurated in 1900 for the Universal Exhibition (as were the nearby Grand Palais and Petit Palais). The Pont Alexandre III is classified as a historical monument.



When I first saw this card I was a bit confused by the stamp and at first I thought it was mailed from Singapore. :P But no, it's a French stamp, issued last year to commemorate the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.