A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of life…
Thomas Jefferson
One of the things I most enjoy when exploring a city is photographing the little details of the buildings. Carved stone, wrought iron, weathered wood; all these things add to the picture of the city streets I hope to create. Doors especially are full of such details: knockers, handles, decorative features.
On our most recent trip to Paris we experienced a real mix of weather. A wet day was followed by a dry and sunny one, and that followed by one with a mix of sun and showers. On the wet days in particular I tended to turn my camera towards such features, eliminating the dull skies and raindrops. On my return I realised that some at least would work well as squares for Becky’s #SevenforSeptember challenge. So here are seven of my favourites.
The bonus unsquared shot featured above is of a door in the Rue Notre-Dame de Lorette, in the Nouvelle Athènes district (9th arrondissement). It features the faces of Héloïse and Abelard, the tragic Medieval lovers buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery. Several other images below were taken in the same area of the city, a new one for us to explore. I’ll post a longer account of our walk there soon but I hope these will whet your appetite!
As there are several doors here I’m adding a link to Dan’s Thursday Doors challenge (one I haven’t done for quite a while it seems, despite liking to photograph doors!)
In the Rue Mouffetard
These ‘pixel art’ mosaics can be spotted all over the city. They are the work of French artist ‘Invader’ and are inspired by video games from the 1970s and 1980s
Door detail, Rue Notre-Dame de Lorette (I loved the squirrel!)
Door of a house on the Île Saint-Louis, possibly my favourite part of the city
Detail of a door in the Rue de la Rochefoucauld
Detail above a door in the Rue Notre-Dame de Lorette
Building detail in the Rue des Martyrs
Detail underneath the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge across the Seine
I last travelled to Paris in September 2024, when all these photos were taken.
63 Comments
Ruth Rosenfeld
These are all lovely. The squirrel detail on Rue Notre-Dame de Lorette is special.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Ruth, I loved that squirrel when I spotted him there 😀
Annie Berger
Loved your attention to detail in finding the collection of doorknockers! Being a romantic at heart, my favorite was Heloise and Abelard though the squirrel was a close second. Looks like you found a great walk to go on from the tourism website. Annie
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Annie, you’ve picked out my own two favourites there 😀 Yes, it was a great walk, although the directions weren’t always quite accurate!
Anonymous
Sarah, what lovely architectural details from your recent trip to Paris you captured here!! That is one of the things I love most about traveling: finding the fascinating, unexpected details of architecture wherever they may be! A lovely post!!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you so much 😀 I do wish I knew who you were – next time please include your name if you’re not logged into WP
equinoxio21
I couldn’t agree more about the details. Love those doors, details, knockers. Any one of those could only be in Paris. Those “meshed” doors in particular… Quite common in certain areas.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you – yes, I love those distinctive Parisian doors!
wetanddustyroads
That doors can be so beautiful … and all the detail! I think the squirrel door is the prettiest one for me.
Sarah Wilkie
That seems to be a general favourite with everyone, including me! Glad you enjoyed these 🙂
Alison
So many beautiful details, I loved my time in Paris for this reason also. I wonder about the story of the two lovers, I’m a great reader of books with stories like that.
Regarding issues of comments, it depends for me on what device I’m on, the computer works best, but most of the time I use my iPad or phone. But on my phone I don’t get to see the photos properly. Also on my iPad I have to sign in each time if I go through the emails!
Sarah Wilkie
If you haven’t already tracked it down, you can read their story here: https://www.medieval.eu/medieval-love-story-abelard-heloise/ It’s very sad!
Thanks for the info about your experience of commenting. I often have that problem with needing to sign in on my tablet – not every time but often enough to be irritating! The issue I’m having now is that whatever device I use, when I comment on my own posts, e.g. replying to you and others, it hangs at the ‘submitting comment’ stage. So it appears not to have worked, but if I refresh the page the comment is there. I can sort-of live with that, but if it were to be happening to everyone I know it would put you all off engaging! So far only Phil seems to be having the same issue, which is interesting because their blog is the only other one I’m experiencing it with – odd 🥴 I thought perhaps it was because we used the same theme so I changed mine but it hasn’t resolved it. I may need to seek help …
Dalmatian Insider
This post is a prime example of why it is so enchanting to walk around Paris! I studied in Paris for one year in college and found that while the Métro is super convenient (and a necessity when rushing to class!), there definitely is lots to be gained by simply walking places. And I’m happy you were able to find a creative purpose for your rainy day! BTW… Rue Mouffetard is such a happening street! I had some fun times at the cafe Le Mouffetard. Great tidbit about the Nouvelle Athènes area… I’ll have to check it out the next time I’m there.
Sarah Wilkie
Ooh, it must have been wonderful to spend a year in Paris! I agree totally about walking in the city and we love the Rue Mouffetard. We stayed very near there this year and I’ll be sharing more photos from the area soon 🙂
Teresa
Yay you found a pixelated art, Love it. Did you find more of them? And I really love the door knockers.
Sarah Wilkie
I spotted lots of the pixilated art but didn’t take so many photos of it this year as I have lots from the past two visits 😀
Suzanne
The French always do a fantastic job of creating art on basic requirements such as doors. I do miss wandering around the streets in Europe. Good images, Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
They do, don’t they? Paris is a wonderful place for that sort of wandering 🙂 So pleased you liked these shots Suzanne 😀
Amy
Beautiful door details, Sarah! Great photos.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Amy, glad you liked them 🙂
thehungrytravellers.blog
You have such a good eye for the little details. Yep, I love the squirrel too!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Phil 🙂 That squirrel is definitely the overall favourite I reckon!
thehungrytravellers.blog
WP query #1. For your last five or six posts, when I comment, I get a message saying a problem occurred and it hasn’t sent. And then I get a reply from you to the message which apparently you didn’t receive!?🤷♀️🤷♀️ Work that one out!
Sarah Wilkie
Ah, I was going to ask you about this! For the last couple of days when I reply to a comment on my blog I get a ‘submitting comment’ message which just hangs there. But if I refresh the page I find the comment has posted OK. I suspect that’s what’s happening to your comments here? I’ve been able to comment on everyone else’s posts without any problems apart from yours, where I get the same message. I started to conclude that it must be a problem with the Ashe theme as we both used it so yesterday I spent ages changing themes to Graceful which has a similar clean look. In my trial run my test comment on my own post worked fine so I ploughed on with the changes only to find once I published them that I was still stuck with the same problem (and still on your posts too btw). I have no idea what can be causing it and I’m reluctant to contact any happiness engineers as I’ve only recently had them spend ages sorting something else for me! I keep hoping it will resolve itself with an update to something or other … Meanwhile, rest assured your comments ARE posting despite the error messages. Try refreshing the page to see if it’s there next time you comment.
thehungrytravellers.blog
Yep, exactly all that. I’ve now just accepted that the comments are posting despite the message and I’m ignoring the warning each time. Also, your posts take longer to load than everyone else’s. It’s like we’ve suddenly become incompatible!
Sarah Wilkie
Is that slow loading just since yesterday when I changed themes? Or has it been going on a bit longer than that?
thehungrytravellers.blog
Longer. Simultaneous with the comments issue.
Sarah Wilkie
It could be because you have less good connections over there and I put a lot of photos in my posts?
thehungrytravellers.blog
Maybe. Who knows?!
BeckyB
oh these are fabulous, and you are brilliant recalling where each one was
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Becky 😊 As we were only there for three days it was quite easy to remember where we went each day, also on the third day when most of these were taken we were following a suggested walk on the Paris tourist website, so I went back to that to check where we’d been! How are things – did you have a good flight?
BeckyB
now that’s even more impressive!
and yes excellent flight thanks
kzmcb
Very cool selection of seven, Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you, glad you like them 🙂
restlessjo
A great place to collect a few details, Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
A few? You should see how many photos I have still to share (most non-squarable)!
Monkey's Tale
The doorknockers are wonderful! Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
They’re gorgeous, aren’t they?! I have a few more that will no doubt appear in future posts 😀
grandmisadventures
Oh I always love beautiful doorknockers and these are gems 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Me too, I’m always on the lookout for them 😀 These are just a couple of those I photographed this time in Paris – the others didn’t fit so neatly into squares!
dennyho
I adore all the ornate door knockers and embellishments, Sarah. Paris offers much beauty in its details.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you – yes, Paris is lovely in that respect (and many others!) 🙂
Anne Sandler
Great detail shots Sarah!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne 🙂
Heyjude
A fabulous collection Sarah, I love these kind of details.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Jude, I enjoyed putting it together 🙂
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
Some great contrasts there – the head under the bridge was a bit of a shock after the lovely face from Rue des Martyrs above it!
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, he is a bit fierce isn’t he?! Thank you Anabel 🙂
Anonymous
Brilliant set! I loved the Rue Notre-Dame de Lorette squirrel, and the ornate door knockers!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Sue – I’m rather fond of that squirrel myself 🙂
Dan Antion
Thanks for linking this post to Thursday Doors. I love seeing the hardware, the guardians and the decorations.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Dan, I’m glad you enjoyed seeing them 🙂
margaret21
These are great. Nope, can’t pick a favourite. All of them!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Margaret, and there’s never an obligation to choose 🙂
Easymalc
Great attention to the smallest detail as always Sarah. Perfecto!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Malcolm 😊 You know I love this sort of thing!
Easymalc
I do!
susurrus
A wonderful compilation. The pixel art mosaics are a great idea – a mix of new and old.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Susan 🙂 I love those pixel art pieces too, and there are hundreds of them in Paris now – almost every street seems to have at least one!
Kymber Hawke
The details are exquisite! I hope I can see them in person one day.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you – I hope so too!
Tanja
Great door knockers. You could link this post to Thursday doors linkup as well
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Tanja 🙂 I did think about that but it’s a long while since I did that challenge and I’m trying not to do so many these days. However, since this post is already written I guess it wouldn’t hurt to add a link – thanks for the suggestion!