Lady in Red

I really wanted this lady to be more central but she was walking at such a fair pace I had a job keeping up. In the end I gave up and just took the photo...

We're on Place Massena here which was renovated during the tramway project. The fountain is called Fontaine du Soleil and used to sport a 7 metre statue of Apollo in all his naked glory. However it was felt that the public wouldn't be able to cope with the sheer excitement of it all and he was removed. And just in case you're imagining victorian style city fathers; this took place in the 1970's!

Place Garibaldi

This is the other large open place that has been totally transformed by the tramway. Up till now it was easy to overlook the beauty of its proportions simply because the traffic was so awful.

What impressed me about these two squares, Massena and Garbaldi, is that though the trams are powered by overhead cables they cross the squares on battery so as not to clutter up the place with the cables. Cool, n'est-ce pas?

Place Massena

Place Massena used to be a nightmare of traffic jams and frayed tempers. To navigate it successfully required 100% concentration but now, with the traffic all but banished it's possible to appreciate the beauty of the buildings and people can stroll or cycle across the expanse of this spectacular space.

You can see the sculptures on top of the poles and to be honest, I have no idea what they are or what they're meant to represent...any ideas?

Place Massena

There's just something about pink and, given the climate here, it's much easier on the eye than the glare from whitewashed buildings would be.
This building forms the southern boundary of the Place Massena and I like its shape, its colour and the cute cupola.

Place Massena and the Lost Photos

Place Massena was started in 1815 and the buildings are constructed very much in the Italian style as you can see from Galeries Lafayette opposite which has arcades at street level. Great if it rains.
The Place has been much butchered by the new tramway whose tracks are gleaming in the sun but the gardens will be replaced after. I'd like to think that traffic will then be prohibited from this area once the trams are running because it's busy and often polluted.

All my photos from 2006 have disappeared from Picasa so I'm scratching round dredging stuff up so please excuse the poor quality of some of them.
Normal service will be resumed!