There’s a building in Fredericksburg that’s known as “the big ugly.” It’s a modernist building that is significantly taller than the others surrounding it. Personally, I like it. However, when my professor’s daughter said that the Montparnasse Tower was “the biggest ugly” I couldn’t agree more. The Montparnasse Tower was built as part of urban renewal in the 1970s and at 59 stories, it completely stands out from its neighborhood.
We went to the top of it as a class last week because while we can’t really have a discussion on the Eiffel Tower, the completely empty viewing area of the Montparnasse Tower was perfect. When the Eiffel Tower was built, a French author, Guy de Maupassant, said that he ate lunch at it every day because it was the only place in the city where you could look out and not see it. I feel that way about the Montparnasse Tower. All over the city, I’ll look down a vista and see it looming.
I’ve seen it from the Montparnasse Cemetary in the surrounding neighborhood…
the Eiffel Tower…
and the Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise almost 4 miles away.
Despite the tower, the Montparnasse neighborhood is one of my favorites. It gets enough tourists that it’s not a problem that I don’t speak French, but is still an area were normal people live. There’s a street with around eight different crepe shops all with different themes (that’s the touristy area, it’s right next to the street with about eight different hotels). There’s a park where markets are sometimes held and there’s a lot of cool architecture. When I was there yesterday, I found some really cool seals of Paris on a school and a municipal building.
Until next time,
Laurie
2 Comments
I agree on the “big ugly” building in Fredericksburg, I like its quirk. The huge tower in Monpanarse is so interesting because to many it is an eyesore and stands out against the pillars of French architecture; however, in a way, it is a bastion in its own right, one of course, people don’t like, but I wonder how much it truly takes away from Paris. I find it stands like a beacon to the amazing area around it. Whether people like it or not, it seems it’s here to stay.
There is a certain irony to me not liking the tower and yet taking pictures of it whenever I see it throughout the city.
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