Court of Justice

This is the Palais de Justice in Montpellier. It was built around 1850. It is a very beautiful building, which is located on the avenue Foch, close to the Arc de Triomphe and to the Esplanade du Peyrou.

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe stands at the end (or beginning :-)) of the avenue Foch, before the entrance of Les Jardins du Peyrou. As you can see, it is perfectly aligned with the statue of Louis XIV and the water tower.

Before it was restored a few years ago, the stone was white, or rather grey and black. We were first surprised at seeing this ochre color but we were told that it was the original color of the Arc when it was erected in the seventeenth century.

You can read a complete description of the Arc de Triomphe on the site of Montpellier Hérault.

The Sun King

The statue of Louis XIV has been placed so high that it is impossible to take a good shot of it. It is right in the middle of the Jardins du Peyrou.

Can you imagine a Sun King riding a horse, without spurs?

The cherub and the lion

I like this statue of a cherub and a lion, which seem to be guarding the Jardins du Peyrou. Usually cherubs are obese but this one is handsome and almost thin. The lion looks young and powerful. I thought the statue dated to Louis 14th's time but actually it was made by sculptor Injalbert in the 19th century and was installed in le Peyrou in 1883. Its name is "L'Amour domptant la Force (love taming strength). On the other side of the gate, there is another statue called La Force domptant l'Amour (strength taming love). I need to photograph the second statue.

By the way, in France, "young lions" are younger socialist leaders, whereas those of the previous generation are called "elephants." The lions want to drive the elephants away from their positions, but the elephants stick to them. I don't think French right-wing politicians are compared to animals...

I found the information regarding the statue on the site Montpellier Histoire.

Water tower

At 9 AM on Saturday, the water tower in Les Jardins du Peyrou, one of the largest plazas in Montpellier, looked almost disquieting against the clouds. But the sky is never grey for long here. After one minute or two, I took the second shot.