Above 1957, below 2021

Ever since I saw the top photo of the Louvre metro station entrance, photographed in 1957 for a Christian Dior advertising campaign, I’ve wanted to take a photo of it. Well, I finally did. Last Sunday I grabbed my camera, jumped on the metro and rode the rails to this metro station to take a picture.

What’s changed is the name: from Louvre to Louvre-Rivoli. But everything else seems to be the same: the ornate wrought iron railings, the large map of the city, the buildings in the backgound, the drooping pendant light globes made to resemble lily-of-the-valley flowers. Pure Art Nouveau and designed by French architect, Hector Guimard, between 1900 and 1913. Today, these metro station entrances are protected historic monuments.

As I strolled up the rue de Rivoli towards the Place de la Concorde, I began to think what Paris must’ve been like in 1957. When I got home and began hunting on YouTube, I found this video entitled 1957: Sunday in Paris. (Le dimanche à Paris).