Hotel des Grands Hommes, May 2006

On the 8th May I invited my beautiful companion Gaëlle for a walk around the Pantheon area, with nothing really specific in mind apart from discovering some new places. We met up at the Paul Painlevé square just next to the national Medieval History museum. The sweet air of Spring was alive in Paris that weekend. What a pleasure for us Parisians to stay in a hotel in our own town.

When we arrived at the Grands Hommes, we were given room n°1 which looks onto the Place du Panthéon, and let ourselves have a little siesta in the "grand empire" décor. After secret pleasures that only the four walls know of, we started off on our wild walk.

As we happened to be nearby, we decided to visit the crypt of the Pantheon, where you are met by the scent of revolution and liberty. It's an incredibly powerful place. A few photos in the infinite corridors, the sculpture of a face dating from the Roman era, then some silhouettes passing through the heart of the building like ghosts. By climbing into the heights of the place we discovered a vantage point for seeing Paris as never before. I hear a Chinese woman talk of her first loves, one man is as silent as if he were watching the sea. The whole world is at our feet, and I wonder where are the 'great men' of our time.

A photographic homage to those who rest in peace there.