Tomorrow is public holiday and in France many "font le pont" (make the bridge) by not working today, making it to a long holiday including the weekend. Finally (as I'm not working anyhow) I decided to take care of the bridge issue differently.
In addition to the Pont des Arts, two other bridges lead directly from the Louvre to the southern (left) bank of the Seine: Pont Royal and Pont du Carrousel. 
A first Pont Royal from 1632, partly wooden, replaced a ferry service. The street leading to this bridge on the left bank is still called Rue du Bac (Ferry Street). Several incidents with this bridge led to the need to construct the present one, built 1685-1689 (see top picture). This is an illustration from the construction (1687) and we can see some of the same buildings as on the top photo: Sainte Chapelle, Notre Dame, the home of our Academies (l’Institut de France)... . The bridge has had different names (during the revolutionary years: Pont National, Pont des Tuileries). 
This bridge is one of the crossings between the Louvre and the old railway station, now the Quai d’Orsay Museum. 
On two of the pictures you can see above, taken through the arches of Pont Royal, you can see the next bridge, Pont du Carrousel.
From Port Royal, you have also an excellent view of the Grand Palais - with the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor in front.
The Pont du Carrousel looks also quite old, but it was actually built just before WW II (1935-39) and with efforts to make it look fairly similar to the previous one, an earlier bridge from 1831 with different names (Pont des Saint-Pères – after the left bank street leading to it -, Pont du Louvre - and finally Pont du Carrousel). Under the arches of the Louvre, the street prolonging the bridge leads on the right bank to Place du Carrousel, the central square in the middle of the Louvre Palace.
The street along the Seine on the left bank, facing the Louvre, between the two bridges, Quai Voltaire, is quite interesting, not only because Voltaire died in one of the buildings (no. 27). You can find a shop, Sennelier, which since 1887 has equipped most of the famous in Paris working painters with the material needed for their art. (Our former President, J. Chirac now lives a bit higher up in the building.) Ingres, Delacroix, Corot had their studios in one of the buildings. In a still existing hotel (at no. 19), Charles Baudelaire, Richard Wagner, Jean Sibelius, Oscar Wilde, Camille Pissarro... stayed and worked during more or less long periods. These are just examples. There are also a number of exclusive antique and art shops. (On one of the pictures you may see a very narrow building which almost could compete with smallest house in Paris (see previous post), but this one is leads to something quite bigger and fashionable behind the gate.)
A first Pont Royal from 1632, partly wooden, replaced a ferry service. The street leading to this bridge on the left bank is still called Rue du Bac (Ferry Street). Several incidents with this bridge led to the need to construct the present one, built 1685-1689 (see top picture). This is an illustration from the construction (1687) and we can see some of the same buildings as on the top photo: Sainte Chapelle, Notre Dame, the home of our Academies (l’Institut de France)... . The bridge has had different names (during the revolutionary years: Pont National, Pont des Tuileries). This bridge is one of the crossings between the Louvre and the old railway station, now the Quai d’Orsay Museum. On two of the pictures you can see above, taken through the arches of Pont Royal, you can see the next bridge, Pont du Carrousel.From Port Royal, you have also an excellent view of the Grand Palais - with the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor in front.
The Pont du Carrousel looks also quite old, but it was actually built just before WW II (1935-39) and with efforts to make it look fairly similar to the previous one, an earlier bridge from 1831 with different names (Pont des Saint-Pères – after the left bank street leading to it -, Pont du Louvre - and finally Pont du Carrousel). Under the arches of the Louvre, the street prolonging the bridge leads on the right bank to Place du Carrousel, the central square in the middle of the Louvre Palace.
The street along the Seine on the left bank, facing the Louvre, between the two bridges, Quai Voltaire, is quite interesting, not only because Voltaire died in one of the buildings (no. 27). You can find a shop, Sennelier, which since 1887 has equipped most of the famous in Paris working painters with the material needed for their art. (Our former President, J. Chirac now lives a bit higher up in the building.) Ingres, Delacroix, Corot had their studios in one of the buildings. In a still existing hotel (at no. 19), Charles Baudelaire, Richard Wagner, Jean Sibelius, Oscar Wilde, Camille Pissarro... stayed and worked during more or less long periods. These are just examples. There are also a number of exclusive antique and art shops. (On one of the pictures you may see a very narrow building which almost could compete with smallest house in Paris (see previous post), but this one is leads to something quite bigger and fashionable behind the gate.)
I have had the great pleasure to receive this award from some of you, the last one being Ingrid in Cologne. Once more I'm unable to choose to whom in particular to forward it, so I make it to a common award to all my kind visitors!
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