Friday 26 October 2012

Palais des Beaux Artes - San Francisco

In 1915 - or thereabouts - San Francisco hosted a Worlds Fair and the only remnant of that event are the remains of the French exhibit - Palais des Beaux Artes. They can be found in the area called the Marina below the Golden Gate Bridge and on a street which parallels the route from the downtown core to the bridge. Also, it is quite close to the Exploratorium (the Science Center). There is no trace of any of the other buildings from that exposition - just these weather-beaten edifices.

 Except that these ruins are not white, they remind me of the ruins from ancient Greece!

I do not recall us being able to enter any of these old buildings - just admire the beauty of the architecture  in these wonderfully maintained grounds. I have no idea as to the name of the plant with the feathery fronds. It is pretty!

The two lads in this photo are complete strangers to us - they just happened to be strolling by as I snapped the picture.

                                                       The detail of each 'building' is lovely.

As you may have noticed, there is a fairly large pond in front of and between these old ruins and, in that pond, are some fountains which appeared to be connected to a timer - they were not 'spouting' all of the time.

                                                  A different building and another fountain.

                                                A frieze on a part of one of the buildings.
                                       Swans, ducks and seagulls swimming in the large pond.

That is me standing with my back to the pond near the person in the orange/red shirt. Ric took this photo.

Unfortunately, I have very little to relate about this particular spot in San Francisco - just some photos to share. Who the other photographer is - I have no idea.






3 comments:

  1. The gorgeous photos don't need much comment. I wish I had seen these buildings when I was in San Francisco. Next time....

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    1. Lorna- Have you been to San Francisco since I posted the 'Palais des Beaux Arts' blog?

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  2. Lorna, if you are relying on transit while you are there you can take a city bus to within a block of these buildings. As I mentioned in my blog, the 'Palais' is quite close to the Science Center so ask after a bus heading in that direction and then ask the driver to let you off near to the Palais.

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