Wood Is Good – World’s Tallest Wooden Towers Proposed for Paris

As American Carpenters in Paris you learn quickly how little wood is used in construction and renovation here.

Bottom line; it’s just too expensive.

Much of Europe has been deforested many hundreds of years ago. In fact the first US patent was for potash or wood ashes used for fertilizer, which was sold to Britain and other European countries.

But lately, it seems as if wood has been getting a bad rap.

The focus on sustainable development never seems to include lumber as a material of choice; that is until now.

In the article, Towers Proposed For Paris Would Be The World’s Tallest Wooden Structures wood evangelist and architect Michael Green argues exactly the opposite.

He says because of new technological advances wood as a building material has become stronger, safer, and more economical than steel.

But Green goes even further, “Just as Gustave Eiffel shattered our conception of what was possible a century and a half ago, this project can push the envelope of wood innovation with France in the forefront.”

And with a name like ‘Green’ it’s kind of hard not listen.

Peaceful, quiet walks and detours to enjoy in Paris

La Petite Ceinture

Time Out Paris guides you through the colorful streets of Paris in Spring. They offer ideas or proposals for peaceful, quiet walks and detours for you to enjoy. Click here for the complete article and slideshows or below for more info on each site.

•L’île aux Cygnes, 15e

• Square de la Butte du Chapeau Rouge, 19e

• La Petite Ceinture, 15e

Promenade autour de l’église orthodoxe Saint-Serge, 19e

• Square Montsouris, 14e

• Rue Crémieux, 12e

• Villa Léandre, 18e

• De la villa de l’Ermitage à la rue Laurence Savart, 20e

• Rue des Thermopyles, 14e

The Million Dollar Cave Man

From the Lascaux caves to the Palace of Versailles, France is home to some of the most unique and cherished one-of-a-kind dwellings in the world.  But for the past 25 years, Ra Paulette (sounds French) has been carving out man-made caves from the sandstone hills of New Mexico, USA. Driven by passion, not profit he sculpts these spaces into works of art he calls wilderness shrines. In one case he only charged a client 12 dollars and hour for his labor. Yet 2 of his caves along with the 200 acres around them are selling for close to a million dollars .

Vive l’amour!

 

3 Amazing Reasons To Buy In France NOW Rather Miss A Chance Of A Lifetime

English: Exchange rate Euro - Slovak koruna De...

English: Exchange rate Euro – Slovak koruna Deutsch: Wechselkurs Euro – Slowakische Krone (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Wall Street Journal article ‘American Real Estate Buyers Take Advantage of the Falling Euro’ gives us an insight to why now is time to buy in Europe.

  1. Europe On Sale 25% Discount!: For Americans who have always dreamed of owning a second home overseas but have hesitated for one reason or another, the falling euro’s is a game changer. The dollar has strengthened 26% against the euro in less than a year. The last time the dollar was this trading this strong was in 2003.
  2. Rejoice In Choice:  President Hollande’s market reforms put a damper on a French housing trend that was rising at a time when many property markets around the world were struggling. This led to the housing glut we see today.  “There are also more choices: Inventory of the highest-end apartments is way up”, said Mr. Kraft of Sotheby’s, “partly in response to new taxes on wealth and assets.”
  3. A Perfect Storm – New prices, plus the exchange rates, are just starting to lure Americans back into a market they have avoided since the financial crisis. However, combine that with mortgage rates at an all time low worldwide and this truly is a torrential down pouring of opportunity for anyone who ever dreamed of buying property in France.

The Rotting Rothschild Mansion Of Paris

The Rothschilds are legendary as one of the greatest European banking families ever. They own grand estates and Chateaus throught the world that are well-known for anything but squalor, ruin or decay. However just outside of Paris, walking distance from Metro Jean Jaurès Line 10, standing quietly behind a thick wall of shrubbery and overgrowth is the haunting, ghostly figure of the Chateau Rothschild.

The neo-Louis XIV estate house has been abandoned since the World War II when the Rothschild family fled to England. Germans would inhabit and plunder the house during the four-year Nazi occupation of Paris. After the city’s liberation, the U.S. army were the next tenants at the Chateau Rothschild. The Rothschilds never returned to their home which has been left to rot, crumble and deteriorate.

This once palatial estate was built to reflect the Rothschild wealth and fortune. It boasted a regal English garden with picturesque waterfalls and beautiful indoor frescoes by Eugène Lami. For over eight years James Rothschild and his wife Betty, hosted the most lavish parties of the time within these walls.

Their guests and party goers would include great artists of the day like Rossini, Chopin, Balzac, and Delacroix as well as, a who’s who of the financial and political world.

Chopin even dedicated his Valse Op. 64, N° 2 in C sharp minor to their daughter Charlotte.

As the champagne flowed while the laughter and music rang through the halls, it would have been impossible to imagine that the this great estate house, the Chateau de Rothschild would be doomed to become a playground for vermin, graffiti artists and vandals.

Sources:

http://www.messynessychic.com

http://www.urban-exploration.com

https://www.wikipedia.org/