Carrousel, La Belle Epoque, Hotel de Ville

Place Hotel de Ville, Paris, 75004. Nearest metro, Hotel de Ville, Chatelet.

This carousel, literally called the Belle Epoque, is situated on the large square beside the Town Hall of Paris. Right in the centre of town, the Hotel de Ville itself is a formidable backdrop. It is a temporary carousel, meaning it is sometimes there and sometimes not, depending on what events happen in the square. If you do go there and it is not up, it is only a short work down the Rue du Rivoli to the carousel at St Paul’s.

It is an unspoilt double-decker carousel, not too large in size, with horses and benches on the top floor and an array of different sized horses, carriages, teacups, giraffes, lions, an emergency fire car and a Peugeot below. As with the double decker at Trocadero  there are togaed women holding up the inside column. Again, Parisian scenes are depicted on the panels and also very simple floral decorations on the inner panels of the column on the first floor.

As it is temporary, it is often to be found in winter and it is beautiful at night as the ghostly buildings look on to the carousel, with it’s simple white lights that skirt the panelling, stairs and inside columns. Nothing is brash about this carousel.

Distinguishing Feature/Music: This carousel distinguishing feature is its music. It plays circus music, mostly organ based, and the inside column also features an organ inset. Most of the other carousels in Paris have a French theme, but this one seems to revel in its own spectacle.