Gare de Paris (Est)

Photograph of the frontal view of the East station in Paris, overlooking a large square in the foreground.

This photograph is part of an album of prints and photographs presented to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a memento of their state visit to France from 18-27 August 1855. The album shows landmarks on the route of the Chemin de Fer du Nord, by which they travelled between Boulogne and Paris. The Queen's description of the journey shows it was not always comfortable as 'the heat and dust, in the train, were very great - really dreadful, and I never felt hotter.' Baldus completed the photography in three days. Some of his prints, including this one of the Gare du Paris, seem to reflect national pride in a new, industrial France, rising out of the ashes of the Revolution of 1848.