This is a collage of some of the photos I took of the travelling Buddy Bears when they were displayed underneath the Eiffel Tower last Autumn.

On my recent weekend away in Paris I went up the Eiffel tower and when I looked down at the Champs de Mars from the viewing platform I noticed, through the morning mist, two rows of “people” lined up on either side of the lawn.  I decided to investigate a little more closely after I had descended the tower.

On closer inspection I found that they were bears rather than people and that they formed a touring exhibition of United Buddy Bears.  The bears are on display in Paris (for a few weeks) to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the twinning of Paris and Berlin and the 50^thanniversary of the Élysée Treaty.

You can find out more about the project (including my thoughts) in my post ‘The Art of Tolerance” or on the official ‘United Buddy Bear” site.

On the day I chose to visit the Eiffel Tower during my recent weekend in Paris, the tower was partially shrouded in mist.  The mist was a bonus, it meant there were no queues and we were able to go up the tower without any delay.  As I looked down from the tower along the Champs De Mars I noticed two rows of statues, which I thought were people.  I decided to go and investigate when I got down from the tower…

My investigation revealed that they were statues of bears not people and that they were an artwork project.

I invite you to join me at Vision & Verb where I talk about the Buddy Bear exhibition that was lined up along the Champs de Mars during my recent trip to Paris.