SDP on tour....Two women of Paris: Number 1:Simone de Beauvoir

This footbridge across the Seine connects the district of Bercy and the French National Library. It's called the Passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir. It was commissioned in 2006 by the City of Paris from architect Dietmar Feichtinger.

I love that there's a bridge named after a philosopher, feminist, public intellectual and social theorist, and look forward to a new Sydney Harbour Bridge, which will surely be called the Germaine Greer Bridge. No?

Like Greer, Beauvoir once worked as a school teacher. Beauvoir was suspended because of her relationship with an underage (female) student. She campaigned along with others for the abolition of all age of consent laws in France.

One of the lovely things about standing on this bridge is that you can view, moored on the river, another landmark named after another outstanding woman of Paris...about whom more tomorrow. It's over my left shoulder.

By the way, the library is designed so that the four towers resemble open books.