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A fake mountain and real magic transform Paris' oldest bridge

Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times
Jun 23, 2026
3 hrs ago
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The Caverne du Pont-Neuf, the monumental installation by French artist and photographer JR, with the canvas consolidated with ropes after storm damage, in Paris, France on June 14, 2026. The work pays homage to the installation created on the bridge by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 1985. (Laurent Caron/Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

Laurent Caron/Hans Lucas/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Visitors walk through the latest artwork of French artist JR, "La Caverne du Pont Neuf" on the Pont-Neuf bridge in Paris on June 15, 2026.

Visitors walk through the latest artwork of French artist JR, "La Caverne du Pont Neuf" ("The Pont Neuf Cave") on the Pont-Neuf bridge in Paris on June 15, 2026. The "Caverne", the installation by artist JR that has taken Paris' Pont Neuf by storm, is open to the public on the evening of June 15, 2026, following emergency repairs to the canvas structure, which had been damaged by bad weather, JR's team has announced. (Photo by Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

Joel Saget/AFP/HODELETE60/TNS

French artist JR gives an interview on the day of the public opening of his monumental work Caverne du Pont-Neuf on the Pont-Neuf, in Paris, France on June 15, 2026. The work pays homage to the wrapping carried out by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 1985. (Laurent Caron/Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

Laurent Caron/Hans Lucas/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

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Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times

PARIS — There's a present-day answer to the question that was posed in verse by the French medieval poet and street brawler François Villon: "Where are the snows of yesteryear?"

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