I'm reading a great history of Paris called "The Seven Ages of Paris," and it's making my trip so much more enjoyable. I love coming across something like the Tour de Jean Sans Peur (the Tower of John the Fearless), and knowing who he was. The author clearly gets a kick out of Henri IV, so there's quite a bit about him, including his mania for fixing up Paris. Among his many projects, he managed to get the Pont Neuf finished, and there's a statue of him on the bridge (it's a newish version,
created during the Restoration; the original was destroyed in the Revolution). As he was known as the Vert Galant, he looks appropriately gallant on his horse.
According to my book, "It was said that each king had his statue among those he most loved; Henri IV in the midst of the people on the Pont Neuf; Louis XIII among the tumultuous favorites of the Place Royale; while Louis XIV resided with the tax collectors in the Place des Victoires."
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