Every arrondissement has an impressive historical building, called a mairie, in which they conduct their arrondissement’s business. The Hotel de Ville is the city hall of Paris’ 4th arrondissement and the seat of the Paris City Council. I haven’t seen all of the city’s mairies but this has to be the most impressive one in size. As always, it is hard to capture that massiveness 
in a photo. (The word hotel in French not only refers to hotels as we know them but also to town halls and, historically, private mansions.)The building was destroyed by fire in 1871 and was rebuilt between 1874 and 1882. The famous motto on the Paris crest is “She is buffeted by the waves, but does not sink.” The place in front of the hotel was the site of many capital executions when it was the place de Greve during the Revolution. But today, it hosts numerous celebrations—beach volleyball courts in the summer; the ice skating rink in the winter; exhibitions, concerts, and football (soccer) matches shown on giant screens. When Mary and I were here in 2005, they were holding a ceremony for the pompiers (firemen)—lots of very good-looking French men lined up for their awards. I believe Mary, like so many other women with their cameras, got some memorable shots of them!
Here’s a fun and whimsical picture of some horses on the carousel that sits in front of the Hotel de Ville. During the holidays, there are additional carousels installed all over the city. Others are permanent, like the ones near the Eiffel Tower (dated 1900 - bottom of the post) and in the Tuileries Garden in front of the Louvre. I can’t remember if this one at the Hotel de Ville will go the way of the temporary (until February 17th) ice skating rink or if it remains there all the time. 
By the way, the weather in some of these pictures depicts a typical white cloudy day in Paris—not quite grey—just white. And this blah-ness contributes to the reason that some people get depressed. Pas moi! (Not me!) (The one of the ice skating rink was taken on a different day—a day that saw some rain, obviously.)
