Shoes of Gold at Hôpital Necker - Enfants Malades {Paris Photo}

Shoes of Gold - Hôpital Necker - Enfants Malades © 2015 Chant Wagner

Color Story Series

I'll be honest, in this case smell was not a trigger, rather it was color. Hôpital Necker - Enfants Malades is, as its name indicates, the specialist hospital for sick children in Paris. It is known as the first pediatric hospital in the world, founded in 1778 by Madame Necker - the mother of Madame de Staël - and dedicated exclusively to pediatry from 1801...

You wished the name were more joyful as the children who are referred there are the ones who suffer from more complex and serious pathologies or need to be rushed to an emergency room. At the same time, it is explicit. It shows the determination to carve out an institutional space in the capital city for the care of kids. In fact, and according to Wikipedia, 20% of the young patients come from outside Paris.

When you look at those shoes they say: we're in this together; going to the hospital is fun; we're going to beat this - with our golden shoes.

The shiny sneakers with colorful hearts - ok, they're replicating the US flag - look like superhero shoes.

This is an early October light.