Mourrain doesn't show up in LBK or BDT yet, but it's clear that he does lots of illustrations for childrens' books. The style we see above seems to be his most common, but he also works in a more monotone, shade-heavy approach. More of his work can be seen here.
I don't know if this little collection appears in any particular book (I couldn't find it), but in any case it appears to involve three children visiting these famous places:
Pyramid entrance to Le Louvre.
Opéra Garnier’s grand staircase, with the Phantom of the Opera just visible under the stairs. EDIT: thanks to "troglodyte_mignon" in comments for the info!
That's The Brooklyn Bridge, of course.
And finally, Le Jardin des plantes, which I understand to be headquarters of the National Museum of Natural History, which also includes a zoo! :D
Btw, I found that statue pretty cool, both in spectacle, and due to the fact that Lamarck was an early proponent of evolution. (I'd never heard of the guy)
Layout of Le Jardin, showing its four main galleries, greenhouses (it was originally a royal garden for medicinal plants), and all the smaller buildings.
I've only been to Paris once as an adult, and certainly regret not spending time here(!)
BONUS: Maybe a theme song-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN64qgptQQA
Hey, I think we're in luck with Weing's old journal! I double-checked various archive dates, and it appears the entire run had been finished and archived by 2004-2005 at least. So for example:
https://web.archive.org/web/20050403162830/http://www.drewweing.com/journalcomic/
EDIT: Hmm, some comics are missing here and there from that archive date. Possibly accessing an earlier or later archive date could be used to fill those in.
ah great idea!
i might make this my first reread then, haha, i read it annually back in the day.
fantastic!