“We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.” - John Hope Franklin
How many ways can one person possibly see a city? By foot? Check. By boat? Also check. By bike? After yesterday, I can scratch that one off my list as well!
I spent this past Sunday afternoon with my "auntie-to-be," Ana, who lives close-by, and we went on a bike tour of Paris with Fat Tire Bike Tours. We spent four hours in the sunshine pedaling our way around Paris' monuments, through crowded parks, and even in crazy Parisian traffic! The tour was in English and comprised of 13 cyclists and our knowledgeable and funny guide from New Zealand, Karl, who happened to really look and sound like Chris Martin from Coldplay...
Our super fashionable bikes
[As a side note, I learned this past Friday that Coldplay (who I absolutely love!) is having a concert here in Paris in December. I found out at 10am, the tickets had gone on sale that morning at 9am, and by the time I checked the website to buy my ticket barely an hour later, they were ALL sold out. SO SAD!! I was really hoping to see them here, but since they always tour in the US after their gigs in Europe, there is still hope once I get home...fingers crossed!]
l'Ecole Militaire and our tour guide Karl
We made many stops during our four hour pedaling extravaganza - and let me tell you, biking on cobblestone paths and through sandy parks loaded with people is not a simple task, especially for me, as I am absolutely not a member of the Nimble Club!! The lover of useless knowledge that I am, I really enjoyed our tour as I added many new facts to my repertoire. Since I'm sure you're as curious as I am, I'll share some of what I learned:
Wall For Peace, Champ de Mars
The Wall For Peace, inaugurated in 2000, is a modern-looking structure modeled after the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem which sits at the far end of the Champ de Mars opposite the Eiffel Tower. While Parisians support the idea behind it, the Wall has caused controversy due to its futuristic appearance which doesn't jive with the older buildings which sit in the square adjacent to it.
Les Invalides
Napoloon's tomb rests inside Les Invalides, and while I haven't had time to visit the monument itself yet, I learned a few things about the building during our ride. Napoleon is buried inside six nested coffins sitting inside a massive stone sarcophagus, and he rests with his innards preserved in a separate jar placed between his legs so as not to deteriorate the quality of his corpse. Not that anyone can actually see him or would know either way, but I guess they wanted to give him some sense of dignity.
Hitler in Paris
His son, Napoleon II's body is also buried in Les Invalides, and was actually gifted to France by Hitler. Hitler was obsessed with Napoleon and his militaristic way of life, and upon his only visit to Paris - which lasted a whopping 4 hours - he decided that Napoleon's son should rest near his father, so as an act of respect to his idol Hitler ordered the transfer of the tomb from Vienna, Austria to Paris. Never though Hitler was a gift-giving kind of guy, but I guess you learn something every day!
Also, did anyone else know that the Russians occupied Paris much like the Nazis did? This was news to me, and I've taken many classes involving French history... After Napoleon's failed attempt at successfully invading Russia in 1813, the Russian army followed the French troops back to Paris to make sure that Napoleon abdicated his position as emperor. While the Russian troops were in Paris, they would go to cafes and demand that they were served quickly, shouting the Russian word for quick, "Bistro!", at all the waiters. To advertise their quick service, many cafes started posting signs saying "bistro" on their windows, and thus the bistro that we know today was born.
Place de la Concorde
Last one, I promise! During the French Revolution, Place de la Concorde was the place to be if you wanted to watch mass executions! Execution by guillotine was such a commonplace occurrence that women were often reportedly knitting in the crowd while watching heads roll. When King Louis XVI was executed in 1793 after being found guilty of treason and other various crimes against France, the guillotine was located near the center of the plaza where the famous Egyptian obelisk stands today. (Revolutionaries apparently threw rocks against the blade to dull it before it was used on the King, and it had to be dropped an agonizing four times before completing the task at hand...) Horses wouldn't even think about approaching this square for nearly two years after the violence had ended as they could still smell the blood which had tainted the earth below.
Rodin's "Le Penseur - The Thinker"
Speaking of thinking, I went to the Musée Rodin before my bike tour to check out some of the sculptor's most famous works. While the museum is rather small, there are many large bronzes artfully displayed throughout the gardens which surround the old house-turned-museum. Rodin's famous "Thinker" sits perched upon a stone pedestal in the middle of the rose garden and is truly a sight to behold. As sculpture is a 3D art form, it is best appreciated when one can view it from all angles, and the museum is set up in a way that lets the visitor walk completely around each work, which is really cool!
Hydrangeas from the museum's gardens
Made a quick trip to Versailles on Saturday as well, but since I'm planning on going again when my family comes to visit, I'll only reveal one of my pictures now, more to come later!
La Galerie des Glaces - The Hall of Mirrors
I'll quickly wrap this post up with yesterday's visit to Musée de Cluny, Paris' museum of the Middle Ages. The museum is built in and around les thermes, the vestiges of ancient bath houses which date from 14-37 AD. They constitute the only elevated Gallo-Roman ruin preserved in Paris, which is also one of the most important edifices from Antiquity that survives north of the Loire River. The rest of the museum is situated inside l'Hotel de Cluny, a 15th century building with a later-added Gothic flair.
Nicolas Flamel's epitaph
One of the first things I saw when I walked in the door happened to be Nicolas Flamel's epitaph. For all you Harry Potter fans out there, I'm sure you'll recognize him as the maker of the Sorcerer's Stone...
Durandal (on left), the sword of Roland
I rather enjoyed this museum as I took a course in Medieval Art and Architecture last semester, and that, coupled with my knowledge of French literature, made for a visit full of artifacts that I had studied. Take this sword named Durandal, for instance. It belonged to Roland, the warrior and nephew of Charlemagne, and was made famous in the medieval chanson de geste (sort of like an epic poem) called "The Song of Roland." According to the plaque next to the sword, it is the only mythical weapon known to still survive today.
"A Mon Seul Desir"
Most famous in this museum, however, are the unicorn tapestries. A series of six, each depicts a woman with a unicorn and a lion, where five are dedicated to the senses and this, the sixth, represents "mon seul desir" ("my only desire") - the jury's still out on what exactly that is, however! There was a very informative exhibit about the tapestries, but this one still remains a bit of a mystery, even to the experts. It is thought that the artist may be suggesting a sixth sense, either 'understanding' or that of the heart. I had read an excellent book (historical fiction of course, as that is my genre of choice) called "The Lady and the Unicorn" by Tracy Chevalier which invents a story to chronicles the creation of these tapestries - highly recommended! It definitely helped me to appreciate the years of work that go into making these masterpieces!
And finally, I leave you with this video. As a part of the exhibit on Medieval weaponry, I was surprised to find a TV playing the clip of the Black Knight from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"! I watched it and found myself chuckling in the middle of the otherwise silent room where this was playing (it was in English but subtitled in French) - I guess the French do have a sense of humor after all!
A gargoyle sits perched atop Notre-Dame de Paris, surveying the square below
So it's been a few days since my last post, but I've been busy getting ready for school to start & trying my best not to get sick like everyone else here that I know. Only my classes through Sweet Briar (the school I'm here studying abroad with) have started already, and the ones through Université de Paris III don't start until the week of October 3. I had the History of Paris through its Monuments today, which is half classroom lecture, half visit to monuments, so it's a nice way to break up a 3 hour long class. The professor is really nice and it looks like we'll be learning a lot and seeing many sites off the beaten path through the course of the semester - we had the second part of our class at Notre-Dame today, not a bad way to start off!
But enough talk about school. As I had mentioned earlier, this past weekend included Journées du Patrimoine ("Heritage Days") here in Paris where all sorts of cultural attractions are free. My Sunday was full of sight-seeing, with stops at Notre-Dame de Paris, l'Arc de Triomphe, and l’Opéra Garnier. Although it was a bit windy, the sky was nice and sunny and made for yet another very pleasant day of exploring.
Basilica of Sacre-Coeur as seen from the top of Notre-Dame
I started my morning off with a quick stroll down Ile St-Louis, the island in the middle of the Seine right next to Ile de la Cité, where Notre-Dame stands. My host family knew I was headed to Notre-Dame that morning and told me that Ile St-Louis is a great, peaceful place free of tourists to see on a Sunday morning. And they were right. While there isn't any famous attraction on this small island, it was just nice to be able to walk around in the early morning sunshine, and I happened upon a locally-famous ice cream shop, Chez Berthillon, which I'll be sure to return to when it's a socially-acceptable time to have ice cream, as 10am on a Sunday morning just wasn't cutting it for me.
"Emmanuel," the bell in Notre-Dame's southern tower
I then met up with my friend Kasey over at Notre-Dame and we waited in line forever to get to climb up to the top of Notre-Dame's bell towers. 46 meters (151 feet) off the ground, we reached "La Galerie des Chimères" where you can walk around and check out the cathedral's gargoyles face-to-face, as well as see some awesome views of the city below. Up here, we had access to the souther tower which shelters the church's giant 17th century bell, "Emmanuel." Weighing over 13 tons, it takes 16 people to ring - proving that there's no way Quasimodo lived up here and rang it by himself every day.... While this bell no longer rings, as it would completely deafen the tourists circulating around it, four other bells in the northern tower ring throughout the day, and we found out how loud they really were while walking around right next to them when they began to chime!
Pretending I'm Quasimodo
After a few more stairs, we were finally on top of the bell tower and had an awesome vantage point of the entire city...
Looking out across the city
As if all those stairs at Notre-Dame weren't enough, we then met up with more friends and headed over to l'Arc de Triomphe to climb up to the top of it as well - guess we were on a roll with stairs that day! Built by Napoleon from 1806 to 1836 to celebrate his victory at Austerlitz, the monument sits in the middle of Place Charles de Gaulle, from which 12 broad avenues radiate.
Wide avenues radiate out from Place Charles de Gaulle
Inside the attic level, there is a memorial to all of France's unknown soldiers (as the tomb of the Unknown Soldier lies below the arch) as well as exhibits about the l'Arc de Triomphe's construction, complete with models of Francois Rude's sculptures which adorn the exterior.
Plaster cast of "La Marseillaise" statue
Of course, the main motivation for anyone to climb all the way up there is for the view...
La Tour Eiffel always dominates the Parisian skyline
Roomie photo! My housemate Eric & I atop L'Arc de Triomphe
View of La Defense & the Champs-Elysées
From the top, you can see how the Champs-Elysees stretches all the way down to La Défense, the more modern business sector of Paris. Right at the end of the street you can see yet another arch, l'Arc de la Défense, but since I haven't actually ventured down there yet, I'll have to report my findings another day.
L’Opéra Garnier
And our last stop of the weekend was l’Opéra Garnier, Paris' most famous opera house. We were hoping to go for a tour inside, but arrived right after it had closed for the day. Guess I'll have to save that adventure for later!
Overall, I really enjoyed the Journées du Patrimoine and the whole idea behind them. Cultural heritage is something important that everyone should be aware of, and what better way to bolster this knowledge than by hosting days where it won't cost you a cent to check out what's in your own backyard!
I've had a busy past few days continuing to explore Paris in tourist mode - there's just so much to see! Here's a sampling of what I've been doing lately...
View of Ile St-Louis from the Seine
Our school organized a ride one of Paris' famous "bateaux mouches," the open-topped sight-seeing boats that run up and down the Seine River which divides the city into two parts, the Left Bank & the Right Bank. We had a really warm, sunny day for this which was great & it actually helped us to get more familiar with knowing where things are situated in the city. Not to mention it was fun & afforded us some pretty cool views of Paris!
TADA!
Close to our house in the 20e arrondissement is Pere Lachaise cemetery, where many famous people are buried (Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, legendary lovers Abelard & Heloise, Balzac, Colette, Delacroix, etc.). The cemetery occupies 118 acres, so needless to say it takes a few visits to see everything. I had somewhere to be shortly after we got there, so unfortunately I did a quick breeze through & actually didn't see anything particularly noteworthy, although I'm sure I'll make a return visit when I have more time at my disposal.
A tomb at Pere Lachaise
A bunch of us continued to wander around downtown after our boat ride & we found ourselves back at Place de la Concorde, ending our walk with another stroll through the Tuileries.
Fountain at Place de la Concorde
Ended our night at la Tour Eiffel - the Champ de Mars (grassy expanse at the foot of the tower) is a very popular spot for young people to come hang out & watch the tower sparkle for 5 minutes at the top of every hour. Add a few bottles of wine among friends & you've got yourself a fun night!
Thousands of lights sparkling - great way to end a great day!
I made a return visit to the Louvre the next morning to see a bit more of the museum, as it is absolutely impossible to try to see everything in one go & becomes too much of a sensory-overload..better to break it up over a few visits! I checked out the Ancient Middle Eastern section & the galleries of Northern European paintings. I'm anticipating that I'll need at least 2 more visits to take everything else in, plus I'm sure I'll still keep going back because it's just so cool there!
The Code of Hammurabi
After wandering around there for 2 hours, I decided to head up to Montmartre, the highest part of the city, to check out the Basilica of Sacre-Coeur. I remembered it was a long walk up many, many, many stairs to get there, but I most certainly forgot how tiring it actually was!
Basilica of Sacre-Coeur
Of course I couldn't make it all the way up there without having a klutzy incident, as per usual. About halfway up the terraced hill leading up to the church, the straps on one side of my leather sandal decided to break, making the rest of the walk all the more challenging/exciting. But once I got to the top, I decided to pay a couple extra euro to go all the way to the top of the dome to check out the views of the city from up there. Despite my broken sandal & the spiral staircase with 300 additional steps I climbed to the top & was treated to a gorgeous bird's-eye view of Paris below.
View from the dome at Sacre Coeur, totally worth the climb!
And my day didn't end there! I met up with some friends and hobbled my way to the Centre Georges Pompidou, a giant factory-turned-inside-out looking museum of modern art. I love museums but am not totally sold on modern art - I am more in my element with Renaissance-era works & love Impressionism as well. I was able to find some cool stuff in there in any case, and will make a return visit to see the other half of the museum another day. 2 museums and 4 hours of art later, I was all museumed out, but it was cool nonetheless!
Centre Georges Pompidou
Behold the glories of modern art
This weekend, we're able to take advantage of something called "Les Journées du Patrimoine" (Heritage Days), which is a weekend set aside each year by the French government where all state-run museums, offices, monuments, historical sites, etc. are opened up for free for all to come and check out. It's a way for the government to reach out to its citizens and make all its treasures available to everyone, young & old, rich & poor, French citizens & foreigners alike, to ensure that everyone gets a little more cultured. I think it's a great idea and gives everyone the opportunity to check out things that are in their own backyard that they might not normally ever feel like visiting. And of course, it's very popular with penny-pinching students like me! We only averaged a 20 minute wait for each attraction, which is what you might wait on any given day & have to pay on top of it. So it's pretty much a win-win deal!
In the refectory hall at La Conciergerie
Our first stop was La Conciergerie, part the 6th century palace/prison complex where everyone the first King of France, Clovis lived, and where Marie-Antoinette was imprisoned while awaiting her execution by guillotine during the French Revolution in the 18th century. Most of the rooms are empty here, but those in the prison side of things have been reconstructed/furnished to reflect their appearances during the Revolutionary period.
Marie-Antoinette's cell, complete with creepy dummy-in-mourning
Attached to the Conciergerie is the Sainte-Chapelle, the royal chapel built by King Louis IX (future Saint Louis) in the 13th century to house relics of the Passion, including the Crown of Thorns & a fragment of the True Cross. The room is likened to a reliquary (the special box that usually houses relics and is ornately decorated) turned inside-out, due to its mind-blowing ratio of stained-glass to stone supports. From the outside, the building appears to be dark with dirty stones and sooty windows, but upon entering, you can't help but have to pick your jaw up off the floor!!
Upper Chapel of Sainte-Chapelle
The Upper Chapel with all the impressive stained glass sits atop the Lower Chapel, where the King's attendants & court would go to pray and worship, while only the Royal Family and his closest advisors were able to enter the magnificent upper chamber.
And if that isn't enough for one day, we made a last stop at Paris' Hotel de Ville (City Hall), which usually is mostly off-limits to the public. Not today though! The inside of this building was incredible, adorned with so much gold, rows upon rows of chandeliers, and huge paintings on the ceilings. Very impressive!
One of the many giant halls in L'Hotel de Ville
This weekend of free attractions continues tomorrow and I can't wait to pick some more places to visit!
Don't forget, you can always click on the pictures to see them full-size and in greater detail!
So I have a confession to make: although my philosophy lately has been to try to be as French as possible and fit in as one of the locals as I am, after all, a resident of Paris now (haha I love being able to say that!), I do like playing the occasional tourist. It's funny though, because like the locals I now find myself getting annoyed with all the tourists who clutter the neighborhoods around all the famous monuments - I am fortunate to live on the outskirts of Paris where tourists don't generally wander - even though I've been a part of the same masses of people which get on my own nerves, if that makes any sense.
As a general rule of thumb, I am a firm believer that you should take advantage of all the cool cultural things at your immediate disposal, and thus, I continue to slip into "tourist mode" for at least a few minutes of each day. Our weather has been so nice here the past few days that it has been rather pleasant to aimlessly wander through a random neighborhood and see what sorts of things I can find. Although I haven't officially "toured" anything yet, this coming Saturday & Sunday are "Journées du Patrimoine" (Heritage Days) where nearly every monument, museum, church, park, etc. is open totally free to the public, thus I am planning on squeezing in a few "real" visits then!
For now, here are some of the places I've been "touring"...
10-story replicas of the Twin Towers at Trocadero
A bunch of my friends and I headed out to the 9/11 memorial ceremony that took place at Trocadero, just across the river from the Eiffel Tower. There were different events going on all day, but we happened to catch the start of the main ceremony (including a concert of patriotic music, a few speeches, etc.) and then the rain came. Torrential down-pouring rain. Unfortunately we had to cut that short, but it was nice to see a display of solidarity between the two countries on this solemn day.
Saint-Sulpice
I had some spare time one day and decided to take a stroll around the 6e (meaning 6th, for my non-Frenchies) arrondissement near my school to see what I could find & came across this church. You might recognize its name from the "Da Vinci Code," even though the movie wasn't allowed to be filmed here as the book was deemed heretical by the Catholic Church. It's only a little smaller than Notre-Dame de Paris, making it the second largest in the city.
Replica of the Shroud of Turin
Upon entering the church, there is a large display of a replica of the Shroud of Turin (in negative form, to enhance the outlines), which is said to be the piece of linen that Jesus was buried in. The original is in Turin, Italy, and both depict the image of a gaunt man who seems to have suffered trauma consistent with that of the Crucifixion - there are marks corresponding with the stigmata & the crown of thorns, but there is much controversy around it and its origins and real age remain unknown. Still a pretty cool thing to stumble upon in a random church!
The Gnomon of Saint-Sulpice
Also inside the church is the Gnomon of Saint-Sulpice. This large stone obelisk is designed and positioned to cast a shadow on the ground in order to help determine the position of the sun in the sky, and thus also the dates of religious feast days like Easter which vary from year to year depending on the sun. Few still exist as their rather primitive technology was surpassed by the advent of the telescope (see below for a diagram explaining how this all worked). From this particular gnomon, a brass meridian line (running North to South) has been inlaid into the floor between blocks of white marble. In any case, those of you familiar with the "Da Vinci Code" book and/or movie will recognize these structures as they marked the way for Silas, the albino monk, to find a certain spot in the floor where he thought an important clue was buried.
The Louvre
Did a quick fly-by of the Louvre on Tuesday when I woke up early, took the metro downtown and, upon exiting the metro, remembered that it is indeed closed on Tuesdays. Whoops! Got to go back this afternoon though and checked out the statuary wings from Ancient Greece, Italy & Egypt. One can only spend so much time in there before needing to leave, as you totally suffer from sensory overload due to the overwhelming size of the whole place and all the amazing treasures inside it. The best part: it's free for students with your student ID! Something tells me I'll make it back there to finish up the other 5/6ths of the museum that I missed today...
"Cupid & Psyche" by Canova
And now, it's time for some fun travel facts. I have been extremely fortunate in that I have traveled in Europe a few times before arriving in Paris, and it makes me appreciate certain random things that much more. Take this commemorative arch, for example:
L'Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
Built by Napoleon from 1806-1808 to celebrate his previous military victories (and yes, I know it's shocking, but France actually has a few military victories under its belt...), the arch faces the main entrance of the Louvre & all its glass pyramids. It's about half the size of L'Arc de Triomphe de L'Etoile, its more famous relative, but is still equally impressive. It's rather a bemusing composite piece, and here's why:
1. It was designed after the Arch of Constantine in Rome. Napoleon, as Emperor of France, wanted his Empire to emulate the greatness of the Roman Empire, so he copied their arch:
Arch of Constantine, Rome (2008)
2. Napoleon was a thief. After the sack of Venice by Napoleon in 1798, he snatched the bronze horses right off the top of St. Mark's Basilica, one of Venice's most famous landmarks, and brought them back to France as a trophy. Upon completion of his new triumphal Arch in Paris, he placed the horses atop it so all of Paris could see the booty he stole from the Venetians. Thankfully, after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, France decided it would be best to return the horses to their rightful owners, but not until after they made replicas to leave in Paris. The original horses are in a museum in Venice, and a newer, more modern version sits atop St. Mark's today.
Bronze horses sit above the central mosaics of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice (2008)
The main reason I find l'Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in Paris so interesting is because I happened to take pictures of each of its components while traveling in Italy. At the time, I thought nothing of it, but when I later went to Paris and saw the composite structure, I asked my tour guide about it, who then sparked my interest and caused me to do some investigating of my own, leading to this bounty of useless knowledge that I am now passing on to you! But at least now you can say you learned something today.
Stereotypical Paris: flowers, statues, & those quintessential Parisian buildings in the background
After learning that the Louvre was closed on Tuesdays, I strolled under the Arch & into the Jardin des Tuileries which faces the museum. Lots of fountains and flowers there, and makes for a great afternoon walk!
The Panthéon
Located just down the street from my school, the Panthéon is today a secular mausoleum housing the tombs of famous French people. I didn't have time to go inside, so more about that later.
Notre-Dame de Paris
I've done my fair share of wandering around Notre-Dame and its surrounding neighborhood in the middle of the Seine River on Ile de la Cite, but again, have unfortunately not had enough time to wait in line to go inside and walk up lots of steps to enjoy the views from the towers. Another day!
4euro mojitos in the Marais!
And of course we can't forget the local cuisine! I am very happy to report that Happy Hour does exist here, although one cafe had a large sign saying it was "Hally Hour" instead...however they want to spell it, they make deliciously cheap drinks if you happen to stop in at the right time!
