Paris Forever

                                             

Paris is so big and so filled with things to do that it's probably best to go there several times over a lifetime. I have tromped through this fabulous city twice and concentrated on tourist sites and important museums. On this third time in the city I saw some things I hadn't seen before and experienced a bit of night life that makes the city so attractive to residents and tourists alike.  

 I was fortunate to be traveling with a small group of people, many of whom were women from different parts of the world. One of the highlights of my time in Paris was to go to a piano bar on the Left Bank. Ida, (left) a retired corporate attorney from South Africa, has traveled through Paris at least 20 times over the past few decades. She has become familiar with the Latin Quarter stores, restaurants, and night spots there. She took Simone (right), an Australian elementary teacher, and me on a little tour of the area before we stopped for dinner at Le Paris Paris Café & Restaurant. After dinner we made our way to the Aux Trois Mailletz piano bar for a drink, a listen, and some great fun. 

This was my first time at such a place and I enjoyed it immensely. The singer and piano player performed many pop songs I have come to know during these past 5 years in France. The singer sang some American songs, too. The video below is a sample of our wonderful time there. The French seem to love singing, and I find it most entertaining, especially since I can't dance very well.

 

Bistro Régent -- Last Night of the Tour

On our last night of the week-long tour we went to dinner at a "gastronomic" restaurant that specializes in grilled and raw meat. We had a choice of steak, steak tartare, salmon, salmon tartare, and duck. Although we didn't sing, we indulged ourselves in a delicious French-style meal that began with an aperitif drink of cassis (raspberry syrup) mixed in fizzy soda. Our main dish was served in a platter over a flame. Dessert included ice cream with a choice of sauce (I got hazelnut), and coffee. The coffee helped keep me awake until 2 a.m. since some of us met in the lobby of the hotel for a lively tête-à-tête that extended our last night together a little longer. A great time was had by all, and this trip was one of the best I'd ever taken. Many thanks to our wonderful guide, Chantal (on right with her thumbs up) and Cost Saver/GETours, the travel companies.

 

 

 

 

 

                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bateaux Mouches Ride on the Seine River

In the early evening of our first night together, our group went on a boat ride on the Seine River, which I recommend. It's an opportunity to see many famous buildings in an hour-long ride (see below) and to become oriented to the city.

It was amazing to see such a beautiful waterfront--and interesting to see so many tourists taking advantage of the boat ride including those on the dinner ride (which I'd like to do someday). Clearly, people were into "revenge travel" making up for the travel they missed over the past two Covid years.

 

 

Seine River

The Seine River is 483 miles long in northwestern France starting in Dijon and flowing into the English Channel at Le Harve. Thirty-seven bridges cross the Seine in Paris alone. Here are two of the most famous ones.

The magnificent Alexander III Bridge was built in 1900 in honor of the alliance between France and Russia. The center sculpture of the bridge is bronze.

Photo by Emily Jackson of Paris Perfect

 The Pont Neuf is considered to be the oldest stone bridge in Paris and was built by Henri IV in 1578. It consists of 12 arches, 384 ‘mascarons’ or grotesque faces decorating the cornices, and the equestrian statue of Henri IV. The bridge connects the Musée du Louvre, Rue de Rivoli and the Tour Saint-Jacques on the Right Bank with the Rue Dauphine, the Monnaie de Paris and Saint-Germain-des-Prés on the Left Bank. It is the starting point for tours of Notre Dame Cathedral and the Sainte-Chapelle on the Île de la Cité, which was the site of the Roman governor's 4th century fortress and Clovis I's palace in 508.

Notre Dame

Truly the most exciting thing to see in Paris today is Notre Dame and the progress of its reconstruction. It is still unbelievable that this great cathedral went up in flames on April 15, 2019 at 6:20 p.m. More unbelievable were the efforts of brave fire fighters who put out the flames in 9 hours, those who carried out priceless art works during the fire, and the resolve of President Emmanuel Macron to rebuild and reconstruct the cathedral in five years. One billion Euros were raised in two days for this purpose, and millions more from people all over the world. Truly, the cathedral was not just a Parisian or a French monument, but one that belonged to the world.

 

 

 

 

 

The French Gothic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary began as a Romanesque structure in 1163 and completed by 1260. Through subsequent centuries it was modified into Gothic style through the use of the rib vaults and flying buttresses, enormous and colorful rose windows, and the naturalism and abundance of its sculptural decoration. Notre Dame also stands out for its three pipe organs and its immense church bells.

During the French Revolution, Notre-Dame suffered extensive desecration, damage, and destruction. However, in the 19th century, Napoleon I was coronated there and many of the French Republic's presidents' funerals took place there.

Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame inspired popular interest in the cathedral, which led to a major restoration project between 1844 and 1864. On August 26, 1944, the Liberation of Paris from German occupation was celebrated in Notre-Dame with the singing of the Magnificat. Beginning in 1963, the cathedral's façade was cleaned of centuries of soot and grime. Another cleaning and restoration project was carried out between 1991 and 2000. Notre Dame was in the midst of its restoration when the fire broke out on the roof in 2019.

The Friends of Notre Dame give timely updates on reconstruction progress. Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit leading the international fundraising efforts to rebuild and restore Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Orsay Museum

The Musée d'Orsay on the Left Bank of the Seine once housed the former Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It houses the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world. The museum opened in 1986 and is one of the largest art museums in Europe.

 

Institute of France

The Institut de France is a French learned society established in 1795. The Institute manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and châteaux open for visits. It has 5 academies: 

• Académie Française (French Academy, concerning the French language)
• Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (Academy of Humanities)
• Académie des sciences (Academy of Sciences)
• Académie des Beaux-Arts (Academy of Fine Arts) includes painting and sculpture, music, architecture
  
• Académie des sciences morales et politiques (Academy of Moral and Political Sciences)

Conciercerie

The Conciercerie includes the Salle des Gardes (Guards Room) and the immense Salle des Gens d'armes (Hall of the soldiers), which were built under Philip the Fair who reigned 1285-1314. These Gothic structures still remain as do the kitchens built under King John the Good (1350-64).

The kings of France abandoned the palace at the end of the 14th century to settle in the Louvre and in Vincennes. The building became the Palace of Justice with courts and prison cells.
 
The Conciergerie was one of the principal prisons during the French Revolution. Its most famous prisoner was Marie-Antoinette. A commemorative chapel to her was later erected on the site of her cell.

 

 

 Louvre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Louvre is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank occupying a vast expanse of land. Originally a military facility, it has provided numerous government-related functions including atheroyal residence between the 14th and 18th centuries. It is now mostly used by the Louvre Museum, which opened in 1793. Pictured here is the Seine River side. The entrance is on the opposite side of the building through the famous glass pyramid.

 

Hôtel des Invalides

Built 1670-74 on the orders of Louis XIV to shelter sick, wounded, and retired veterans, this Parisian landmark still serves that purpose today. It also houses several museums, the offices of a few high ranking military officials, and a military pantheon including Napoleon’s tomb. Today, the Hôtel is governed under the Institution Nationale des Invalides. It is recognizable by its distinctive golden dome.

 

Russian Orthodox Church Complex

Holy Trinity Cathedral and The Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center consist of 4 buildings: the Cultural Center, an educational complex, an administrative building, and the Holy Trinity Cathedral.

The opening of the complex was held on March 19, 2016 and attended by Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Russia's Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, and representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate. Medinsky stated that “the centre will open its doors to anyone who is interested in the history of our country, our scientific and cultural accomplishments, and for those who want to learn Russian. The Holy Trinity Cathedral will undoubtedly play an important role for the Orthodox people in Paris.”

 Champs Élysée

   

The Arc de Triomphe is located on the right bank of the Seine at the centre of twelve radiating avenues. It was commissioned in 1806, after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon during the peak of his power. It also houses the Eternal Flame for deceased military servicemen. A ceremony is held in their honor every night at 6:30 p.m.

 

The 1.19-mile long Champs-Élysée is THE street in Paris that stretches from the Arch of Triumph where this photo was taken to the Place de la Concorde. One of the most exclusive streets in the world, it teems with luxury shops and restaurants. We did manage to find an affordable restaurant (The Stables) on a side street for our first meal together of our week-long tour. I had this delicious salad. I'm also glad that we could support a local business owner and not have to resort to McDonald's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seems sacrilegious for a fast food restaurant to appear on the Champs-Élysée, but McDonald's sported the more muted colors of green and white to fit in better with THE street--and to conform to an agreement with the city's building codes. Well, you can't be gauche here in bright red and yellow. McDonald's has subsequently adopted the green and yellow colors for its restaurants in other areas of France.

During the pandemic many smaller businesses sadly went out of business after three lock-downs in two years. Dior took advantage of the situation and bought their properties. On the right is an example of one of these properties now owned by Dior.

 

The largest public square in the city at 19 acres, Place de la Concorde was the site of many notable public executions, including that of King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and Maximilien Robespierre during the French Revolution. The Place was the entry for the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900 and the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, which gave its name to Art Deco. It was also the site of the victory celebrations of the end of the First World War and the Liberation of Paris in the Second World War.

 

 

Luxor Obelisk was a gift to King Louis-Philippe from the vice-pasha of Egypt, Mehemet Ali. It used to stand at the entrance to the Luxor Temple. The 3,300-year-old artifact was hoisted into place on October 25, 1836. The yellow granite column rises 75 ft high, including the base, and weighs 280 tons.

 

 

 

 

 

Hôtel de la Marine sits on the north side of the square. Its neo-classical design was inspired by the Louvre's east front. In 1792, it became the headquarters of the French Navy. The Navy departed in 2015, and the building is now a national monument and museum.

 

 

The French flags were out on the Champs Élysée because the July 14 celebration had just taken place and the Tour de France was scheduled to arrive a few days later. Below are the viewing stands. It's exciting to see things in person that are on TV. 

 

Yes, Paris has it all, and it is an exciting and beautiful city to visit. I can hardly wait for my next trip there and am making a list of the things I want to see. For now, I can only dream of being there.

Some Special Treasures of Paris

Paris has many special treasures. Chief among them is the sidewalk café, which is designed to provide people-watching as much as having a drink or a meal. It is a part of public life on the street that the French highly value. Cafés serve drinks before the  noon meal and throughout the afternoon until evening meal, which usually begins around 7 p.m.

Latin Quarter -- Left Bank (Le Rive Gauche)

The Latin Quarter of Paris is an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris situated on the Left Bank of the Seine. Known for student life, a lively atmosphere, and multiple bistros, the Latin Quarter is the home to a number of higher education establishments.

In the twelfth century, the philosopher Pierre Abélard helped create the neighborhood when, due to his controversial teaching, he was pressured into relocating from the prestigious Île de la Cité to a less conspicuous residence. As he and his followers populated the Left Bank, it became famous for the prevalence of scholarly Latin spoken there. 

The Left Bank of the Seine generally refers to the Paris of artists, writers, and philosophers, including Colette, Sylvia Beach,  Anaïs Nin, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Edith Wharton, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Baldwin and many others. The phrase implies a sense of bohemianism, counterculture, and creativity.

Sylvia Beach, an American, founded the first Shakespeare and Company in 1919 at 12 rue de l’Odéon. The shop was half bookstore and half lending library, and it attracted the great expat writers of the time—Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Eliot, Pound—and some of the century’s most compelling female voices: Djuna Barnes, Gertrude Stein, Janet Flanner, Kay Boyle, and Mina Loy. The bookstore was also frequented by celebrated French authors, such as André Gide, Paul Valéry, and Jules Romains. 

It served as the writers’ home away from home, postal address, and—when they were desperate—a loan service. Beach also helped usher in modern literature and published her friend James Joyce’s Ulysses in 1922 when no one else dared. French author André Chamson said that Beach “did more to link England, the United States, Ireland, and France than four great ambassadors combined.”

Beach’s bookstore was open until 1941, when the Germans occupied Paris. One day that December, a Nazi officer entered her store and demanded Beach’s last copy of Finnegans Wake. Beach declined to sell him the book. The officer said he would return in the afternoon to confiscate all of Beach’s goods and to close her bookstore. After he left, Beach immediately moved all the shop’s books and belongings to an upstairs apartment. In the end, she would spend six months in an internment camp in Vittel, and her bookshop would never reopen. Beach passed away in 1962 in Paris. (This was such a compelling story that I copied it from its website. Click here for the source) 

American ex-serviceman George Whitman opened the bookstore in 1951 and named it after Sylvia Beach's bookstore in 1964. His daughter, Sylvia Beach Whitman and her partner, David Delannet, now run the store. She took over management of the store in 2011 after helping her father do it since 2003.

Around the corner from Shakespeare and Company is Odette's with its specialty cream puffs that come in different flavors. They go well with a delicious cup of coffee. Our guide, Chantal, put us on to this amazing shop. Thanks!!

 

 

Michel de Montaigne (1533-92) was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre and for merging casual anecdotes and autobiography with intellectual insight.

 

The Thermes de Cluny are the ruins of the Gallo-Roman thermal baths constructed in the 3rd century. The baths are the most spectacular examples of the ancient architecture preserved in the city. The grounds and medieval garden of the Musee de Cluny are open daily from around 9 am to 5:30 pm. Admittance is free.

Pantheon

The Panthéon stands in the Latin Quarter. It was built by Louis XV between 1758 and 1790 as a church dedicated to Saint Genevieve, Paris' patron saint. However, in 1791 during the French Revolution, the National Constituent Assembly voted to transform it into a mausoleum for the remains of distinguished French citizens. Included are Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Rousseau, Émile Zola, Léon Gambetta, Jean Jaurès, Jean Moulin, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Louis Braille, Pierre Curie, Alexandre Dumas, Aimé Césaire, Simone Weil, and African-American Josephine Baker.

Click here to see the ceremony for singer and dancer Josephine Baker's induction into the Pantheon for her service as an Allied spy during World War II.

Lycée Henri-IV

Emmanuel Macron, president of France, fell in love with his literature and theatre teacher, Brigitte Auzière. He was 15 and a gifted, straight-A student at the Lycée la Providence, a Jesuit-run school in Amiens. She was 41. His parents were alarmed at the possible scandal of this relationship, so they sent him for his last year to the  prestigious Lycée Henri-IV (right) in Paris. 

Brigitte married banker André-Louis Auzière in 1974 and had three children.  They divorced in 2006, and she married Macron in 2007. He was 29 and she was 54. Macron became president of France in 2016 and was re-elected in 2022. He refers to Brigitte as his "First Lady", although the government does not have a formal title for this designation.

The Sorbonne was founded in 1253, one of the first universities in the Western world. Later renamed University of Paris, it is still commonly known as "the Sorbonne". 

The 55,000-student university offers studies in literature, medicine, science, engineering, technology and management, and fosters a global approach to teaching and research, promoting access to knowledge for all, according to its website.

 

 

 

OTHER SPECIAL TREASURES

 

This was the home of Gaston Leroux (1868-1927), the author of Phantom of the Opera. He was a journalist and a detective fiction writer on a par with Arthur Conan Doyle. Phantom was made into a movie in 1925 with Lon Chaney and a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1986.

The Lido was the most prestigious cabaret in Paris. Located on the Champs Élysée, it opened in 1946. Many celebrities had performed on its stage including Edith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich, Josephine Baker, Laurel and Hardy, Dalida, Shirley MacLaine, Elton John and many others. It closed its doors on July 30, 2022.

 

 

These green boxes of the Seine River offer books, newspapers, and magazines to passers-by.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo is an environmentalist. One of her initiatives was to offer rental bicycles in order to reduce traffic and CO2 emissions. The light blue bikes are available all over the city She is a socialist who was elected in 2014 as the first woman mayor of Paris. She ran an unsuccessful campaign for president of France in 2022.

 

FILMS

"Midnight in Paris"

Woody Allen loves France and France loves Woody Allen. He has made several films here. One of the most famous is "Midnight in Paris", which is about a screenwriter who confronts his relationship with his materialistic fiancée and their divergent goals. These shortcomings become increasingly exaggerated as he travels back in time each night at midnight. The car that takes him to the past meets him at this Gothic/Renaissance styled church, Saint-Étienne-du-Mont.

The church contains the remains of St. Geneviève, patron saint of Paris. St. Geneviève converted King Clovis to Christianity in the 5th century. She also saved Paris from an attack by Attila the Hun and his army of 700,000.

"Emily in Paris"

The Netflix series, "Emily in Paris", takes place in this square, which includes her residence, the restaurant where her would-be boyfriend works, and the boulangerie. The plot is about a young woman from New York who comes to Paris to work in a marketing firm. While young American women are excited about the series, young French women are reviled by it because of its stereotypes and the arrogance of an American telling French professionals what to do. Click here to see their objections.

AND FINALLY,

The Love Locks of Paris are padlocks that people buy, put their names on, and attach them to a particular place that they love. These locks are on the fences at Montmartre.