Hotel de Ville, Paris, has many uses

The actual building is pretty much the same now as it was in 1974.

But, what was a street for vehicles in front is now a large recreational square (a ‘parvis’), which the Mairie de Paris uses for many activities for all Parisians, throughout the whole year, regardless of season or weather.

In 1974, below

Next: in summer and winter, 2007

 

The Eiffel Tower, then (1974) and now (2007)

In a continuation of my personal series of “Then and Now”, here are some pics of the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris—probably the most well-known sight in the city. Hated at first, it is now beloved and so visited that it’s usually hard not to get mobbed by crowds. Besides the size of the crowds, the biggest change is the area below the tower: in 1974 it was still parking space!! Now it tries to accommodate all the visitors as they queue to get up.

  

 

Champs Elysees…then and now (1974 and 2007)

Besides the cars (and the volume of traffic) some things haven’t changed much at all in the 33 years since Rod and I first visited Paris.

 

Loving the Louvre

HOW TO AVOID A LOUVRE LET-DOWN

One of the beloved icons of France and Paris (along with the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe, and ??).

The Louvre, located in the center of the city in the first arrondissement on Rue De Rivoli and along the River Seine, is a great choice to begin a Paris museum adventure. With its stunning French stone architecture and famous glass pyramid, the Louvre is one of the most beautiful museums in the world. It’s also the biggest museum in Europe (some say, the world), in the biggest palace, with 16km of corridors for exhibition space.

The Louvre has a staggering collection of arts of all descriptions. Monumental, awe-inspiring, sobering as visitors ponder humankind’s earlier achievements in the museum’s displays.

The museum’s collections are housed in 3 wings (Denon, Richelieu, Sully), on four levels with each floor a work of art in itself. Exquisite frescos, gilded accents and scrollwork adorn the walls, doors and moldings, with staircases and marble columns stretching under immense arched ceilings of leaded glass and detailed sculpture.

The museum is huge and can be overwhelming, and because it’s so famous it’s always crowded. The crowds are disconcerting, claustrophobic even. And yet, how can you not visit if you are in Paris?

What’s the best strategy for a first-time visitor—or a repeat visitor for that matter?

First, get hold of a floor plan (for example, on the web (www.louvre.fr ) or from a guidebook) and plot out what you’d like to see. Be selective, as it’s easy to get saturated and tired in this huge building where you’ll walk a lot. Pick 3-4 galleries you want to focus on and plan to do a couple before lunch and a couple after. The “biggies” (like the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory are going to be crowded no matter what, so be prepared to “go with the flow”…literally.

Planning in advance will also tell you about room closures (work is always being done somewhere in the museum!) and what temporary collections are in the Hall Napoleon (extra charge).

Second, try to arrive early in the morning and get in line early: there will be a line! It might be more romantic to enter from the top through the Pyramid, but it’s quicker and easier to arrive on the metro (Line 1, stop Palais Royal/Musee du Louvre). Follow signs to Louvre and Carrousel du Louvre (the large Louvre shopping area) and to the reception area under the large glass pyramid. There are ticket counters but also a whole row of automated ticket machines where the line moves quite quickly (can use credit cards).

Alternatively, arrive later in the afternoon on Wednesday or Friday and stay till late closing at 10pm; the crowds will thin out.

There’s a WC at the entrance to each wing, a Starbucks and small café near the reception area, and a huge food court upstairs. The food court is always crowded and it’s usually hard to find a table.

So, third, take a breather and leave the museum for lunch: your ticket allows re-entry. Follow the exit signs to Rue Rivoli and Palais Royale, and there are a number of restaurants and cafes close by the square with the Metro station entrance and the Hotel de Louvre. We tried Restaurant Ragueneau (202 rue St. Honoré), plastered with posters of performances of Cyrano de Bergerac, which has a pleasant lunch menu.

After lunch, cross the square and re-enter the museum at the arcade with the big posters of special exhibits at the Louvre—there’s a small entrance at the right side for people who already have tickets that takes you back to the main reception area. Very easy.

On our last visit we went through Napoleon 111’s Apartments and the Apollo Gallery (with the Crown Jewels), which we’d never done before, and got a whole new view of the museum’s contents; the ornateness and opulence is staggering, the jewels so huge it’s hard to believe they are real.  Wandering from the one to the other we went through the Renaissance Hall and were amazed at the number of beautiful tapestries.

Some of our all-time favorites: Michelangelo’s Dying Slave in Italian Sculpture, almost all the wonderful sculptures in Greek and Roman Antiquities (Denon Wing); the Code of Hammurabi and Winged Bull in the Mesopotamia Hall (Richelieu Wing); the French Sculptures in the Cour (an enclosed courtyard) Puget (Richelieu Wing).

Our family group’s reaction to the Winged Victory: “Gorgeous. How can that be stone?”, and “It looks like real fabric.”

And our reaction to the Mona Lisa: “A big commotion about not too much”, and “It’s just another painting, so why have the crowds chosen that one to venerate?” And, “Hard to say—we need more time to sit and contemplate, to absorb whatever it is the painting is showing, but the crowds don’t allow that.”

Following is a large group of pics of the Louvre—a kind of Visual Tour. Enjoy!

(looking across the Cour Napoleon from one wing to another)

(at the base of the small pyramid in the large reception area)

(the Louvre building itself has a long history)

(approaching the ‘Winged Victory’—with thousands of others!)

(one of the sculpture halls; and Cour Puget)

  

(one of the gorgeous celings: and contemplating the Code of Hammurabi)

  

(crowds in the ‘Mona Lisa’ hall; and opulence in Napoleon 111’s apartments)

(the Pyramid lit up at night)

 

 

More Then and Now…Changes at the Louvre

The Louvre started life as a fortress built by King Philippe-Augustus in the 12^th century to defend Paris from the English invaders. Saint Louis, Philippe the Beautiful and Charles V transformed it into a royal residence and eight centuries later, in 1793 during the French Revolution, it became the world’s largest museum.

Francois 1 had the dungeon destroyed and extended the palace, as did Henri 11 and Catherine de Medici, who also built the Tuileries Palace. It was further extended under Louis X111 and Louis XIV, but then Louis XIV decided to live at Versailles and it was only under Napoleon 1 that any new projects were undertaken—the North Wing was started and later finished under Napoleon III, and the great court to the north, the Cour Carrée, closed off.

Architect Ieoh Ming Pei added the final touch when he built the famous glass pyramid in the vast open Napoleon Court. The spectacular pyramid and the Hall Napoleon below it opened in 1989. A blend of technology and simplicity, innovation and tradition, the pyramid has evoked many reactions, but is now a firm part of the Louvre (and Paris) landscape.

The new Richelieu Wing, on the rue Rivoli side of the Napoleon Court (Cour Napoleon), was inaugurated in 1993. From then, the Louvre comprised 3 wings: the new Richelieu; the Denon on the River Seine side of Cour Napoleon; and the Sully, around the Cour Carrée (literally, the square Square).

Visitors now enter the museum on the entresol level below the pyramid, from where they can enter any of the three building wings, plus a huge underground shopping area.

 But, in 1974 when we first visited, there was no pyramid, and no Richelieu Wing. Entrance was through the Porte Denon, facing where the pyramid now is. The Cour Napoleon was still open to traffic and parking around the edge was possible.

It doesn’t look the same at all!

 

 

(June 1974: note the road and the parking around the Cour Napoleon).

 

(June 1974: old entrance through Porte Denon).

 

(December 2007: View from Denon Wing, to Cour Napoleon and the Pyramid–no cars or parking now!).

 

(December 2007: View from Richelieu Wing across Cour Napoleon).

 

(December 2007: the newer entrance in Napoleon Hall, below the Pyramid).

 

 

 

Then and Now…1974 and 2007

Our first visit to Paris was in 1974, and we found some of our old slides (some rather damaged, sadly). In 33 years, some things have changed—a lot or a little—and some not at all.The Louvre Museum has a whole new look and entrance (pics next time), but the famous Venus de Milo is the same: she’s just in a different location in the museum.
 
(Venus in 1974)
 
(Venus in 2007) 

Another Photographic Expo

PARIS EN COULEURS, des Frères Lumière à Martin Parr

At the Hotel de Ville, until March 31, 2008

Paris loves photographs and photographers and there are usually a couple of photographic exhibitions on at any one time. Here is one to sample.

The classic photos of Paris are black-and-white images by Doisneau, Boubat and other “humanist” photographers. But the city has also been captured in color since early autochromes (the first industrial procedure in photographic color) by the Lumière brothers in 1907. This expo celebrates the centenary of the commercialization of autochrome by showing the public 300 color photos of the capital taken between 2007 and today by many great photographers. The expo details in an artistic way the changes in the city in the last century—murals, placards, decorations, urban housing, transport etc.

The expo is in 3 parts:

The first part covers 1907-1930, with many pictures from the archives, including short color films, and features Albert Kahn,

The second, 1930-1960, especially features Gisèle Freund, and images of every day life during the occupation and liberation of Paris.

The final section covers the period 1960-present, and features many artists, including Robert Capa, Sarah Moon, William Klein, Bruno Barbey, Philippe Ramette and Martin Parr.

Hôtel de Ville, Salle Saint-Jean. 
5 rue Lobau (4^th)

Free. Daily 10am-7pm, except Sundays and holidays. Through Mar 31. 
Métro: Hôtel de Ville Tel: 
01.42.76.40.40

 http://www.paris.fr/portail/Culture/Portal.lut?page=multimedialist&page_id=102&id=5  (to see a photo gallery)

 More Photographic Stuff:

—Maison européenne de la photographie, www.mep-fr.org

—Watch for Mois de Photo, which now extends way more than a month in the fall, usually September-December.

—Check my earlier entry, in November 2007, on the free outdoor photo expo along the Quai Branley (Photographers View the World)

Ben Franklin leaves Paris…..again

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: UN AMERICAIN à PARIS, 1776-1785

Carnavalet Museum. Hurry, this exhibition will end March 9, 2008.

A great exhibition documenting the political influence—and huge social success—of Ben Franklin during the nine years he spent in Paris as ambassador of the new U.S. Congress.

In December 1776, Franklin, age 71, traveled to France to successfully negotiate a commerce treaty and defensive alliance. He stayed in France for nine years, working on trade treaties. Franklin became a hero to the French, and diplomats and nobility eagerly sought his company. He was honored by Louis XVI, and his portrait was placed on everything from chamber pots to snuff boxes. In this tricentennial exhibition, the Carnavalet pays homage to the great statesman and the way his ideas influenced the French Revolution.

 

Philadelphia, Franklin’s adopted hometown, began Tercentenary celebrations in 2006 with an exhibition, “In Search of a Better World”, which then traveled to St Louis, Houston, Denver and Atlanta. This versatile historical figure was always interested in trying to improve life for people in general.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was famous on both sides of the Atlantic, not only as a political leader and diplomat but also as a scientist and inventor, especially for the invention of the lightning rod and his work with electricity—hence his common nickname, The Electric Ben Franklin.

However, his scientific-invention accomplishments were extremely varied: from inventing a catheter for kidney stones, to outlining a theory of the surface physics of oil and water (which still stands today), to developing several hypotheses regarding world weather patterns, climate change, tornado formation, and the relationship between winds and the Earth’s rotation.

Musée Carnavalet (Musée de l’Histoire de Paris), 
23 rue de Sévigné (3rd
) Métro: St-Paul. Tel:
 01.44.59.58.58 
 €7. Discounts. Free under 13. Closed Tuesdays. Dec 5, 2007–Mar 9, 2008.

www.carnavalet.paris.fr 

 

(These last 2 pictures are copyright-free images from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographic Division). 

New Pic

Please check out the new page ‘France Pics’. I plan to add to it regularly, to try and give a pictorial tour of Paris and our life there.

La Vie Parisienne Pour Moi

As I wrote up my notes, I realized I was enjoying the Parisian lifestyle. Enjoying wandering its old, narrow streets, or the broad boulevards lined with trees, its river with its islands, slowly being recognized as a regular at our local Intermarche.

I’ll always remember the school kids running around on lunch break in one of the city parks or sailing the small boats on the pond in Luxembourg Gardens; the local people returning from the Lozere market carrying baskets or pulling their wheeled carts; the train beggars, and street buskers; the way people stop and relax in the cafes.

For us, life in France is life as it’s supposed to be lived. I’ve tried to put my finger on what makes this true, exactly. What is it about France that draws us back?  That also attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year?

Is it the wonderful food and long leisurely meals? The best wines in the world? The infectious ‘joie de vivre’, and the ability to relax, to stop and smell the roses (or perhaps here, the cheese!)? That a rich tradition and culture matter to the French? Or that I am continually discovering new sights, new places to explore?

Whatever it is, it’s an experience to be savored. And we did.

 

SOME OF WHAT WE’LL MISS

 

—France’s wonderful bread. A daily way of life—find a ‘boulangerie’, queue for fresh bread, take it home to eat, or nibble as you walk.

—No tipping necessary in most places, as service charge is included in the price. What a pleasure not to have to deal with that whole question of how much, and knowing that the wait person is dependent on extra tips because they are so poorly paid in USA.

–Tax included in price of all goods and services. So, much easier to budget and to know before you buy exactly what the price is.

–Riding the Trains. The rhythm and predictability of the trains (except in strikes!).

–The freedom to get on a train and go practically anywhere, with connections. It’s been very liberating not to have a car, actually.

–My personal freedom to come and go every day, to explore at will, to get to know this city in depth. It’s a great privilege and I mostly used it well. But, I didn’t/couldn’t cover everything and I wish I’d had more energy to get out EVERY day. But, it’s true that some down-time is also important.

–Station ads, on platforms, and in the long connecting corridors. Bright and instructional. Always changing. Do they have an army of workers who get out at night to paste new ones on the boards?

–The free newspapers. Informative, and the language is about perfect for our level of reading French. Dailies like 20 Minutes, or ‘Matin Plus’. Weeklies like ‘A Nous Paris’.

—All the cafes, bars and bistros—the café lifestyle/culture. They are places to eat a meal, to snack, to meet friends, to have a coffee (and even linger all afternoon if you want), to have a drink, to read a book/magazine/newspaper. All ages are welcome and these places are so much more multi-purpose than any in the USA, where you tend to have to eat/drink and then move on. Many people here have a regular café and the staff get to know them—for example, at a café near Invalides an old lady shuffled in and the waiter automatically brought her a coffee.

—Good wine at very reasonable prices. All the different wines, so freely available. And the more prosaic and accepting attitude towards wine—it’s just accepted that wine is part of a meal. It’s not a case of “shall we have wine with our meal?”, but “which wine shall we have?” The pairing of food and wine is also very important.

—Good food, both in the little speciality shops and markets, and at cafes or restaurants. It’s a gastronomic heaven.

—The bustling, colorful markets with every imaginable fish, cheese, ‘volaille’ (poultry), sausage, fruit, vegetable, or flower.

—The big shops, like BHV, Printemps, and Bon Marche. A fun counterpoint to all the little shops, and full of high quality goods. Paris is a center of high quality—food, fashion, perfume, jewellery. For ordinary folks like us it’s an opportunity to see (and touch) some of these shopping icons.

—The presence of history wherever you wander. It’s part and parcel of the character of the city, but history is not heavy here. It doesn’t weigh the city down—is just THERE, part of a continuum from millennia ago.

—Smaller personal space and physical touching. Americans tend to have a large personal space around them, and if you happen to be a “touchy-feely” person it can be tough. Here we soon get used to the greeting of 2 or 3 kisses on the cheeks.

—Free art exhibitions all around the city. Some large and well-advertised, some that I stumble on by chance.

—The river. The Seine winds through the city and is so much a part of its character and its charm.

—all the parks, big and little, and other green spaces, like large woods, and small gardens, with an amazing number of trees all over the city. All the parks are well-used, no matter the weather or season. People here are used to getting out to do things, and don’t stay indoors as much.

—All the walking, as a way of life, which follows from the above.

—For Rod: the slower pace at work, and the running, which is more varied than in Illinois and a nice feature at work at lunch time.

–the huge variety of scarves, so tastefully worn by almost everyone. The ease with which local people appear to be chic.

 

OR NOT…

—Watching for dog poop along the pavements, or sidewalks (in some places)

—Train strikes

—Crowds in the city, especially at the Louvre and Versailles