The Historical Writings on the Walls

To celebrate the end of our time here, we'd like to ask a favor of our readers: take a minute to read back through your favorite posts, and send your "top 3" list to panda.a.paris [at] gmail.com. We'll be collecting your submissions throughout the week, and next week (our last in Paris!) we'll post the results. Thanks in advance, and happy browsing!

History is everywhere, if only you know where to look for it. Paris makes it easy by throwing plaques up on at least one wall of every building of even minor consequence. In a city that's been around 2,000+ years, that comes out to a lot of plaques. Maggie probably hates them, because I'm always stopping to read, which makes walking anywhere an e x t r e m e l y  s  l  o  w   p   r  o   c    e    s     s.

Among the most common (and most recent) plaques are those you see on schools. They always look the same and say almost exactly the same thing.

"In memory of the students of this school, deported between 1942 and 1944 because they were born Jewish, innocent victims of Nazi barbarity and of the complicity of the Vichy government. They were murdered in the death camps. 390 children lived in the 19th arrondissement. Let us never forget them."

I'm surprised it took until 2003 to get these plaques up, but I guess it goes to show that, unlike in Germany, France hasn't been as comfortable confronting the crimes perpetrated by the French under the Occupation. On the other hand, there was never any hesitation when it came to plaques honoring heroes of the Resistance.

It's worth noting that the school-memoriam plaques are made of the same material as expensive grave markers, which I'm sure is also intentional. Older plaques are made of a different - and much less eye-catching - stone, which ironically makes them much easier to read. This is helpful when your mind gets so used to seeing plaques, it automatically filters out all but the most interesting names.


As you can tell, I love the accessibility of music history in Paris. Who needs a library when, on your way to the store, you're constantly running into composers' and performers' old haunts? Franz Liszt (never thought of him as a "François" before) stayed with the Erard family at their 2nd-arrondissement compound, Edith Piaf was born on the steps of an extremely modest building just up the street from us on the Rue de Belleville, Thomas Paine (who "crooned" Revolution in the ears of colonial Americans?) lived in the 6th arrondissement while participating in the French Revolution and helping to write their "Bill of Rights", and Iannis Xenakis (composer/architect) lived in a beautiful building in the 9th arrondissement.

One more type of "plaque" remains, and this is one you've already seen in another post.

From left to right, we have a marker at the spot of the former "Porte de St. Honoré," (an old gate in the city walls), a marker at the house of the man who inspired the use of the term "fiacre" (after the Saint) to describe a carriage-for-hire, and a marker at the home of Nicolas Flamel, the reputed alchemist and Harry Potter character.

There are thousands of these markers around the city, treating every conceivable subject. But apparently no one's thought to put up a marker explaining the history of these markers, and I can't find anything online. Can anyone help me out?

Cirque d'Hiver

In Paris, most of the historical "sights" are concentrated in the center and western third of the city. The Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, tons of other museums and monuments, they're all jam-packed in one fairly small area, at least relative to the size of the entire city. That's because these are the older and posher areas; more was preserved when Baron Haussmann took his wrecking ball to various "insalubrious" neighborhoods in the 1860s. The east of the city has always been poorer, has been (and still is) home to various waves of immigrants, and seems more susceptible to ambitious urban renewal projects (like Haussmann's) that destroy vast swaths of housing, businesses, and landmarks. All of this exposition serves to highlight the improbability and wondrousness of the preservation of the Cirque d'Hiver.

First of all, a permanent building that primarily houses a circus? Who ever heard of such a thing? Parisians circa 1851, apparently, for that's when the Cirque Napoléon (after the Emperor who inaugurated it) was built. We haven't been inside, but I'm very curious to see what it looks like, since the building played host to the first "popular" concert series in Paris. (Initially conducted by Jules Pasdeloup, for whom the series was named, the concert series survives to this day.)

The Cirque d'Hiver surprises me every time I see it. And it reminds me of the otherwise consistent lack of similarly old, epic landmarks in eastern Paris. Can anyone think of anything I'm missing? (Besides the Gare de Lyon, Parc des Buttes Chaumont, the Porte at Nation, and Père Lachaise, which is a collection of tiny monuments rather than one big one . . .)

If you're walking down Boulevard du Temple from Place de la République, the Cirque d'Hiver will be on your left, in the 11th arrondissement, right next to the Filles du Calvaire métro station. Check it out!

Grande Mosquée de Paris

We visited the Grande Mosquée de Paris last Saturday. Except we didn't actually visit the mosque; we instead enjoyed thé à la menthe in one of its peaceful courtyards with Louis' colleague Hannah (visiting her sister this week) and her sister, Becca (studying in Paris for the semester).

If you go to the Grande Mosquée for tea, you will enjoy a sweet, hot beverage that warms you in the winter and refreshes you in the summer. A nice gentleman will pass through the courtyard with a tray-full of glasses like those you see below. Wave the man over (it may take several tries - he may be busy shooing away the pigeons), ask for one glass (or two), and hand over two euros per glass. Pastries must be ordered indoors. 

In poor weather, you might want to head inside to the vrai salon de thé where you can enjoy even more vivid decor and a more bustling scene. 

Panda didn't join us on this expedition but we're always scoping out future dog-friendly outings. From what we can tell, you can bring your dog to the Grand Mosquée as long as you take your tea in the entrance courtyard. But they made it very clear: no Cocker Spaniels or terriers allowed inside. 

No, Seriously. Guess Where!

A few days ago I posted a funny picture and challenged you to guess where it was taken. So far, no one has guessed, so I'm just going to add another clue or two to stimulate your interest/imagination:

And this next one may make it more obvious . . .

If you were with us when these pictures were taken, you're ineligible to guess. And if you don't live in Paris or have never been, I will accept guesses of general neighborhoods or even arrondissements. Go for it!

Guess Where?

Our first social engagement this evening was drinks with senior Francophone music scholars from England. Then, we dined with some French-Canadian junior musicologists. That's a poor segue to this fun piece of Paris trivia: Where can you find the following statue, along with others representing different ethnicities/countries/stereotypes?

Random Exhibitions at the Hotel de Ville

Twice during Robert's visit, we walked by the Hotel de Ville on our way to the métro, only to be distracted by various events taking place in the adjacent square.

The second time (for which I have no pictures), there was an exhibition of what the French call "handisports," or what we might call paralympic events: wheelchair tennis, fencing, bowling, and racing were just some of the activities going on. I think the idea was to get handisport athletes to show off their stuff, and also to give non-handisport athletes the opportunity to try something new - and maybe gain some empathy (however useless that may be for US Supreme Court nominees... sorry.) for differently-abled people.

The first time we walked by, there was a show of electric vehicles for Paris's "mobility" week. We saw some crazy thingamabobs:

I really, really, really hope this stuff takes off, despite how awkward it all looks.

Bicycles!

You may or may not know that Maggie and I love bicycles. They're fun to ride, they're cheaper than most other forms of transportation, they're good for the environment, and they're good for our health. So it was with great pleasure that I saw a sign advertising a Critical Mass event a few weeks ago: http://22septembre.org/. (The message on the website reads, "Coincidence! We all just happen to meet while riding our bikes around the Arc de Triomphe on September 22nd, formerly "car-free day." Unannounced cyclist objective: insert yourself into and ride around the rotary without blocking traffic. If a traffic jam should occur, extricate yourself and leave.")

Last Tuesday, I went with Robert (he may have left Paris, but he hasn't left my heart) to the Arc de Triomphe to witness what can only be described as a flash-mob of cyclists. At 6:30 pm, at the height of l'heure de point (rush hour), hundreds of cyclists materialized in the rotary that surrounds the Arc de Triomphe and clumped together as they rode around and around, forcing automobile drivers to cede space and pay attention. It was glorious.

Journées Européenes du Patrimoine

I know it's normal for a blog to hype current or future events, but I'm having a hard time staying ahead of the curve, so you'll have to be satisfied with finding out about things you should have gone to after the fact. For example, last weekend you would have been granted access to various buildings, free of charge, in an event called "European Days of Cultural Heritage" (loose translation). I first heard about the event through Invisible Paris, but even if I hadn't known about it we couldn't have avoided the masses of people waiting in line just across the street from the David Lynch window displays last Sunday afternoon.

Or the line wrapping all around the Opéra Garnier, or the band taking advantage of the captive audience to promote themselves:

Instead of waiting at the Opéra for hours, we hopped into a much shorter line in front of a much less famous site: the headquarters of Société Générale, a French bank. We had no idea how awesome it would be.

The glass ceiling you see towards the beginning of the sideshow is 50 square meters (huge!) and is protected by another glass ceiling above it, which also helps to keep the heat in. The building was one of the first in France (or maybe the world?) to be constructed with reinforced concrete. There are five basements, the first four of which contain safe-deposit boxes, all secured by the massive double safe you see in the slideshow. The fifth basement produces heat which rises up through the rest of the building through grates in the floors of each level - another innovation in its time. These trivia items and more did we learn on the 30-minute tour we took through an officially-certified historic monument we never would have known to visit, if not for the Journées Européenes de Patrimoine!

The Lurrrrrvre

As I've mentioned before, various museums have special deals if you go at certain times. Last night, Robert and I took advantage of one such deal - and got into the Louvre for free! (This was possible because we're under 26; for everyone else, the price of admission is a paltry 6 euros, so it's a deal either way.)

Below, you can see what we saw. I admit that I took more pictures of the building than of the art, but that's because the Louvre doesn't have very much good art. (...)

Free concerts

Coming to Paris this fall? Check out these free concerts at La Madeleine, an impressive church in the 8th arrondissement.

I'm particularly looking forward to the concerts in November. Anyone want to join me?

That's What He Said

Another evening walk, another . . . I still have no idea. But this time, I clearly heard, "tee show?" which is probably really (pe)tit show or chaud or cheau or some other combination of nonsensical words.

More importantly, I got some nighttime shots of the Eiffel Tower from the Parc de Belleville (we live on the same hill - we always live on a hill!). As the French say, oh la la . . .*

Every night, the Eiffel Tower sends out a powerful searchlight to illuminate the whole city. This shot, taken at a very slow shutter speed, shows the searchlight passing my vantage point.

On the hour, the searchlight shuts off and the Eiffel Tower seems calm for a moment, until . . .

. . . it begins to shimmer, sparkling silver bursts, the radiant, crackling brilliance of a rotating diamond.

It's hard to top that, so for the purposes of anticlimax, here's the square just opposite where we live, with its hipster street art and murals (the sign reads, "words are to be distrusted").

* Contrary to popular belief, the French do not say "oooooh la la", where "ooooh" rhymes with "boo." Rather, they say "oh la la" where "oh" rhymes with "go." And now you know.

La tour eiffel

We made it!

Today's big adventure was a trip to the Eiffel Tower. Panda braved the Métro (legal? we're "not sure"). The Champ de Mars, the park en face de la tour eiffel, actually had a good contingent of dogs running off-leash. Panda joined them, not quite smoothly, but she got in some much-needed free running. One funny moment: Panda ran for a few minutes and got her insides flowing - enough that she needed to go number two. Unfortunately, the "dog park" was right next to a soccer "field." Panda decided that she would leave her present right on the edge of the field. Now, as you may know, most dog owners in Paris do not pick up after their dogs. Louis and I, on the other hand, often have two, three, or four bags stuffed into pockets and purses for any and every walk. Louis ran over to Panda, picked up the gift, and jettisoned it into the trash - all to the pleasant surprise of the footballers.

Much more to come on this issue, bet you can't wait.

For now, check out more photos from today's adventure: