One great experience which we had in Paris was a private walking tour. This tour was free and was conducted by a volunteer for an organization known as Parisien d’un Jour, Parisien Toujours (Parisian for a Day, Parisian Forever). http://www.parisiendunjour.fr/ The organization is modeled after a similar New York organization called Big Apple Greeters, with which my wife and I have also had a great tour.
Parisien d’Un Jour has several hundred volunteers. Anyone who would like a tour submits a request to the organization, and the organization will see if one of its volunteers is available to do the type of tour requested on the date requested. The tours are conducted in English and/or French, and in several other languages.
We were very fortunate that a volunteer was available and willing. “Ben” is a young Frenchman who works for a major U.S. corporation. He has lived in Paris for 9 years and also in Ireland.
Prior to traveling to Paris, I had corresponded with Ben by email to discuss the tour. I also sent a photo of me so that he would recognize me at the subway station where we agreed to meet.
We met Ben at one of the entrances to Bréguet-Sabin Metro Station. We had originally planned to meet at Place de la Bastille. However, several days before the tour, I discovered that part of the Bastille Metro Station was closed for renovation. That part of the station served the subway line we would be using.
Ben was extremely warm, friendly, knowledgeable, and well prepared. He came with a large notebook filled with informative graphics.
After mutual introductions, Ben pointed to the wrought-iron entrance to the Bréguet-Sabin Metro Station. This simple, but elegant entrance is one of the few original ones remaining in Paris. The station was opened in 1906.
Ben said that the walls of the underground portions of the subway stations were covered with white tiles to create a hygienic affect to help overcome the fear of the population that the underground was unhealthy.
Ben started by giving us an overview of some aspects of Paris.
- He explained the administrative subdivisions of Paris - the arrondissements.
- He showed us a map of Paris in which the political inclinations of the inhabitants were colored blue for conservative and pink for progressive. The colorings were based on election results. The graphic clearly showed that wealthier conservative arrondissements comprised the western half of the city, and progressive arrondissements comprised the eastern half. Not surprisingly, all of the major monuments of Paris are located in the wealthier arrondissements
- The predominant winds blow from west to east, with the progressive arrondissements blessed with some of the less pleasant smells.
Baron Haussman was chosen by Emperor Napoleon III to dramatically change and improve Paris after the Emperor was impressed by London during a visit there. Haussman is responsible for the broad boulevards of Paris, a new water supply system, new sewer system, new bridges, a magnificent opera house, the Bois de Boulogne park, etc., etc. (The function of those boulevards was not only beauty, but also control. Before the boulevards were created, it was very easy for protesters to effectively blockade the narrow streets.)
Ben showed us examples of simpler Haussman-influenced architecture. He also showed us examples of other architecture, including simple Revolution-era style, and post-Haussmann more elaborate architecture. He explained that typically, shops were on the ground floor, storage for the shops on the next floor, and wealthier people lived on the floor above the storage. The wealthier people had wrought-iron balconies.
We walked down boulevard Richard Lenoir to Place de la Bastille. The boulevard runs on top of the Canal St. Martin, a wide canal still in use.
I learned the proper pronunciation of “Bastille” from Ben. Despite years of French study, I had always thought that the letters “ll” were pronounce like “ll” in “fall.” Instead, they are pronounced like the “ye” in “yet.”
Ben told us that because the place de la Bastille has such an emotional connection to the French Revolution, the location is often the start of major political protest events and strikes.
At one time, it was part of the Bastille, and the barracks for the king’s archers were located here. Later, scrap men and rag merchants worked there. Even later, cart wheels were repaired there. There are now artists and architects working there. The ground floor has art galleries and a tea shop, and the top four floors are residences. During the day, pedestrians can pass through, but at night, the gates at both ends are locked. Ben mentioned that one of the residents is a famous French rap singer.
We then walked to the west side of the place de la Bastille where he showed more examples of architecture and pointed out an urban legend about a bullet in a wall. According to one plaque on the wall, a small cannon ball in the wall is from the July Revolution of 1830. However, a plaque elsewhere on the wall indicates the building was constructed in 1870.
He then took us to the south side of the place and showed us an uncovered part of the Canal St. Martin. At that location it is called Port de Plaisance de Paris Arsenal or the Bassin de l‘Arsenal. There are a number of nice boats which are docked there and which serve as homes to people. He mentioned that there are weekly relaxed parties on some of the boats.
He then discussed the Bastille Opera building. There are two major opera buildings in Paris - the magnificent Palais Garnier, completed in 1875, and the modern Bastille Opera, which was designed by a Canadian-Uruguayan architect and completed in 1989. The intention of the modern building was to make the opera more available to ordinary French citizens. It had also been intended to start an architectural change to the character of the place de la Bastille. Ben said it had been poorly constructed and would probably not last many more years. It did not have the intended architectural impact.
He then discussed the July Column, a monument in the center of the place. It is dedicated to the July Revolution of 1830, which led to the overthrow of King Charles X. Originally, the monument was to have been a large elephant. (http://cultureandstuff.com/2011/05/24/lost-paris-the-elephant-on-the-place-de-la-bastille/) However, after a large model of the elephant was constructed, the idea was abandoned. Instead, a tall column was built. At the top of the column is a colossal gilt statue called “The Spirit of Freedom.“ It looks like the winged Mercury. The column itself is built of 21 cast bronze drums and is 154 feet high. The base of the column is white marble. The column is engraved with the names of Parisians who died during the revolution. There is an interior spiral staircase. Buried under it are some 615 people who died in the Revolution of 1830 and another 200 victims of the Revolution of 1848. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Column)
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While we were walking around the place de la Bastille, Ben explained many details regarding the creation and fall of the Bastille. He mentioned that it had been a fort integrated into the defensive walls of Paris built in the second half of the 14th Century under Charles V. These walls were the third set of defensive walls. As the city kept expanding, new walls were built farther out.
The Bastille was completed as a fort in 1370. It was later used as a prison. It could only hold a maximum of 50 prisoners. At the time of the revolution, there were only seven prisoners there. The main reason that the revolutionaries wanted entry into the Bastille was to gain access to the gunpowder and arms stored there.
On July 14, 1789, a crowd of nearly 9,000 people, joined by rebellious French soldiers, stormed the Bastille. Despite the fact that the governor of the Bastille and the garrison surrendered under a truce, the revolutionaries murdered 120 of them.
The Bastille was torn down by November of the same year. Ben described how some of the stones from the Bastille were used in the construction of Pont de la Concorde, the bridge which crosses the Seine from Place de la Concorde.
One interesting footnote is that the keys to the portal of the Bastille are currently on display at George Washington’s home in Mt. Vernon, Virginia. The revolutionaries presented the keys to the Marquis de Lafayette, and he in turned presented them to George Washington. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille#Storming)
Ben showed us where the outline of the fort is now visible on the place and the nearby streets.
From the place de la Bastille, we walked down rue Saint Antoine, a four-lane street with buildings of 4-7 stories and with shops on the ground floor. Ben pointed out more examples of architecture from different periods, including the very plain facades of buildings from the era of the revolution of 1789.
We turned right onto rue de Birague and walked a short distance into place des Vosges, where Ben explained the history of this beautiful place, which is the oldest place in Paris and which was constructed under the orders of King Henri IV between 1605 and 1612. The square-shaped place has a garden with a fountain in the center. Around the sides are elegant four-story buildings with red brick facades. The ground level has arcaded walkways with circular arches facing the street. There are shops on the ground floor and residences on the next two floors.
A number of famous French, including Victor Hugo and Cardinal Richelieu have had residences here.
The place was originally called the Royal Place - place Royal, but the ouster of royalty led to a name change. The current name is after the administrative department of the Vosges. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_des_Vosges)
We walked through the park and along one of the arcades. We walked past a musical group playing under the arcade. We then walked out of the southwest corner of the place through Hotel de Sully, a mansion which once belonged to the Duke de Sully, the Minister of Finance of King Henri IV. We could not visit the mansion because it was being restored. There was a pile of dirt in back with a large statue of a mole climbing up out of it.
We walked back onto rue Saint Antoine and turned left onto rue du Prévôt. We turned right onto rue Charlemagne and left onto rue Figurier (Fig Tree Street). We walked a short distance to the Hotel de Sens(http://goparis.about.com/od/sightsattractions/ss/MaraisTour_2.htm ) at the end of the street. This large and elegant mansion was originally the residence of the Archbishop of Sens, whose diocese included Paris. It was built at the end of the 15th century and the architecture is an unusual combination of medieval and renaissance. It is one of only a few medieval residences remaining in Paris.
In the early 17th Century, it became the residence of the King Henri IV’s ex-wife, Queen Margot, who reportedly pursued many of her love affairs here. There had been a magnificent fig tree in front of the mansion, however, Queen Margot had it cut down because it interfered with getting her carriage out of the mansion. Today, the Hotel de Sens is the Fornay Library which specializes in art and art techniques.
We walked across the street to another fig tree. Ben said it was the only one he had seen in Paris. We turned left onto rue du Fauconnier and walked back to rue Charlemagne. There we turned right and walked past Lycée Charlemagne (Charlemagne High School). The Emperor Charlemagne (742-814) played a key role in having an educated laity. At the time he became emperor, education was primarily limited to the clergy.
Along the southeast side of the high school, as rue Charlemagne came to the intersection of rue des Jardins Saint-Paul, Ben showed us the largest remain segment of the oldest walls of Paris, those built in the late 12th and early 13th Century under the orders of King Philip II Augustus. The King ordered the wall built to protect Paris from the English when he departed on the Third Crusade. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_of_Philip_II_Augustus,_Paris#Right_bank)
We walked through a courtyard which had a store called la Cabane de l'Ours (the Bear‘s Layer) (http://www.lacabanedelours.com/), a store which has rustic curios and furniture from Europe and North America.
From there we walked back to rue Charlemagne, We took rue Saint-Paul to rue Saint Antoine and turned left. We then made the first right onto rue Caron and walked one block to where it became the Place du Marché Sainte Catherine. We walked through this place which had several cafes on either side. He pointed out that one of these had a small theater and was the type of place where actor could get a start.
At the edge of the place, at rue de Jarente, I took a picture of Ben and my grandchildren.
We turned left onto rue de Jarente and immediately turned right onto rue de Sévigné. We walked a long block and turned right onto rue des Francs Bourgeois and then left onto rue Pavée. There we thanked Ben for his kindness and said good-bye. We hope that some day, we will be able to do a similar tour for him in the area where we live.
