Tuesday, November 13, 2007
 Marie Antoinette (pictured in marble above) was Queen of France from 1770 to 1793. She was beheaded on October 16 by guillotine in the present Place de la Concorde. And she apparently never did say, “Let them eat cake.” Her husband, Louis XVI (pictured below), had been beheaded in January, nine months before her, during the height […]
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Monday, November 12, 2007
There was a memorable party given at the gorgeous chateaux and gardens at Vaux le Vicomte by Nicolas Fouquet in the summer of 1661. And I’m not talking about the wedding of Gina Logobria and Tony Parker. Mr. Fouquet put on his celebration in the 17th century in response to a request from Louis XIV, king of France (1738-1715). […]
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Sunday, November 11, 2007
I visited Paris this time on my own. Not on a tour and not with a group, I was usually a lone traveler. Thus, these rules are more for the traveler taking care of everything herself. However, even if you are on a tour or with a group, these rules apply. Take care of your […]
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Saturday, November 10, 2007
One of my most memorable art exhibitions on this trip wasn’t at a museum. It was at a library. I braved a cool, breezy afternoon to go see the Francisque Poulbot exhibition at the Bibliotheque de Fornay just north of the Seine across from Ile Saint-Louis. Â Â Â Â Poulbot (1879-1946) was famous for his illustrations of […]
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I live in the 2nd arrondissement (district), the Montorgueil-St. Denis quartier pieton (pedestrian neighborhood), and the St. Eustace Church parish. Serving the arrondissement, the quartier, and the parish is the market street Rue Montorgueil, just west of my apartment. Montorgueil is pronounced “mont-or-goo-ee,” and it translates to English as Mont Orgueil or “Mount Pride,” referring to the hilly […]
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Thursday, November 8, 2007
St. Eustache Church serves the parish where I live in Paris. The church has an impressive organ, and there are free concerts every Sunday. But who was St. Eustace? Eustace (in French it’s pronounced “oo-stash”)Â was originally a Roman general and captain of the guards named Placidus. He served the emperor Trajan. While hunting a white […]
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Wednesday, November 7, 2007
I walked right into a really, really, really fancy hotel: the most expensive and exclusive hotel in Paris. THE HOTEL DE CRILLON. It’s the hotel where Marie-Antoinette took piano lessons. A hotel so good, the Nazi high command commandeered it for their headquarters during the occupation of Paris 1940-44. (“Let those SS counterintelligence idiots take the […]
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Tuesday, November 6, 2007
For all moving beings in Paris, the allees, avenues, boulevards, impasses, passages, quais, and rues are very important. Like in the United States, some of these designations of surfaces for vehicular passage are a little vague–do you have to be so many feet wide to qualify as an avenue as opposed to a rue?–but I’ve compiled […]
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The studios of Walt Disney and Hana-Barbera don’t have the lock on fictional characters. Many of Americans’ most beloved cartoon, storybook, and movie heros and heroines come from writers and storytelling traditions in France. Some of the characters are actually Belgian or Swiss but are very popular in the French language. I’ve listed below some […]
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Many Parisian museums are free on the first Sunday of each month, so today I walked right into the Louvre, big as you please. No ticket and not even a glance at the keepers of the gate. I also didn’t bring my pack, so I didn’t have to unzip the pockets, show my umbrella and water […]
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