How's this for a dining room??!!
Thursday morning after breakfast, Jenny and Thomas met us in the lecture room and went over the events du jour. The first was going through a series of enclosed streets, sometimes referred to as "galleries." These "Covered Passages" were narrow streets which had been glassed over in the early 19th century. That made them almost weather-proof. They were now used mainly for shopping and dining, and although the number had been greatly reduced during Napoleon III's modernization of the city, fifteen had survived to the present.
We would be working our way on foot gradually south through three or four succeeding passages till we reached the Palais Royal courtyard and would break for lunch. I had looked at the map and knew that would put us near the famous Comédie Française theater which had been in operation since Molière's heyday. He had personally produced several of his own comedies there. I was not going to come this close and not check that out.
The afternoon would be spent at the nearby Louvre, and that would turn out to be very interesting because Jenny and Thomas would stay with us and show us areas that I had not seen before, in the relatively new Richilieu Wing, a section that until recently had housed the Ministry of Finance. In the 19th century, Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie had lived there, and their private apartment was now on display.
I shall attempt to name and pinpoint the locations of the Covered Passages, but we simply made pedestrian progress through them, one after the other, and my awareness of where one started and the other ended flags at this point.
After a short time back in our rooms, we gathered again in the hallway and were soon out the front door and turning right once more on the Rue Faubourg St. Antoine. Instead of crossing over and taking Rue Claude Tillier to Diderot Station and Line 1, we stayed on Rue Faubourg till we reached Metro Station Faidherbe-Chaligny. There we caught good old Line 8, the same one the Robinsons and I had used to go to the opera. This station was simply farther out on the same line.
To go to the Covered Passages, we caught Line 8 on Thursday morning.
(Who's the impatient guy leaning toward the tracks?)
Soon, we boarded and were on our way to visit the Covered Passages. We stayed on Line 8 and exited at Grands-Boulevards (M). We then walked a short distance north to the Passage Jouffroy. The first of these enclosed streets grabbed my attention almost to the exclusion of photography. I did not take pictures of this Passage till our tour of it was well underway.
With only this day and two more in Paris, I was becoming travel-weary after a month in France. My enthusiasm never waned, yet by now the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. I knew that over the next few days we would be visiting some places that I had already seen, and that was no surprise. I realized it when I signed up, and one reason I went along with this is that things NEVER appeared the same twice. There were always new aspects to be absorbed.
This gallery even had a hotel inside it.
Jana Robinson walks into another section of the Passage.
(As we'd already seen in Alsace and at the Galeries Lafayette, French Christmas shopping was well underway.)
Moi, j'adore le chocolat!
Cookies de luxe
Walnuts never looked so good!
People had been eating high on the leg of lamb. There wasn't much more mutton to be cut.
(I took this pic and wanted to include it, and AFTER the chocolate is better than Before.)
How could any woman resist the jewelry shown by THESE MODELS?
Now we crossed a main thoroughfare and started working our way south, first to the Passage des Panoramas, through smaller "passages" and on to the Place de la Bourse, the site of the old Paris stock exchange. Then we went through Galeries Vivienne and Colbert, which actually have sections that connect them. I shot several pictures of interesting shopping and some of the Grand Colbert Restaurant.
We come to the Passage des Panoramas.
Caroline walks in behind Laron.
Charlie caught the top of some guy's head as we enter Panoramas.
La Bourse--the old Paris stock exchange
(Cool young brokers parked their wheels here.)
Laron in front of La Bourse
Later, we walked through Galerie Vivienne, which connected with Passage Colbert; there we found the Grand Colbert Restaurant.
We went out on the street for a few blocks to reach another section of this Passage, and Jenny pointed out this sleek, prefab neighborhood branch of the national library. Here was a place for scholarly research or book-lending plunked right down in an area of older buildings--more juxtaposition.
Electric lights helped on a cloudy morning like this. Wiring and bulbs were up-to-date and energy-efficient, but the fixtures of yesteryear preserved the old look. Note the overhead water pipes and spigots in case of fire.
THERE'S A STORY IN THIS--"WELL, GORDON BENNETT!"--Thomas and Jenny were inside one of the shops, and I walked in behind them and heard them talking. She said something, and he turned to her and said, "Well, Gordon Bennett!" Taken aback, I said, "What did you say?" Thomas turned to me and answered, "Gordon Bennett; it's a British expression of surprise. Gordon Bennett was a famous race-car driver." I returned, "Well, Thomas, THAT'S MY NAME, and I never realized it was a slang expression in England!"
I had heard of James Gordon Bennett, the wealthy publisher of the New York Herald. As it turns out, his son, James Gordon Bennett, Jr., was called "Gordon Bennett" to distinguish him from his father, and the son returned to England, their home country, and cut quite a figure as a rich playboy who raced cars and yachts. That was the very same reason my parents had called me Gordon Bennett. Daddy was called Gordon, and I was "Gordon Bennett," so everyone would know who was who.
Wonders never cease! I had no idea of this well-worn British expression till that very moment.
Laron, Jenny, and Thomas
Distinguished Houston attorney, the Honorable Laron Dale Robinson, stands in a covered passage in Paris, France, on Nov. 13, 2014. It's been a while since we were very small children and he took me on a tour of the Old East Fire Station on Morris St. in Gainesville, Texas, where we climbed the creaky stairs and saw Infant brother Herbert being tended by Mrs. Robinson.
I looked in the window of this store and was fascinated by its objets d'art. Here were objects both ordinary and extraordinary covered with green moss. This fascinated me.
Wow, permanent, year-round, indoor MOSS--what'll they think of next?!
"Through verduous glooms and winding mossy ways"
Et pour Dali un autre rhinocéros!
At this point, we went outside to walk around to look at the Grand Colbert Restaurant in the Galerie Colbert. Here Thomas and Jenny told us quite a lot about a customary aspect of the 19th century that affected building and architecture. Wealthy Parisian men would often have secret passageways and tunnels built between buildings and inside of them so they could sneak over to their mistresses without being detected. Apparently building # 13 that we were looking at was riddled with such hidden passageways.
At last, we came upon Le Grand Colbert.
Caroline takes pics of The Grand Colbert Restaurant.
Thomas and Jenny praised Le Grand Colbert highly. It's an ageless, fine restaurant near the Palais Royal. It seems to be a well-preserved example of belle-époque splendor. As for seeing the Covered Passages, I was glad to have experienced a feature of Paris that most tourists miss. It was interesting and loaded with culinary delights. It's probably no rival for the Galleria in Milan, but I am glad we went there and did that.
Finally, we emerged from our last covered passage into the courtyard of the Palais-Royal. I had been looking forward to seeing this because it looked so good in pictures I'd seen. When we walked into it now, the weather was cool and cloudy, the Palais-Royal itself had scaffolding on it and under construction, and construction was also going on in the neighboring courtyard filled with modern striped columns. The closely-trimmed trees had lost their leaves, and the whole scene was one of winter, construction, and utility. I was disappointed.
Before pictures of the Palais-Royal area, I pause to recognize French novelist Colette, who lived at the building (#13) behind me, and who was one of numerous writers and artistic luminaries that frequented this area. The open space we were in was something she knew, saw, and walked in most of her life.
She's most famous in the English-speaking world as the novelist who wrote Gigi. Truly, the musical movie Gigi was a huge hit during my late childhood and sparked interest in such actors as Maurice Chevalier. Yet, I hate to brag on something that now seems a far cry from Colette's realism and pioneering feminism. The musical was Hollywood fantasy, it was shot mostly in studios with shots of Paris in the background, and any resemblance between its fun, lighthearted, frivilous mood and the reality of France is purely coincidental.
Here follow pictures of the Palais-Royal area. We walked from here to the Place Colette in front of the Comédie Française theater so Thomas could show us the artistic Metro entrance which would be our after-lunch meeting place.
Le Palais Royal
As I am about to share pictures of the courtyard of the Palais-Royal, I am struck by how many of them I took. I think I was somehow fascinated by the straightness of the tree-trimming. I think it symbolizes something basic to the French character--conciseness. Les Français admirent et pratiquent la concision. Concision cannot be over-emphasized as a trait of the French people. They admire conciseness, preciseness, completeness, and specificity as no others on earth. Examples of this abound, but for now, here's just one of them.
A November morning in the courtyard of the Palais-Royal
Crushed rock covered broad areas bordered by concrete sidewalks. This allowed more walking space and preserved the ability of rain water to reach the roots of the trees
Mother Nature meets geometry.
These trees had received a "square cut."
Les Colonnes de Buren
This colorful Metro entrance stands right in front of the Comédie Française.
Having been shown our rendez-vous spot to meet in an hour, we were dismissed to go eat lunch. I invited Jenny to come join us, but she begged off and said she and Thomas would fend for themselves. Most of our group went back to the Véfour Restaurant near the Palais-Royal, because we had just passed by and it looked promising. Although "The Grand Véfour" is apparently a fine and legendary eating place, we were in a rather narrow part of it, and perhaps this was all that opened for lunch. The Robinsons and I sat together and enjoyed our déjeuner, and when we finished early, we headed back to the Place Colette for a few pics of the Comédie Française.
Lunch at the Véfour
So when we were through with lunch, Laron and Jana and I went back over to the Place Colette to check out one of the few state-owned theaters in France, the Comédie Française. This entire area between the Louvre and the Palais-Royal has been the haunt of writers and dramatists for centuries. Plays were even performed in the Louvre at that time. The 17th century was the heyday of French drama, and Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, and Molière wrote plays and often directed and performed in them .
The pioneer of comedy was Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Molière), who wrote Le Misanthrope, Tartuffe, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, and many other plays. Molière died after performing in one of this own plays at the Comédie Française in 1672. One of my French lit classes read Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, and I saw it performed while I was at UT. Weeks ago, Johanna Schuller confided that she had attended a play here when she was a student. After she said that, I reached out and touched her.
With construction going on, we had to adjust as best we could.
Jane Neustein, I finally made it!
(Standing in the Place Colette, I noted the recognition and appreciation the French accord their writers. Streets and metro stations were often named for them, walls displayed their poetry, and on their deaths, they were given an honored place of burial.)
Molière
Next, we headed to the book shop across the street. We had some time to browse, and Thomas had recommended this place as a good one to find French-language books. I was looking for some things by François Mauriac, the Nobel Prize winner from Bordeaux. Back there, Marie-Chantal had shared her interest in her home-town writer, and I wanted to do something about that while I still could.
FYI--Librarie is a false cognate. It means book store and not library. The French word for library is bibliothèque. La Librarie Delamain was right across the street from Place Colette, so the Robinsons and I headed over there. Once inside, I asked a clerk for his François Mauriac offerings, and he took me right to them. Soon I picked up copies of novels Le Noeud de Vipères, Thérèse Desqueyroux, and the non-fiction De Gaulle and took them to the main counter. The clerk rang up my purchases and we were soon back on the street. Fortunately, these books made it back to Texas.
Delamain Book Store
With about fifteen minutes to spare before we had to meet Thomas and Jenny, Laron and I decided to walk around a block or two of the area and just explore. I savored the view up the Avenue de l'Opéra and of the gold, equestrian statue of Joan of Arc. I had seen it often as Tour de France cyclists made their last laps.
We walk across l'Avenue d l'Opéra.
Joan of Arc
Soon, Laron and I rejoined Jana and the rest of our tour in the middle of Place Colette. Thomas and Jenny were there, and when all were assembled, we headed across the street and over to the huge enclosure surrounded by the wings of the Louvre. Some of us took pictures of the Arc du Carousel and the surroundings, but soon we were all headed into the museum.
As Blog readers know, I had already been here last week, and added to my 2012 self-tour with Ben, this was my third visit to the Louvre. However, this time our guides stayed right with us and helped everyone make full and efficient use of our time in the building. Jenny first led us to the Richilieu Wing of the museum, because she wanted to show us an area that had been used as the Ministry of Finance before Mitterand, but which was now opened up as part of the exhibits. This area contained the lavish living quarters of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie.
Napoleon III was elected President of France in the first half of the nineteenth century and then continued to rule past term limits because of a military coup. Through Maxmilian von Hapsburg, he controlled Mexico in the 1860's. He headed up the government of France until just after the disastrous Franco-Prussian war. His time at the helm exceeds that of all other post-Revolutionary leaders and remains unequalled to this day.
I. M. Pei's glass Pyramid is the skylight for the vast underground lobby.
Arc du Carousel
Le Jardin des Tuileries is a large recreational park just beyond the Louvre. It's on the site of the former Tuileries Palace which was burned down during the Paris Commune in 1871.
Looking out onto the Jardin des Tuileries from inside the Louvre
Our gathering place--The Inverted Pyramid is in the main hall which leads to the lobby but it also marks the beginning of the shopping mall.
We paused briefly at a hall display of three-thousand-year-old Egyptian perfume bottles.
This plaque marks the entrance to the Richilieu Wing of the Louvre. The area was opened in 1993, and this commemorates the initiative started by President Mitterand which finally led to the consecration of the entire palace as a museum. Mitterand served two seven-year terms as president, and his long tenure as head of state spanned the bicentennial of the French Revolution in 1989 and left many lasting marks.
What follows is pictures of a series of rooms used by Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie during the middle of the 19th century when they ruled France. While they resided in the nearby Tuileries Palace, they nevertheless maintained sumptuous quarters in the Louvre.
Napoleon III and Eugénie had a nice living room.
A third seat for the chaperon
Ceiling detail showing François I
Napoleon III ruled France from 1852-1870.
Empress Eugénie
Judging from the size and splendor of this dining room, I don't believe French rulers would favor the Tiny House Movement.
Next, we moved into rooms containing furnishings that had belonged to Napoleon I.
I don't think Napoleon played games from this throne.
Having shown us the Richilieu Wing, Jenny took us to other areas of the Louvre to view really famous paintings and statues.
We move to another section of the Louvre to see Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and a few more masterpieces besides. This was the atrium where students were copying works of art last week when I visited.
Jenny then took us to the room where Mona Lisa was on display. The other paintings which Da Vinci brought with him to France were also on display in the Louvre. They were eventually brought here from Amboise. Francois I and Da Vinci were depicted on the ceiling and walls.
Ceiling detail showing Da Vinci talking to François I
Guess what comes next.
(That alternate spelling was new to me, but I'm staying with the standard one.)
Mona and me
Francois I
Jenny explique les peintures.
The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese is the largest painting in the Louvre.
We listen to Jenny discuss The Wedding at Cana.
Virgin of the Rocks
St. John the Baptist
The Virgin and Child with St. Anne
(This is one of the loveliest things I have ever seen!)
These three paintings by Da Vinci, plus the Mona Lisa, were brought with him from Florence when he moved to Amboise.
Next we went to the displays of the Winged Victory and then to Venus de Milo. No visit to the Louvre would be complete without a look at them. I paused to rest near the former, and Laron did an in-depth study of the latter.
The Winged Victory of Samothrace
Well, everybody has to take a load off sometime.
Venus de Milo
Laron's and my interest in this statue was purely artistic.
Robes then and now
We bid the Louvre adieu, and they don't say "adoo."
The tour day had been long, and at this point, Jenny wished us well and left for the evening. Thomas led us out of the Louvre and back to the Palais-Royal/Louvre Metro station with the art-glass entrance. There we caught Line 1 and rode it back to Rouilly-Diderot. Going along Rue ClaudeTillier, I noticed that laundromat again as we walked back to the hotel.
The "Group B" members were going to the cooking school tonight, so the Robinsons and I were on our own for the evening meal. As they entered their room, we agreed to meet later for dinner, so I headed up the elevator and across to my comfy quarters for a shower and some much needed down time.
About an hour later, I knocked on their door, and they were ready to go. We weren't sure where we wanted to eat, but when we talked it over, we decided to go back to the place where we'd eaten on Sunday night when this tour began. That was Les Barjots just down the street.
So that's where we went. It was not crowded, and the service was very good. The food we ordered suited us fine, even if it was a little more expensive than I had expected. We had a great, relaxing time and enjoyed the visitation.
The Robinsons and I went back to Les Barjots for dinner on Thursday night.
At one point, Laron mentioned something he remembered about the past. That was the fact that in the 8th grade, I would report daily on what went on during The Tonight Show with Jack Paar the night before. He enjoyed my reports because his parents would not let him stay up that late. He envied me for being able to do so. He was not alone in that.
That reminded of me of how very much I loved the privilege of watching Jack Paar, Hugh Downs,
Skitch Henderson, and the many guests that were regulars--like Charley Weaver, Jonathan Winters, Genviève, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Selma Diamond, etc. It was like having a fun window on the sophisticated world beyond, and especially New York.
My parents were gone from home much of the time during the 8th grade, and my grandmother, Ruby Davis, stayed with me during the week, so she was in charge. She loved me dearly and would let me stay up for Jack Paar after news time. I often watched it till sign-off at midnight, long after she had gone to sleep in the guest bedroom.
Here we were in Paris, and we were talking about the 8th grade at Gainesville Junior High School. What fun it was to be there with longtime friends! This had been another extraordinary day, and it was ending well. I knew I needed to go to the laundromat and that things were getting desperate in the laundry department, but that would have to wait till tomorrow night.
We went back to the Patio St. Antoine tired and happy, said our good-byes, and returned to our rooms. Bed and sleep never felt so good.
Tomorrow, the Musées d'Orsay and Rodin followed by dinner at the Procope...
Fin
Hors d'oeuvres:
1. Something that occurs is the importance of the French movie Diplomatie (Diplomacy) which was released last year. I drove all the way to the Shops at Legacy in Plano to see it, and the Robinsons saw it in Houston. It is the somewhat fictionalized but ever-so-awesome story of the decision NOT TO BLOW UP PARIS in 1944. A Swedish diplomat sneaks into the German Commander's suite in the Hotel Meurice through a secret passageway. In a series of conferences, he slowly convinces him not to carry out Hitler's orders to blow up the city as the Allies advance into it.
2. When the Robinsons and I saw the film, we were hit by the significance of those secret passageways. The one in the film was a corridor that Napoleon III had used to sneak to mistresses. The Hotel Meurice which served as the German Commandant's headquarters is right across the street from the Louvre and what was the Tuileries Palace. At the end of the movie, there is a priceless admission about the passageways and mirrors that allowed viewing from behind.
3. Jenny took care to point out to us exactly where the explosives to blow up Paris were stored, and the film made us very conscious of how close this came to happening. Munitions experts placed explosives and wired them to be set off in every significant building, on every important monument, and on all the bridges over the Seine. Everything was wired to plunger detonators, and it all came down to the last-second decision by the Commandant who ordered everyone to stand down and spare the city.
4. Not only would the world have lost one of its most precious possessions, but the blown bridges would have dammed up the Seine and caused unimaginable flooding which would have drowned Parisians left and right. This all came within an inch of taking place!
