Paris 2010 - Day 1

Day 1 - Thursday August 26^th

The Arrival

Many improvements seem to have been made to Chas. de Gaul Airport since last we visited and found it to be a throwback from the Jetsons.  It was much nicer than we remembered. 

We arrived without incident, but the incidentlessness didn’t last long……… 

As we were nearing customs Jane began looking doggedly for her passport - with no success.  We both combed through every crevice of her carry-on bag - to no avail.  I must say, Jane was outwardly very calm and collected as she declared that we had to go back to the plane to see if she’d left it there.  She promises that inwardly she was utterly verklempt!  Of course once you have left the secure area, you can't go back.  Thankfully, the security fellows got back to the plane and shortly came back with passport (and cash, credit card – Jane’s whole enchilada) in hand.  This was not the last time the good Lord looked out for us on this trip.

(Jane says:  Inwardly, I was a wreck.  I was certain that our whole trip would be ruined, I would be escorted out of the country in penury and I would never get to see Johnny Depp.  He lives in France you know.)

(Chris replies:  Shoot, I KNEW that hunky guy who was giving me the eye from across the bistro looked familiar!)

We got our checked bags, found our pre-arranged driver quickly and arrived at our hotel in time to take a little sieste (no, not siesta.  This is Paris, remember?) before heading out for our first foray onto the streets of Paris.

The First Foray

 We decided we had the energy to tackle a smallish walk, so we selected the Latin Quarter on this first afternoon without a full night’s sleep and still very much on EDT.  Though our walk began with the fountain, Place St. Michel (Davioud’s 1860 sculpture of St-Michel slaying the dragon), familiar to us from our last visit, it was the first time either of us had really explored that section of Paris.  We liked it very much.  It has a nice city neighborhood feel with quiet streets, lots of flowers and some hills. 

 (Jane adds:  Also included in this fountain area are the engraved names of those that died fighting the Nazis in 1944.)


Une jeune fille in front of a pretty Parisian fountain

 




Une jeune fille is wary of the Puking Sphynx

 

We walked past the Sorbonne – a huge structure - the famous university founded in the 13^th century.  It boasts past  professors such as Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon and alumni that include Dante, Calvin and Longfellow. 




La Sorbonne est un grand place!

 




Clock on exterior of Sorbonne

 


One corner of the Sorbonne's roof

 




A courtyard approaching the Sorbonne

 

I happened to see the architectural corner piece dedicated to Geology and took a photo in John’s honor.



This is a shot inside what I beleive was St-Severin, but it might have been Eglise de la Sorbonne or perhaps even St-Julien-le-Pauvre.  So many cathedrals.......

(Jane says:  We wanted to see some sites we missed the first time around, and I decided this trip I’d allow my sibling to wear comfortable shoes, because the only way to truly see Paris is to walk it.  In addition to the Sorbonne we also passed the Musee de Cluny which was something we fortunately decided we may want to come back to later in the trip.  One of the very many churches we saw on this stroll was St. Severins which was built in the 11^th century with further additions in both the 13^th and 16^th centuries, quite a cacophony of architecture and brilliant workmanship.)

(Chris interrupts:   Don’t you just love the word cacophony?)

(Jane continues:  This walking tour was primarily an architectural gawking tour which included everything from remnants of Roman Baths to the smallest house in Paris and one time homes of luminaries from Dante to Mitterand.   We were both rubbing out the crinks in our necks for the rest of the evening.)

We ended our first day on Paris by having a nice prix fixe dinner and heading to bed before dark - though it surely was dark over on the EDT side of the planet. 

On This Day in History

As we strolled around town we noticed fresh bouquets of flowers in many locations around the city.  They were hung through iron loops attached to various buildings, each located under a plaque on the building that honored the people who had lived, gone to school, or were transported from their homes to the building and detained there awaiting deportation to Nazi extermination camps.  When we asked about the occasion for the flowers, we were told that this was the 66^th anniversary of the liberation of Paris at the end of World War II.  It was very sobering to think that it was only 66 years ago – a mere 3 generations – that Paris and the rest of Europe endured such man made Hell (but then, isn’t all Hell manmade?).

Here is an example of one of the plaques we saw.

  

It translates as follows:

Arrested by the Vichy Government police, collaborators of the Nazi Occupation, more than 11,000 children were deported from France from 1942 to 1944 and assassinated at Auschwitz because they were born Jewish.

More than 500 children lived in the 4^th Arrondissement.

Among them, students from this school.

Never forget them.

(picture credit - picture found in Jennifer's blueparis.net website)