Paris Virgin No More...

Paris, 24th Oct - Day 2

Revolution Walk – A darn good investment. Context Tours is highly recommended for those who don’t mind walking and have a strong interest in European history.

Our fearless leader (or docent) for this walk and talk on the lengthy subject of the French Revolution, was a young American woman named Patricia who came to Paris to study this part of France’s illustrious history. The tour was almost three hours long and took us to four main locations; Bastille, the Carnavalet Museum, Hotel de Ville and the Napoleon victory monument.

Today, the Bastille is a traffic roundabout with a monument in its centre to commemorate the revolutionaries who lost their lives in the three-day revolution. But a very long time ago, the Bastille was a garrison where political prisoners were held at the King’s (dis)pleasure. In the first revolution during the reign of King Louis XVI, hubby to Marie Antoinette, the building was destroyed by rioting peasant masses.

Trivia: Did you know that there are no cobblestone walkways to be found in Paris around areas that are notoriously known to cradle revolutions? Those entrusted with keeping law and public order decided to rip every cobblestones out of the ground before another rioting peasant did the same, only to hurl them back at the cops.

From Bastille, we walked through the winding alleys of the Marais (French for swamp, because that was what it was before, a very long time ago) to the Musée Carnavalet, which houses ‘the history of Paris’ in two buildings that were affluent, private residences a very long time ago.

We spent the most time at the museum where the docent used every painting and artifact to tell the story of every revolution that has taken place. I think there has been four in total and every time one happened, the result of it was a new republic. Today, France is in what it calls the Fourth Republic. However, history has proven that every 100 years or so, the French do fancy a good ol' revolt… so stay tuned and watch this space.

After the museum, our docent led us to the Hotel de Ville, as it stands today. A very long time ago, the building and the huge square in front of it was used as the Town Square where guillotine executions took place, including that of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Trivia: Did you know that the guillotine was the standard method of execution in France until it was recently abolished in 1981? The guillotine was accepted as the ‘equal’ method of execution as opposed to different types of execution accorded by social status. Since the revolutionaries fought for equality for the lower classes, a guillotine execution was considered an equal death for all.

Finally, we ended the tour at Napoleon’s erection, a monument in praise of himself and his victories. ‘Napoleon Complex’ immediately comes to mind…

Jip’s Café: You haven’t seen eclectic until you’ve been to Jip’s. It serves up your choice of Cuban, African or Spanish cuisine… I ordered the daily special, Plat du Jour, and honestly had no idea what it was about but what a surprise it turned out to be! The main was grilled white fish, which sat atop a stewed compote of onions and cabbage… talk about creating energy from wind and natural gas. On the side, were slices of grilled bananas and the most delicious sweet potatoes I have ever tasted. Since I roughly know what to expect from Spanish and a little bit about Cuban, I’m guessing this dish could only be classified under African…

Notre Dame: There are lots of tourists in Paris at this time of the year. I actually noticed that there was a lot of American-ese spoken around me as I waited in line to climb the towers and meet the gargoyles. The view from atop Notre Dame was a spectacular 360˚ view of the city, which was a good thing because I could then look at Paris and realize the true scale of the two tourist maps I was holding.

Here is the good news; most everything that one might want to see and do in Paris on a first visit is within walking distance. It might take an hour to walk the entire orientation of the Seine River. But here’s the next bit of good news… it is impossible to be bored when walking in Paris. Especially in autumn.

The Pantheon: A very long time ago (you can tell by now, that I am useless with dates), the Pantheon used to be a church dedicated to St Genevieve, patron saint of Paris. It now houses the tombs of great men and women of the revolution; Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, Alexandre Dumas, Marie Curie and Voltaire, to name but a few.

Jardin du Luxembourg: A very pretty garden which belongs to the Luxembourg Palace, in the corner of the grounds. The garden is now a public park and is lovely in autumn.

St. Germain: A lively neighborhood on the right bank (rive gauche) of the Seine. Paris is a city where you can choose to eat food from any part of the world on any given day; from Tibetan to Mexican, from African to Mongolian. And St Germain is the place to be if your affliction is gastronomical wanderlust.

The Louvre: I went, I saw, I took the pictures. The glass pyramids made famous by Tom Hanks and The Da Vinci Code and had everyone in the square looking for the Rose Line. I am not a big appreciator of art, so I shall tick off the Louvre as done and spend my time tomorrow wandering other streets in this pretty, awesome city doing other things.