Europe 2008, Paris Continued.

In the last post about my recent trip to Europe we were in Paris a city filled with so many sights as to take more than one post to adequately describe my impressions. Travel around Paris as noted in every travel guide is by the efficient Metro, combination subway and intercity rail service and the city spanning RER light rail service. One morning, we traveled the Paris Métro, and the RER to Versaillies-Rive Gauche the town surrounding the Versailles Palace built by King Louis XIV. The carriages were crowed with people heading off to work. For the French, the average office hours begin from 8:30 to 9:30 AM, in contrast to workers in the US who start at least an hour earlier. The RER train rapidly emptied with each stop so that by the time we reached our destination, only tourists remained.

A short walk through a town, laid out much like Washington D.C., whose design was taken from Versailles, led to a broad grass boulevard that inclined toward the palace gates. The palace lies on a gentle hill and the grounds facing the town is devoid of gardens and presents a picture of regal efficiency.

A special note, one of the best bargains while in Paris is investing in a Paris Museum Pass Official website. It is only 30 Euros for a two day pass for access to 60 museums and attractions. A quick flash of the pass and we whisked by the long quay of tourist waiting for entrance.

The Chateau itself is laid out in a large U shape with projecting wings off to each side. The royal apartments, are opulent as expected for someone who believed in the concept of Absolute monarchy in France. As one tramps through the corridors and bedrooms of those who when alive, believed that they were the most important and powerful souls on the earth. Any whim and desire, was fulfilled, every lust and craving sustained. The end of their regime took place on October 6 1789 when a mob broke in, and by morning had seized Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette of Austria. No evidence of this final calamity remains. The palace and the grounds are kept as a reminder of when France for a short time, was the most powerful nation in the Western World.

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Walking around the grounds gives a person the scope of its immensity, 250 acres of gardens, pools, fountains, groves of exotic plants and two smaller palaces. In an ironic way it was the largest public works project in Europe at the time, employing 30,000 workers in construction and housing 20,000, just to maintain the seat of government. One can not help thinking about the mindset of anyone who lived and worked in this environment. From King to nave, they were better off that most of their countrymen and believed themselves to be superior to almost everyone else in the world. That narcissistic view eventually led to their downfall and the spasm of hatred for privilege, the ended in the Guillotines basket for many.

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Traveling back to Paris we continued our visit to take in sights that are best seen at night. The Arc de Triomphe built as a tribute to Napoleon's army after the victory of the Battle of Austerlitz. The arc is at the center of twelve avenues that radiate out in perfect symmetry. The view from the roof, after climbing 284 steps up a narrow circular staircase, is spectacular as one looks down the tree lined avenues and soaks in all that is Paris. Later as the sun set, the arc took on a golden hue that drew thousands to it's base. A monument build to honor a battle that was an attempt to make all Europe part of France has turned into a thing of silent beauty that remains a national tombstone, to honor the loyalty of those whom served two centuries ago.

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Our visit to Paris left me with a feeling of awe for the achievements in architecture and the collections of individual expression that are housed in scores of museums. As I commented in the previous post, Paris is challenged with trying to assimilate thousands of new residents who for reasons of culture, resist change. The challenge for France is one that affects many countries in Europe and even North America. Amid the columns of the past, are streets, where the night belongs to those who stand in the shadows. Looking at the way France found a way to preserve it's heritage, I hope they find the fortitude to retain the magic that has drawn millions to her wide boulevards and culinary delights.

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Next stop, Munich, Germany

Travel Notes-Paris 2008

This is a continuing post about my travel to Europe, that began with Travel Notes-Europe 2008. The next leg of our journey took us to Paris, home to a vast collection of preserved examples of the best and worst of human behavior. It goes without saying that Paris is one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. How it got that way, is reflected in it's history, born out of absolute monarchy where the whims of kings grace the landscape. It is significant that on another warm summer day, thirteen years after the American Declaration of Independence,What Hath Jefferson Wrought? stated that, All men are created equal, that France began it's own tumultuous transition to democracy.

The French Revolution began with the establishment of the National Assembly, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. But soon inflamed passions led to the Reign of Terror, warfare involving every other major European power and Napoléon I. France struggled through two returns to monarchy, two more revolutions and two world wars over the next two centuries before becoming the France we now know.

Today, Paris awakens your senses as soon as you arrive. The melodic tone of the customs inspector as he stamps your passport and bids you, accueil chaleureux to France, notes that you are no longer among familiar English speakers. The Metro, like London' Tube is efficient, and crammed with natives of France and her former colonies. Our hotel was in the Cambronne district, and a short walk brought the Eiffel Tower as seen from the École Militaire into view. This remarkable example of achievement was built by a common man and towers over the monuments and palaces, built by those who for a time, stood on the stooped shoulders of common men.

Walking under the wide spread legs of the tower, one notes that among the throngs were foreign tourists, and French families taking their children to absorb the grandeur that represents France to the world. Carefully watching, and mingling among the crowds, were French soldiers, armed and in combat gear, a sign that amid this peaceful tableau, danger lurks. Not wanting to wait in the long lines for an elevator, we elected to climb as far as we could up the open legs of the tower.

The climb, became ever daunting as the crowds below became smaller and smaller as we wheezed up 719 steeps to the second level. The view, not as distant as that gained by going to the top, was closer to the city and offered a panorama of what awaited our discovery. The trip back down. challenged your sense of vertigo as the switch-back stairs wound down the narrow leg as it plunged to the ground.

Walking through the Champ de Mars on our way back to our hotel we observed dozens of Vietnamese wedding parties alighting from limousines followed by friends in BMW's and Mercedes, to take up station across the park, as photographers posed them to claim their posterity in film. The image of so many gaining middle class status was not lost on us, who have seen the success of our own immigrants from Vietnam in assimilating the culture of their host country.

The next day, found us traveling on the metro to visit the sites of Paris. The Louvre the most visited art museum in the world began as a fortress in 1190 AD. Today it houses almost 35,000 pieces of art, from the Mona Lisa to Venus De Milo. Beyond the obvious examples noted, the thousands of art works are a link to our shared past and should give us a marker to pause and think of the person who took the time to create that expression, and gave themselves a sliver of immortality.

Walking down the Seine to the Cité island home to the birthplace of Paris, we were confronted by an element that has become a facet of modern France. A youth, the from one of France's colonies approached us and tried to engage me by saying that I had dropped a gold ring. As he did this, his accomplice began jostling my wife, we started to wave them off, when two gendarmes sprung from nowhere and seized the two. Amid shouts and police whistles, the two were hustled into a paddy wagon and sped off horn blaring. We continued our walk unmolested, to the Notre Dame and the Conciergerie prison where Marie Antoinette was kept while awaiting execution.

The courtyard of the Notre Dame hosted a festival celebrating cheese and bread products and became the perfect place to pause and sample the fresh fare amid the surroundings of centuries past. An interesting note for history buffs, beneath the Notre Dame lies the Crypte Archeologieque which dates back to when Paris, a Roman city existed. A visit to the Conciergerie begins by stepping down ten feet to the original ground floor of the great hall of the guards, built from 1302 and one of the largest surviving parts of medieval Paris. The palace turned prison, housed many of those awaiting execution during the Reign of Terror, including one of it's creators Robespierre,

Our next destination was the Hôtel des Invalides, home to Frances military history museum Musée de l'Armée, and the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. During our walk through the World War II exhibit, we were reminded that the behavior that led to the image of the Ugly American has not faded with time. As we walked through an exhibit, a group of Americans about my age, had approached a museum guard and one man was asking where the bathroom was. The guard pointed out in understandable English that the bathrooms were located near the entrance and exit. He offered to show them a short cut back to the bathroom. The man raised his voice and exclaimed that these "God damned Frogs can't speak American worth a shit, and their so cheap not to build a restroom on each floor." He they got in the guards face and told him. "This is why France is so F'ed up, my daddy never should have saved your asses during World War II." His companions guffawed at his rude remark, and the the guard, merely shrugged and walked away. We hurried on, embarrassed of our fellow citizens behavior and understanding why we continue to be perceived as the cousin you invite over, only when there's fighting to do. In defense of the fellow Americans we encountered, this man and his party were the sole exception to what we observed as constant cordial behavior by all. To comment further, French people have been declared as aloof and rude to Americans and other non-French speakers. During our visit, we encountered only civility by all. In fact, after a visit to a market where the clerk forgot to pack one purchase, he chased us down the block to add it to our belongings.

Paris at night, becomes a vision of beauty, broad tree lined streets, give way to creative lighting that contrasts the gargoyles and inscriptions, on buildings and monuments, amid the fading light of a late spring evening. The Eiffel Tower becomes a magnet drawing people like moths to a flame as they gather to circle the tower and await the hourly display of strobe lights, that flash and mesmerize all who gaze upon it's twinkling framework. The streets are lined with hawkers from far flung former colonies, trying to sell miniature battery powered Eiffel's to paunchy tourists who hurry by without a glance. The walk back to our hotel, down streets bordered with chestnut trees, and past tables of dinners enjoying a late night snack, left us with a feeling that the founders of Paris, it's kings, and the architects of countless generations, built this place on a magical spot that was selected by the hand of God.

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To be continued;

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Travel Notes-Europe 2008

One of the things that we almost always take for granted, is the ability to travel the world in relative comfort and safety. I don't need to remind people of my generation that global travel was once reserved for the privileged. The past half century since the end of World War II and the Cold War has led to an explosion in travel. Roadblocks to travel today, pale in relationship to travel just a short half century ago. I urge all who are physically able to take every opportunity to see the World and discover something new out of something old.

I just recently returned from a trip to Europe, where my wife and I spent three weeks traveling and enjoying a family reunion in Germany. Now you might think that my wife was German from the way this story is going. But in fact she is from China, where her parents still reside. Her sister and brother-in-law, have lived in Germany for the past fifteen years and are German by all accounts of language and culture. Their children are being raised to speak, German, Mandarin, English and for their teenage daughter, French and Italian. I am not writing this to brag about my niece's linguistic skills, it only shows that the effort to create a global person is well underway. She is not the exception, her classmates are all required to take language classes in English, French and other languages, and this before entering high school.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting observations about our trip. We began in London and continued on to Paris, before making Munich our base for two weeks. From Munich, we took road trips to Venice, Prague and Vienna. Our method of travel included every mode sans horses. We stayed in European hotels and never ate in a MacDonald's or sipped a Starbucks. The experience was both refreshing and eventually gave us a longing for our homeland. I will refrain from making political comments about the countries we visited and will write only about the impressions and observations of people and places we visited.

London:

My last visit to London was decades ago, and the first impression upon return is the level of how multi cultured England has become. The Tube riders looked as if they were being shuttled from a United Nations meeting. My wife remarked how strange it was when a traditional English gentleman, suited and umbrella in hand boarded the car. Later, when visiting the Tower of London, the soldiers on guard were of African descent, and the next day during the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace the guards being posted, were from the Malaysian Army commonwealth forces. A lot has been written about the blending of cultures in England and how it rents the fabric of English identity. Seeing is believing, the people we saw were British in every sense.

The famous landmarks do not change, and the feeling of grandeur only fades with the realization that much was lost to the raids in World War II and earlier massive fires that destroyed most of medieval London. For a historian, every surviving site was a primary source to savor and think about the events that took place so long ago. These relics, exist amid the towers of modernity and sound of sirens announcing the passage of ambulances. Take away a few buildings and statues, London becomes New York, Chicago or Tokyo. Still a city that should be on everyone's list to see and explore.

London had a reputation for bad food, where Fish and Chips or Bangers and Mash, washed down by tepid bitter ale was the common fare. This has changed with the introduction of dishes brought from their far flung former colonies. London's Chinatown, boasts several great Dim Sum restaurants, every bit as good as those found in Hong Kong. And the East End, the haught of Jack the Ripper' is home to people of Britain's former Indian colonies,Whitechapel where curry is king.

Leaving London on a bright Sunday morning we boarded the Eurostar train for a cross-channel journey, Channel Tunnel to Paris. The trip, covered the distance in a little over two hours, something that with high gasoline prices, might encourage planners on the crowed eastern seaboard to consider for inter-city travel. The trains, Class 373 trains are powered by electricity and travel at speeds of 186 MPH. In Europe and much of the urbanized world, all rail transportation, both surface and underground are powered by electricity. The amount of energy is drawn mostly from Nuclear power generating plants, something that the United States is rift from continuing to develop. Case in point, France Électricité de France produces 75% of their power from nuclear energy. And Japan, home of the first human lab experiment of nuclear destruction, powers its country with 55 reactors, and is the third largest user of nuclear power in the world. I said that I would refrain from political comments, but this seems to be a common sense observation that we re-open our discussion about power generation in the United States.

The trip across the French countryside as we approached Paris, reminded me of how farmland in the United States used to be. It is a place where small farmers still toil the soil and send their product to market, as their ancestors had done for a millennium. I also thought back to a time over half a century ago when Allied forces battled the Germans for every square inch of the countryside from the channel to Paris. The marks of war are gone, but hedge checkered countryside, will always hold the story in the bosum of it's bloodied soil.

Next Paris,

As a postscript: During the time of our travels, one of the people I link in my blogroll, Victor Davis Hanson was in Europe and filed these observations.

Euromania

Europe to an American