Paris! The name immediately conjures images of stunning monuments, like the opening montage of an Audrey Hepburn film – the Eiffel Tower, the Arch de Triomphe, Notre Dame!
But as you walk through the streets of the city you start to see the smaller yet no less significant reminders of the city’s history.
Small white plaques, just above eye-level on many buildings, are almost unnoticeable. But during the final week of August, bouquets of flowers with a red, white, and blue ribbon bearing the insignia of the mayor of Paris draw your attention. These plaques mark the locations where French resistance fighters during WWII fought and died during the Liberation of Paris.
Amid the plaques and cobble stones and old bridges, history is everywhere. As residents and tourists walk through the streets to work, the Metro, or a café, the past is present. The flowers on the buildings, the cranes at Notre Dame, and the bouquinistes selling their wares along the Seine reinforce that sense, simultaneously existing in a 21st century metropolis settled by the Celts in 259 BCE. Taken together, these all exemplify the city’s motto “Fluctuat nec mergitur” (“[She] is tossed [by the waves], but does not sink.”). While Paris has rightly staked her claim as the capital of fashion, food, art, and romance, it should also be thought of as the capital of resilience.
In early August, Delta brought back the nonstop flight from CVG to CDG. No need to rush through the airport or scramble for connections with this flight. And with a Fifth Third Bank close to the gate you can easily exchange money. Then relax, have a drink, and wait for your flight – Which is the pace my husband and I took for this trip.
Some people can sleep on long flights. I am not one of those people. I struck up a conversation with my seatmate, a sister from Saint Paul Cristo Rey who was traveling to Paris and then to Nairobi. I hadn’t even landed in France and already my horizons were expanding!
The flight from CVG arrives around 8 a.m. After customs, much of which is now automated, and baggage pick-up, we were on way to the RER train and into the city around 9 a.m.
The RER ticket at 11.40€ is the cheapest, quickest, and most direct way into Paris. We were staying at the Hotel Fontaines Du Luxembourg (in the Sixth Arrondissement) – the RER stop at the Luxembourg Gardens was about a five minute walk from the hotel.
The first day in Paris is always filled with PLANS. Go here, do this, eat that. But the actual first say is a weird state between asleep and awake – buzzingly aware that it’s the middle of the night back home but excited that it’s mid-morning in France. You’re hungry, but don’t know for which meal.
Though Paris is a big city, the river makes navigation simple and the Metro makes getting around easy. The impulse may be to do all the things, but be aware of what you’re sacrificing. My advice is to have one thing you want to do, then leave time and space to enjoy the city. The French, after all, have a word (flâneur) to describes one who strolls idly though a city, taking in the experiences.
Since we arrived on a Wednesday, our hotel room was ready early, so we were able to check in and get settled almost right away. This quiet first day would culminate in a scenic boat ride on the Seine, which is something I’ve wanted to do since I was 15 and learning French in Sr. Madeleine’s class.
Mon cherie, it was not to be!
Not the boat I wasn’t on.
We got to the embarkation spot 20 minutes before the scheduled departure. Since we hadn’t had dinner (or maybe it was lunch) we stopped at the Franprix and bought a baguette, two pears, and a mini-goat cheese assortment set. We tore into the bread with our bare hands, stuffing the cheese into the soft pockets owe had torn off, and greedily eating during our impromptu picnic.
We were soon joined by a family from Manhattan – grandfather (Gaga), father, and son who were making their third, second, and first trip to Paris, respectively. Gaga’s first visit was in 1955. “Ten years after the War, so much energy, but people who knew very bad times.” So, on the banks of the Seine, in the shadow of the Notre Dame I talked about The Big Red Machine with a Mets fan. Then the delightful young Irish couple arrived, equally confused about where the boat was, but instantly adding to the fun.
Eventually a boat from the company came by and the captain gestured we had to catch the boat at the Eiffel Tower, which was nowhere near where we were. The lesson, if any, is to check your email for ticket information on you travel day, no matter how tired you are. However, had we done that, we might have gone on a boat ride but we’d have one less story to tell.
LIBERTÉ, ÉGALITÉ, FRATERNITÉ
The story told by the plaques throughout the city now has a proper home. The Museum of the Liberation of Paris opened in 2019 on the 75th anniversary, housed in a bunker above the Montparnasse train station where the Resistance ran their efforts lead by Col. Rol-Tanguy.
Admission to the museum is free, but the mixed reality tour of bunker (in your choice of language!) is an additional cost. Tours of the command post are every 30 minutes. Located twenty meters underground, you descend 100 steps wearing your VR goggles, as you take on the role of a journalist for a French newspaper. Once there you, interview leaders, review maps and objects, and witness the Resistance’s efforts.
The museum also includes artifacts and photos about the lives of General Leclerc, Free-French leader, and Jean Moulin, first President of the National Council of the Resistance, along with a timeline of the Resistance efforts. The newsreel footage of Charles de Gaulle marching into Paris with the Free-French army feels a bit like watching footage of Washington crossing the Delaware.
The temporary exhibition Women War Photographers, covering 75 years of international conflicts from 1936 to 2011, creating a bridge between Lee Miller’s work in WWII to Carolyn Cole’s images from Afghanistan.
Genco!
The museum’s setting in Montparnasse means it is surrounded by lively restaurants and vibrant markets. Be sure to look for “service continu” as many places close from 2 to 7 p.m., which means amazing restaurant isn’t open at 3 p.m. when you’re hungry. We found Café Daguerre for drinks and a late lunch, with a lively terrasse. At one point, my husband instinctively moved his hand down to pet a dog who walked by our table.
A few minutes later the dog, and a woman, returned and asked “Are you French? You were so kind to my dog before…” She was gesturing with the leash and we are all but taking it from her. Though she didn’t need to, she explained she had to run into a nearby store but she couldn’t take her dog in, so would we watch him.
As she walked away, we asked his name – He was Genco. We offered him some water and he waited patiently for his owner’s return.
SHOCKING
Of course, art museums are always on the agenda in Paris. I must confess that I didn’t go to the Louvre, though I did visit the Musee des Arts Décoratifs which is in the Louvre complex. You can enjoy walking through the courtyard, past the Pyramid, and onto the Rue de Rivoli to enter the MAD.
On view through Jan. 23, Shocking! is a retrospective of the work of Elsa Schiaparelli, a designer celebrated for her surrealism-inspired accessories, clothes, and more. The exhibition has been lauded in Vogue and The New York Times and includes costumes, accessories, jewelry, perfumes, drawings, paintings and sculptures. It is a walk through fashion, art, and French history, touching on her collaborations with Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau and Man Ray and juxtaposing her innovative designs with those of the fashion house’s current creative director Daniel Roseberry.
After our unsuccessful boat ride on our first night in Paris, we decided to give it another try. This time it worked! On a whim we stopped by the Paris Seine kiosk and they had availability for the Maxim’s dinner cruise. The three-course dinner also featured live music and attentive service. Though we didn’t get the history and commentary so often offered on these cruise, we did have wine and chocolate.
NOTHING SACRED
A trip to Paris isn’t complete without a visit to at least one church. One of the most famous, and photographed, churches is Sacré Coeur in Montmartre. In contrast to the many Gothic cathedrals in the city, Sacré Coeur is in a Roman-Byzantine style, built between 1875 and 1919.
You can tour the church itself, walking along the church’s outer aisle to see the altars and chapels dedicated to the saints. Occasionally a priest reminds the crowd to be quiet, as they are in a church after all.
Sacré Coeur is perhaps most famous for its steps (296!) that take you to top of the building, with incredible panoramic views of Paris. If those who built the church wanted to reinforce the idea of man’s place in the world,
Montmartre offers remarkable contrast – one of the Metro stops for Montmartre is at Pigalle, the city’s former red-light district. Some of the history remains in the shops in the area and the Moulin Rouge, but it is mostly a busy, if not entirely picturesque, commercial district.
IT’S ACADEMIE
One of my favorite activities on vacation is laundry! Even laundry is magical in Paris. Because in Paris, you can have lunch and walk through the Luxembourg Gardens while you’re doing laundry.
Keeping in the spirit of the flâneur, it’s good to spend a day wandering around Paris. I walked through a few of the covered passages. These arcades with glass roofs, built in the 19th century, are now home to shops, cafes, and even classrooms. Some 20 covered passages remain on the Right Bank each with their own charm.
The gardens of the Palais-Royal are also a perfect spot for a walk and people watching. On a Sunday afternoon, the gardens were full of people and dogs enjoy the late afternoon sun.
As I exited the gardens I heard music – LOUD MUSIC. I didn’t immediately know where the music was coming from. Certainly not the cafe on the corner, but as I continued to walk I came upon the plaza at the Académie de la Comédie-Française.
The plaza was filled with dancers! On a Sunday evening in Paris, couples were dancing while delighted onlookers enjoyed the scene. Perhaps you’ve seen this on Instagram, but in person it’s truly moving and absolutely breathtaking. It was an expression of pure joy in the midst of a cynical world.
Thousands of words over thousands of years have been written about Paris, from Julius Caesar to Julia Child. But for a city that has witnessed both the best and the worst of history, there is always more to say.
It turns, no matter the state of the world or your own state of mind, Audrey Hepburn was right. “Paris is always a good idea.”
–Tricia Suit