I was amazed to see this video recently and I know you all will enjoy it too. Who would have thought of putting bee hives on the rooftops of Paris?! It was interesting to hear the bee keeper comment on the fact that “city bees” are actually happier here than in a rural setting with its pesticides and mono-culture. The bees in Paris access the lovely flower gardens in public parks as well as all the geraniums and other flowers on the balconies all over town. Especially engaging were the hives on the roofs of Notre Dame Cathedral where the director enjoys watching them from his office, and the bees at the famous restaurant La Tour d'Argent whose honey is served to its gourmet clientele. Beekeepers have been placing hives all over Paris for 8 years, and there are now a total of 300 which give 7 tons of honey a year! The Japanese are especially fond of Paris honey and it sells for 200 Euros a kilo.
Experience France with Geri The Latin Quarter Part 3
Remember that the reason this part of Paris is called “The Latin Quarter” is because here are found France's oldest and most prestigious educational establishments. Since medieval times the major schools and universities have been located here, and in that time period, Latin was the language of scholarship. So I thought it would be appropriate to at least walk past and learn a bit about some of the great institutions of learning located in this part of the city. Walking south on the Boulevard St-Michel, you will pass on the left the chapel of La Sorbonne. The Sorbonne dates from the 1100's and is still the seat of learning particularly for the Humanities. There is a very attractive little plaza in front of it with some enticing cafés for having a little something before continuing the stroll. In just another block or two turn left onto la rue Soufflot and you will have in front of you one of the most dramatic sites in Paris, the Panthéon. This beautiful building was completed in 1791 but has an interesting history. Way back in 507 A.D. the king Clovis converted to Christianity and built a basilica on the spot where the Panthéon stands today. Sainte Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, who protected the city from barbarians was buried in the basilica in 512. In 1744 King Louis 15 attributed his recovery from a serious illness to the prayers of Ste-Geneviève and decided to have built a prestigious church on the same spot, dedicated to this saint. His chief architect, Soufflot, made the plans—modeled after the Pantheon in Rome--but died before the project was finished. By the time it was completed around the time of the French revolution, it was decided to make of the building not a church, but a national pantheon, as a resting place fit for the great men of France. It is constructed in the neo classical style with grandiose Corinthian columns. So today it stands as a temple to those who have contributed to the glory of France, and across the top it says: Aux Grands Hommes La Patrie Reconnaissante (To the great men, a thankful country). Interred here are many of the most famous French such as Victor Hugo, Pierre and Marie Curie, Alexandre Dumas, Emile Zola, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Louis Braille (inventer of the braille system for the blind). Just a bit to the left of the Panthéon is the lycée Louis Le Grand, one of the most famous lycées which offer preparatory classes for entrance to France's “Grandes Ecoles”, which we will touch on in a moment. And just at the back of the Panthéon is another of these lycées, Henri IV. For both of these high school age schools there are very difficult and competitive requirements for admission. Lycée Henri IV is known as one of the most demanding secondary level schools, and also offers preparatory classes for entrance into the Grandes Ecoles. One hundred percent of its students pass the rigorous baccalauréat exam, while the national average is around 80%. And a student here can brag that he or she attends the same school as some notable alumni such as Guy de Maupassant, de Musset, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone Weil. The Grandes Ecoles are an elite higher education path outside the main framework of the French university system. Admission is by competitive written and oral exams that students usually spend 2 years preparing for, some of them at one of the two lycées mentioned above. Perhaps the most famous and prestigious of these special schools is the Ecole Normale Supérieur, located just a few blocks south of the Panthéon. This is the most selective and most challenging institution of higher learning in France, founded in 1794. It is a national legend and has trained the leading French intellectuals. Among its alumni are Henri Bergson, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Louis Pasteur. All of the French Nobel prize winners across all disciplines are alumni. You can almost feel the intellectual energy emanating from this part of the city. From the Place du Panthéon we will walk to the left of the building on rue Clovis and then turn right on rue Descartes.
Following along on this street we arrive at Place de la Contrescarpe, a youthful gathering spot, in an old part of Paris at the top of what is called the Montagne Ste-Geneviève, one of the highest points in Paris. There is a fabulous restaurant just off the Place on rue Blainville called La Truffière where I always had the farewell dinner for my adult tour groups. It now has a Michelin star and is quite expensive, but will offer you an exceptional dining experience. For the less expensive fare that most of us look for, look no further: just keep walking on rue Descartes which changes name to la rue Mouffetard and you will find lots and lots of little eateries with outdoor dining, especially on a little side street called rue du Pot de Fer. This whole part of town is fun to tour at night, but if you are here during the day, just keep walking down the famous and narrow rue Mouffetard with all its shops and food and especially at the end of the street don't miss the well-loved produce market. The whole area described in this article is usually quite free of tourists, so just enjoy this special slice of the Left Bank.
The Latin Quarter, Part 2: Musée de Cluny - Experience France with Geri
This place is an absolute jewel on so many levels. An intimate setting in a historic building from the 15th century, housing treasures from the Middle Ages, the Musée de Cluny has always been one of my favorite Paris visits. It is located in the same neighborhood as our last visit, right at the corner of Bd. St-Michel and Bd. St-Germain in the heart of the Latin Quarter. Before you even enter, you have before you one of the rare non-church buildings in Paris dating from the 15th century built in what is called secular Gothic. It was originally the home of members of the Cluny religious order.
The Musée de Cluny is now called the Musée Nationale du Moyen-Age. Here you will find a beautiful collection of sculpture, stained glass, and other art objects from the Middle Ages, from around the 12th to the end of the 15th centuries. Another amazing aspect of this museum is that long before it was a house, it was the site of Gallo-Roman thermal baths called the Thermes. This facility, built around 200 A.D. was open to the public, and many of the ruins can be viewed from the street as you pass by. You can also visit the restored baths on the interior of the museum. Another reminder that Paris was a flourishing city almost 2000 years ago! But of all the beautiful objects in the Cluny, perhaps the most compelling is the work called La Dame à la Licorne (The Lady with the Unicorn).
This is a six-panel tapestry housed in its own private room and dates from around 1500.. A tapestry is a woven art form, in this case in wool and silk, and most frequently originating from artists in Flanders, in what is today Belgium. Your first sight of this magnificent work will take your breath away. There are six large panels arranged along the walls, each panel showing a noble lady with a unicorn on her left and a lion on her right. Each panel depicts one of the five senses, and you see a portion of the display at the top of this page. For a detailed look at each panel accompanied by music of the period, see the video included at the end of this blog. The 6th panel is shown just above and is the one that has intrigued people down through the centuries. On the tent above the lady is written “A mon seul désir” (to my only desire). What does it mean? Is it a “6th sense”? She is reaching into a jewel box. Is that a hint as to the meaning of the words? I would be interested to see what my readers think of these words. Please leave your ideas and comments below. I have thought a lot about these words and what they might point to. If we ask ourselves, “what is our only desire?” and look more deeply within, I believe we will find that what humans long for is something way beyond the everyday needs and desires of our lives, something beyond the understandings of our mind. I think we all feel some kind of an attraction to a higher and deeper sense of being, of goodness, truth and beauty. For me, this is said beautifully in the expression “Enchanted by the Mystery.”
Hard Words in French #8 "pneu"
This new video series on Hard Words in French has been a lot of fun to teach. One of the interesting things I have noticed is that in most cases it is not that the word is particularly hard to pronounce but the spelling makes it look hard. I started the series around the time of Christmas, so the first of this series was “meilleurs voeux”. But from then on I have been focused on the “10 hardest words in French”, a list that appeared in an online news magazine called The Local. Fr. I am assuming that these were words expats in France submitted to the magazine and got the idea for the series. The word this week, “pneu” is not really all that hard but it has a couple of interesting features. One is the pronunciation of the eu spelling, which in this case we call the closed eu. Its phonetic symbol is /ø/ and it is one of the foundations of my course, Mastering French Pronunciation. What is so important about this vowel? It contains all the important characteristics of what I call “The French mouth”. Since I am an English speaker, I have had to learn how to sound French and that is the specialty of what I offer. These little video lessons give you a sample of the content of my teaching, but the course also gives the opportunity to practice what is taught by repeating exercises after me, and also by seeing a native French speaker say the words on video. If correcting your Anglo/American accent and sounding more authentically French interests you, I invite you to look into Mastering French Pronunciation.
Cheeses of France: Roquefort—the “King of Cheeses”
Let's go to southern France and enjoy a true Roquefort!
I am truly a “cheese-a-holic!”. One of the joys of my time in France was the abundance of cheeses, the variety, and the availability. Unless you live in an urban area with gourmet shops it is hard to find really excellent French cheeses in the U.S. It was my privilege to live in the Napa Valley for many years and because it is a gourmet food haven, I was able to indulge my love of cheese. The great former General and President of France, Charles de Gaulle supposedly said something like “it is impossible to govern a country with over 300 cheeses.” So I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the favorites in this blog series. And for today I have chosen Roquefort, the famous blue cheese from southern France. Roquefort has an interesting history. According to the website of Société Roquefort, the legend is that ages ago a young shepherd was attracted to a beautiful young woman and ran after her, leaving his flock of sheep and his meal, bread and ewe's milk in a cave. Several days later he returned to find the milk curd marbled with green veins and the bread moldy. The Penicillium Roqueforti had turned his cheese into Roquefort. Since I do my best to eat foods that are natural and pure, I am especially fond of Roquefort since it is from the raw milk of sheep. Each sheep gives only 16 gallons of milk per season and the cheese is aged for a minimum of 90 days in the limestone caves of Roquefort. The milk is injected with the mold penicillum, the same substance that gives us the antibiotic.
And the conditions of the limestone caves age the cheese to become the delicious product that we know. There are reports of a cheese like Roquefort dating from the 1st century A.D.,and this was the first cheese to be given an “appellation d'origine”, way back in 1925. This is a sort of trademark saying that this product comes only from a certain designated place and no other product can be called by its name. There is a strict appellation in the wine business, as in “Appellation Bourgogne Controlée” or “Appellation Côtes de Nuit Controlée”. Roquefort is produced in the region around Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in the department of Aveyron, in the south of France. I once questioned the different-ness of French cheeses with a French native, asking why a Camembert would be any different produced in Normandy or produced anywhere else. His response was firm: essentially, “are you kidding?” Only the grass that grows in that region has the rainfall, the sunshine, the soil to nourish the cow whose milk will reflect those conditions and only those conditions will give the cheese Camembert which came from that spot. I love this connection to the land that the appellations offer and I realize that it's true that the subtle distinctions that give us the fine cheeses and wines of France are linked to the Earth conditions that produced them. We don't have this system very strongly in the U.S. although you will see cheddar from Vermont or from New York State or Wisconsin as a designated appellation. I like to eat Roquefort on plain rice crackers (although a good baguette would be best) with a bit of butter to accompany it. Bon appétit!
The Latin Quarter—part 1: quartier rue de la Huchette
A stroll through the narrow streets of the Latin Quarter in medieval Paris.
The Latin Quarter on the Left Bank is my favorite neighborhood in Paris. Perhaps because I was a French teacher, perhaps because I led student tours for many years, this colorful part of Paris traditionally frequented by students, intellectuals, writers, artists and the young in general has always been close to my heart. The members of my tours were always surprised to learn that it got its name “Latin Quarter” because in the Middle Ages Latin was the language of learning, and the University of Paris had its beginnings in the 12th century right in this part of town.
The first night in Paris on my tours I wanted the group to experience the narrow medieval streets of this historic district. I suggest starting out at the métro Maubert-Mutualité, crossing Bd. St-Germain and taking Rue Maître Albert, leading into Rue de la Bûcherie, across the river from Notre Dame. Just delight in the tiny streets that haven't changed all that much for 800 years! There are several charming places to have dinner along these streets and also along la Rue Galande, a little to the left, across Rue Lagrange.
At the end of Rue Galande, you will come upon the lovely little church St-Julien-le-Pauvre, one of the city's oldest religious buildings. It was built on the ruins of a church destroyed by the Normans in the 9th century and rebuilt in the 12th century in Gothic style. At the end of the 19th century the church was given to the Greek Orthodox faith. (For more details on Gothic architecture, see my blog of Feb. 8, 2016)
From the front of the church go to the Rue St-Jacques and onto the Rue du Petit Pont and just before you reach the river, turn left onto Rue de la Huchette. This little street and all the other ancient streets around it lying between Bd. St-Michel, Bd. St-Germain and Rue St-Jacques are very interesting and exciting places to stroll, especially after dark. This is not elegant Paris! But it is old Paris—passageways unchanged for centuries including rue de la Harpe, rue Xavier Privas, and the very very narrow rue du Chat qui Pêche. These streets are crowded, noisy, youthful and colorful: lots of cheap restaurants, many of them Greek, with the waiters standing outside trying to lure you in.
On Rue de la Huchette, be sure to take a look at the tiny Théâtre de la Huchette, with continuous performances of Ionesco's plays for over 48 years. Just wander around these narrow streets, and maybe pick up a baclava in one of the many shops specializing in Mediterranean pastries.
One treasure you want to see is the church of St-Séverin. Rue de la Harpe crosses Rue St-Séverin but everything in this neighborhood is so close you won't miss it. If you are here at night you will enjoy the lighting of this Gothic gem, and if during the day, you may want to visit the interior. Interesting to note that this church is a stone's throw from the mighty Notre Dame and I have always wondered how the relatively small population of 12th and 13th century Paris could sustain so many churches.
In future blogs we will look at more of my favorite spots in the 5th and 6th arrondissements. Stay tuned!
Word of the Week #1
For all those who would like to sound more French! I am dedicated to helping improve the quality of spoken French among teachers, students and all who wish to sound more authentic when speaking this beautiful language. To this end I have produced--so far--over 40 mini video lessons found on You Tube. These little lessons teach not just how to pronounce the vowels and consonants of French, but also are an introduction to the larger work I have created, Mastering French Pronunciation, an 8-chapter video course. This course is my “labor of love” in which I unlock the code to what the French do to sound French! Do check it out on the website. I will be posting some of these videos on my blog, so enjoy these mini lessons which are an introduction to the in depth material taught in the course. My heart is particularly open to teachers of French who with this course will have the tools to continue their professional development and become even better models for their students. I would love to hear from my readers: please comment on difficulties you have in French pronunciation, words you would like to see included in my Word of the Week or Hard Words in French series, and just feedback, etc. Enjoy!
Experience France with Geri. Ile de la Cité Part 5—the conclusion
After leaving the magnificent Sainte Chapelle we re-enter the modern world and make a left on the Bd. Du Palais, turning left again on Quai de la Corse and noticing the two remaining towers of the medieval Concièrgerie. The Concièrgerie was a prison in the 18th century and it was here that Queen Marie-Antoinette was held prisoner during the Revolution, before her transfer to Place de la Concorde to be executed. We turn left again on rue de Harley, go up a few steps and enjoy the beauty of la Place Dauphine, a fairly undiscovered and quiet spot in Paris, and a good place to sit and rest for awhile. The lovely stone and red brick town houses that line the square were built in 1607 and one of them houses the restaurant Chez Paul, a Paris classic. At the end of the Place you will notice an impressive statue: the good King Henri II on horseback—and directly behind the statue, steps leading down to the Square du Vert Galant. This is our final destination of the day and where we finally get to eat the picnic delicacies we purchased a few hours ago at the Maubert-Mutualité outdoor market.
As we enter the little park, we are under the famous bridge called Pont Neuf, which, despite its name, “New Bridge” is actually the oldest bridge in Paris, dating from 1607. It was built by King Henri II whose statue stands above it. The bridge crosses the Seine with 12 arches at the river's widest point. All along its length on both sides are a series of grotesque heads, each with a different expression. So we proceed to the very tip of the island and sit on the stones or benches to enjoy our group picnic. It is not against the law in France to consume alcoholic beverages in public, so go ahead and enjoy some wine as we share our various cheeses, pâtés and baguettes. But don't forget to look around you, for this is one of my favorite spots in Paris. First, you have a great seat to watch all the boats floating past, and speaking of boats, the Seine excursion boat company I recommend (because the boats are smaller and this location is easy to access) dock along this quai. In front of you is the lovely pedestrian bridge Le Pont des Arts, a destination not to be missed, especially at night when you get a view of Notre Dame on one side and the Eiffel Tower in the distance on the other. From our vantage point you also see one side of the Louvre across the river and almost directly across from where we are sitting, the former large department store La Samaritaine, a Paris icon.
It was built in the 1920's in art deco style and was previously a very popular site with its roof garden offering one of the best views of Paris. It has been undergoing renovations for several years and when completed will house shopping, food stalls, a luxury hotel, office space etc. Most of the building, which spans two blocks, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. So we come to the end of my favorite day in Paris, our visit to Ile de la Cité. It is a tour lasting about three hours but it took five blogs to share with you all the details. And we did go literally “from one tip of the island to the other” all the way from the Memorial to the deported ones to the picnic spot. Linger and rest in this special place before your afternoon activities. Bonne continuation!
Experience France with Geri: Ile de la Cité Part 4
We leave Notre Dame and move toward our next visit, the magnificent Sainte Chapelle with its stunning display of stained glass. But along the way there are a few interesting spots to notice. We go straight across the plaza and take a right onto Rue de la Cité. The large building on the corner is the Hôtel Dieu, a charity hospital built by the church in the middle ages, and still in use today. Now we turn left on Rue de Lutèce. The set of long green wooden buildings you see on the square are in the art nouveau architectural style and host a permanent flower market opened daily.
As we continue along, we notice the beautiful Métro entrance for the Cité station in art nouveau as well. There aren't too many of these old, original station entrances left. They date from around 1900 and were going to be replaced but got spared by Parisians who protested to save them. As we approach the Boulevard du Palais, we are opposite the striking gilded gates of the Palais de Justice, the French court system. We turn left to find the entrance for La Sainte Chapelle. Since we are entering the courts, we need to go through an x-ray inspection, and then we enter the courtyard where we purchase our tickets at the entrance of the chapel. La Sainte Chapelle was built in 1248 by King Louis the 9th, also called Saint-Louis. He built it to house what was considered to be the Crown of Thorns and a piece of the Cross, relics brought back from the Middle East during the Crusades. The Crown of Thorns believed to have been worn by Jesus at the crucifixion, is now in Notre Dame and only shown on Good Friday. The chapel used to be connected to a palace, but now is surrounded by the 19th century court buildings. The chapel has just light supporting columns and spaces filled with glass. This ensemble, so fragile looking, hasn't had a crack or break for 7 centuries. The ground floor is attractive, but it is on the second floor that the magnificent windows are found. So we will take the narrow staircase up. During the years that I led this tour, I would always go first up the stairs to have the pleasure of hearing the comments of my tour group as they first caught sight of the spectacle that awaited them. Most of the time it was “Wow!” or “Oh, my God!”, usually uttered with a breathless reverence.
The small room is an enormous glass display—the most ancient stained glass in Paris, and the largest expanse of stained glass in the world, 1500 yards. The color is breathtaking, like opening a jewel box of precious stones; this is one of the best representatives of the brilliant stained glass artwork of the 13th century. After being bathed by this kaleidoscope of color, we reluctantly leave the Sainte Chapelle to continue to the end of our visit to Ile de la Cité.
Experience France with Geri. Ile de la Cité Part 3
From the moving Mémorial aux Martyrs de la Déportation which we visited in our last blog entry, we move across the street to the magnificent Notre Dame de Paris. I like to stop first at the rear of the church to appreciate the dramatic flying buttresses (les arcs boutants) and to give a little overview of Gothic churches.
Many of the major Gothic cathedrals in France are built on ancient worship spots from before the Christian era. Early peoples recognized a special attraction or energy at those locations and designated them holy places. So these cathedrals have an element of sacredness not just because of their being a Christian place of worship, but from far back in human history. And over the years participants in my tours have reported feeling in fact something that moved them inside these churches. But let's get back to the view we have before us, the flying buttresses. Prior to the 12th century, church architecture was based on the Roman style, with its rounded arches which could only support a moderate height. But in the 12th century a breakthrough happened. Architects discovered the principle of the “buttress”, a support on the outside of the building which pushed in against the weight of the walls. This style allowed the walls to go much higher, and also incorporated the graceful pointed “gothic arch” associated with this time period. Another marvelous aspect of the buttresses was that the walls could be thinner, which allowed windows to be installed and this caused the flourishing of the art form we all love, stained glass windows.
So as we stand here we admire the particular kind of buttress known as “flying buttress” which show us dramatically the thrust of these supports against the walls. It is interesting to note that the most authentic and beautiful Gothic churches were all built in the 1100's and early 1200's. At the front of the church, always flooded with tourists, move back away from the entrance to get a perspective on the façade. Over the west entrance is a row of 28 statues called the King's Gallery. They represent the Kings of Judea and Israel, mentioned in the Old Testament. But in 1793, the Revolutionaries thinking they represented the Kings of France pulled them down and cut their heads off! The heads can now be seen in the Cluny Museum. It was only in the 19th century when the famous architect Viollet le Duc did renovations on the church, that these statues were re-created and installed where we see them today.
The rose window over the entrance is nearly 30 feet across and is so perfect that it has never shifted in over 700 years. It forms a halo to the statue of the Virgin and child supported by two angels. The twin towers are 226 feet high and in the right (south) tower is the great bell, tolled only on solemn occasions. Inside the church there are hundreds and hundreds of tourists which often make the experience feel less than sacred! Try to let that go and sink into the beauty of this exquisite monument over 850 years old. Usually you must follow a path to the right. Be sure to stop at the transept, or the cross section that goes across the altar in the center. Here there are several things to notice. First, to the left and above you are the breathtaking north and south rose windows. Be sure to take your time here to enjoy the vibrant colors and the stories they tell. And just in front of you, to the side of the altar is the delicate and lovely 14th century statue of Mary with the Child—Our Lady of Paris. The next visit of our day on Ile de la Cité takes us to the beautiful Sainte Chapelle and ends with our picnic at the other tip of the island. Don't miss it!
