Tour of Paris

My tour of Paris will be broken down into two parts: Brief History and Interesting Facts

Brief History:

Paris was originally inhabited by a Celtic tribe on the Ile de la Cite, an island on the La Seine river (the main river flowing through Paris). This civilization was, like many others, massacred by the Romans in their quest to conquer the world. Fast forward to 1163, and we have in the exact same place the beginning of construction on the Notre Dame de Paris (“Our Lady of Paris”), which was completed in 1345.

Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I) was crowned as the Emperor of France here in 1804 by Pope Pius VII. He, being the arrogant little man that he was, physically took the crown from the Pope and placed it on his own head, claiming that he did not “owe his crown to any divine power” and did not hold a position below the Pope. He also, in an effort to revitalize Paris, planned to demolish Notre Dame de Paris. Fortunately, Victor Hugo (famous writer from Paris), in an effort to save the cathedral, wrote Notre Dame de Paris, known to us as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which effectively secured the Notre Dame as a landmark and saved it from destruction.

Now let’s backtrack to King Louis IX in the 1200s. He viewed Paris as the “New Holy Land”, thus he actually went out and bought the Crown of Thorns that is thought to have been worn by Jesus himself. He also purchased a part of the cross and one of the nails used in the Passion of Christ. The cost for such precious artifacts, an equivalent cost of over $1 million.

Fast forward to King Henry the IV – the “People’s King” – named because he was one of few monarchs to ever be genuinely loved by the people he ruled over. Part of this love arose from his decree that every man was entitled to a roast chicken dinner on Sunday. If they could not afford it, he would provide it for them. Despite how loved he was as king, he almost was not crowned because he was protestant. However, one morning he woke up and declared himself catholic so he was crowned as the King of France. Eh, why not.

He is credited with the idea of building the first bridge of stones in Paris. He wanted a bridge that would not burn down. Thus, he ordered the construction of Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge remaining in Paris. Being incredibly proud of his idea, he hosted a celebration with the King’s collection of wine and champagne. He wanted people to have souvenirs to remember the day, and so he ordered artists to paint portraits of the attendants. Unfortunately many of them were too drunk to make it home with the portraits, and they would surely litter the streets. So the good king saved the portraits and had the faces carved in stone and placed around the bridge. That is why the face of one man (there are actually a few) about to “blow chunks” appears on the bridge, probably because he was about to throw up when the portrait was painted.

Unfortunately, declaring yourself Catholic does not sit well with staunch religious folks. Thus, twenty-four unsuccessful attempts were made to take his life. However, on the 25^th attempt, Francois Ravaillac succeeded. He stabbed the king multiple times, but did not kill him. King Henry IV said, “Is that the best you’ve got?” Ravaillac then stabbed him in the heart to ensure the dead was done. Sadly for Ravaillac, he was captured, and the penalty for killing a beloved king is a harsh one. The French were contemplating new kinds of torture and tested them on Ravaillac. His bones were broken with wooden mallets; he was burned with sulfuric acid, and was pulled apart by horses. All of these were intended to kill him, but he managed to endure through grueling tortures. One of the horses even had to be replaced as they attempted to pull him apart.

King Louis XIV (known as the “Sun God”) moved the kingdom to Chateau de Versailles, his father’s old hunting grounds, because he hated Paris. He demanded that the luscious and beautiful gardens be completed even before the furniture was moved into the palace. Fun fact: he was also obsessed with his legs. In a majority of his portraits, he is showing them off for all to see.

King Louis XVI was viewed as a weak monarch because he would not take a royal mistress. Respect.

We move ahead to World War II, and see the only scars from the war in Paris: bullet holes in the Palais de Justice. These are from the French resistance to the Nazis. When they took power in Paris, the French simply handed over the city and moved south. Hitler loved Paris, but as the end of the war approached, he told his commander in Paris, Dietrich von Choltitz, to burn the city to the ground. He did not want such a beautiful city to fall into the hands of his enemies, which led to the order for it to be burned to the ground. Von Choltitz ignored the orders on several occasions, which resulted in a famous phone call from Hitler asking if Paris was burning to the ground. Some people regard von Choltitz as the savior of Paris.

Interesting Facts about Paris:

My favorite: The Institute Francais is responsible for guarding French culture and language. Each time an English word creeps into the French language, they dawn their robes, unsheathe their swords, and meet to discuss what must be done. They create new, “French-sounding” words to replace the English words. Why they wear robes and carry swords, I have no idea, but it’s awesome!

“The higher the gold, the more likely it is real.”

Many French monarchs left their marks on the city:

Louis XIV – inverted L

 Henry II – H and C and D; Henry and Cathy, but the “D” is believed to stand for his favorite mistress, Dianne

Napoleon III – N

The Louvre is actually built on top of an old castle and has three secret entrances to avoid a long line. If you want the details on these, let me know! Also, many windows of the Louvre (and other buildings in Paris) have an orange, circular sticker in the corner. What could that mean? It means in the room with that window is one of the most important artistic or historical artifacts of Paris. The firemen are instructed to break these windows first to save these works. “Art and history before people”.

The Arc de Triomphe is surrounded by a roundabout with 12 lanes. No insurance company will cover an accident occurring in this area. So many accidents are a result of tourists not realizing there is an underground path to get to the monument. Under the monument is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, similar to the one in the United States. It has only been extinguished twice. Once, a Mexican tourist in Paris watched his home country lose to France in the 1988 World Cup Championship. Disgruntled and drunk, he stumbled to the tomb and urinated on the flame, extinguishing it. The second time, an Australian couple backpacking across Europe with little money hoped to take advantage of the heat to cook their sausages. The rope hold the sausages burned and the gas pipes were cut off, suffocating the flames. Both incidents resulted in the responsible party to be deported to their homes, never again to return to Paris (possibly an effective way to get home if you have no money).

Andre Le Notre, Garden Architect of Paris, designed the Gardens of the Tuileries and the Gardens of Versailles. Developed many unique methods of performing ridiculous tasks requested by the king like transporting full grown trees (this was before cars). He went to Italy to learn how they designed their gardens at request of the king. There he met the Pope at his welcoming celebration, walked up to him, kissed him, and put his arm around him waving to the crowd. He had no idea you aren’t really allowed to touch the Pope. The king, being a great friend of Le Notre, was not surprised at all and laughed at the matter.