All the political prisoners were freed and spared from the guillotine with the exception of French Royalty and the infamously decadent Marie Antoinette.
A few years ago I was in Paris on that Memorable day and witnessed a spectacular military parade along the Champs-Elysee that culminated in a fabulous fireworks display over the Eiffel Tower. Another year I was in Vichy on that memorable day when all traffic stopped for an awesome parade of representatives of the 61 departments of France, including the colonies of the French West Indies. The streets were ablaze with colorful costumed stilt walkers, dancers and singers. Fo9r the French, this day is comparable to our Fourth of July.
If you won¹t be in Paris on that eventful day, but a trip to Paris is on the horizon, I recommend a walking tour to the 4th arrondissement (district) in the Marais. This is now the locale of chic fashionable boutiques and the remains of the old Jewish section. But I did find a historic Orthodox Sephardim Shul, the site of a Tunisian couple¹s wedding ceremony and was gifted with a souvenir packet of sugarcoated almonds. The Place des Vosages, made of small rose bricks is described by Parisians as the oldest and most beautiful squares in all of Paris. It was conceived by Henry IV in the early 17th century and was built with a good number of arcades. At number 6 Place des Vosage, I saw the plaque designating that this was the residence of the celebrated author Victor Hugo.
The Ile de la Cite is geographically, historically and emotionally considered the secular and religious heart of Paris. The Romans were the first to build bridges to the right and left banks of the Seine. Then King Henry IV completed the building of the Pont-Neuf Bridge. The handsome equestrian statue at the center of the bridge is that of the King. He was also responsible for joining two uninhabited islands and within 50 years the Ile St-Louis was formed. I suggest you don your most comfortable shoes (Conde Nast¹s Traveler ³Perrin Report suggests Mephisto, Dansk, and Geox.)
Join the other tourists to visit the site of Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, and the Concierge, where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned again before her execution. The Place Dauphine was the old dignified brick houses and home of the famous entertainers Yves Montand and Simone Signoret and other actors and authors. Unfortunately the artists left when the old buildings were converted and split into apartments for the bourgeois. I learned from some of the locals that the urban planner Haussmann literally razed the oldest part of Paris in the1860s. He tore down the medieval alleyways, the Jewish quarter, twenty churches, hospitals and ancient tenements, just abut the entire center of the Ile de la Cite. Ironically, Henry IV had plans to work on the Ile de la Cite after he completed his plans to develop the Ile St-Louis in the mid 17th century, but he died of a massive heart attack before he could realize his vision.
There is a small bridge that connects the Ile de la Cite to the Ile St-Louis. As a matter of fact when the Ile St-Louis was first developed the planners designed exquisite private hoteliers to be placed on the quais facing the river and working people would be placed in buildings in the interior without a river view.
Former President Pompidou lived on a quai as did the Baron Rothschild who owns the fabulous Hotel Lambert that had been the home of the famous Voltaire in the 1740s. Many of the shopkeepers still live above their stores in the interior of the island.
Not long ago, some of the apartments for the economically deprived did not have real bathrooms. I understand that even today a stroll down the rue des Deux Ponts will reveal a few public bath houses (bains-douches) still functioning in Paris.
I found the Left Bank in the 4th Arrondissement of Paris with the Ile de la Cite and the Ile St-Louis a walker¹s paradise, even at nightfall when all the public buildings sparkle with lights. There doesn¹t seem to be any electric power shortage in the City of Light.
Copyright by Marcia Abramson
E-mail: mascribe@verizon.net.
