Hotel week end paris pantheon
 we
are in 1744 and Louis XV is very ill during the siege of Metz.
So he makes a vow, a promise that if he gets better and regains
his health, he will build an abbey church in honor of Sainte-Genevieve,
the patron of Paris. But he gets better much too fast…..!
And who pays for the costs? The citizens of Paris of course. The
building starts in 1764 but is only finished in the middle of
the French revolution, 1791. Very bad timing ;-)! The revolutionaries
decide to turn it into a mausoleum where the great personalities
of France would get their final resting place. The first to be
buried was Mirabeau, followed by Rousseau and Voltaire. But when
the shocking news came that Mirabeau had been a good pal of Louis
XVI, he was pulled out and had to give his place to Marat. The
poor “Marat” would not be left in peace for long since
another problem came up! Indeed, a law of 1795 decreed that you
needed to be dead at least for 10 years before earning a spot
in the Pantheon. Out went Marat, finally buried at the cemetery
of Saint-Etienne du Mont. In 1885 Victor Hugo found hid way to
the Pantheon. Since then, the purpose of the Pantheon didn't move
an inch. Emile Zola, Jean Moulin, Louis Braille (inventor of the
Braille writing for the blind), Jean Jaures, Pierre and Marie
Curie were all buried with great pump. The great refurbishing
of the Pantheon, which is being on now, will last until 2010 at
the least. The
interior of the Pantheon is mainly impressive by its extent. The
floor outlay is 110 meters long and 85 meters wide in the form
of a cross. But it's from a distance that the Pantheon looks the
most beautiful. The best perspective is from the rue Soufflot,
when you arrive from the boulevard Saint-Michel.
Stroll
along the streets lying in a circle around the place du Pantheon.
You will meet City hall of the 5th arrondissement, the Faculté
de Droit (Law school), and the BIBLIOTHEQUE SAINTE-GENEVIEVE founded
in 1624. This library has more than half a million books and thousands
of manuscripts. But you must have a library card to enter this
books shrine.
A
short walk will bring you now to the church of SAINT-ETIENNE DU
MONT, facing the Pantheon.
This
church is worth a visit especially because of the very successful
combination of different styles: the gabled roof above the portal
is classic, the rose window in the facade gothic and the cupola
of the bell tower shows Renaissance influences. Notice the remarkable
choir gallery (16th century), the only one in Paris not connected
with the nave of the church. All other similar galleries in Paris
were destroyed during the 18th century. The baroque organ and
the wainscoting of the pulpit are outstanding, and so is the stained
glass window from the 16th and 17th century in the “Galerie
des Charniers”.
Sorbonne
Chapel Ste Ursule
Going
back through the rue Soufflot, take the rue Victor Cousin to the
right and you'll walk straight into the SORBONNE, the most famous
symbol of French tradition. Its history goes back to the
12th century when it was only a small theological faculty with
some private homing. The faculty was closed during the French
revolution but Napoleon turned it into the first French university.
The present building you see dates from the 19th century. If you
manage to get inside (no problem, just act as a student or a professor),
you will notice the sundial in the interior courtyard and the
painted walls in the reading rooms. The chapel of the Sorbonne,
where Richelieu is buried, can only be visited during special
exhibitions or at special request.
Bibliography:
Vie et histoire des arrondissments de Paris, ed.Hervas, 1985-1988,
20 volumes—Nouvelle Histoire de Paris, ed.Hachette (20 vol.since
1971), Le piéton de Paris, by L.P. Fargue, ed.Gallimard
1997—Paris, 2000 ans d'histoire by J.Favier ed.Fayard 1997---Guide
du Routard 1998-99.
Spending Time in the Latin Quarter
by James Lipscomb
When my wife and I decided to go to Paris,
we knew little of the city, other than what we had seen on television
and movies. We knew the Left Bank was the traditional haunt of
noted writers and philosophers so, being booklovers, we looked
for an inexpensive hotel in the 6 th district, the famed St. Germain
des Prés.
To our delight, St. Germain des Prés
was everything we expected, and more. A quaint warren of side
streets and alleyways, enclosed within the bustling boulevards
of the city. We wandered through the winding streets, window-shopping,
people watching and occasionally stopping at a picturesque café
for cappuccino and pastries, until we were totally lost. Then,
when we tried to extricate ourselves from the maze, we discovered
even more of the intriguing city, around every turn.
Late, one warm May evening we set out on
one of our rambles into the bustle of St. Germain. We dined on
the sidewalk in front of a medieval church, bought some Cuban
cigars and a beautiful print of the Eiffel Tower, then eventually
found ourselves in front of the fountain at the St. Michel Square.
Taking the last unoccupied table at a busy
sidewalk café we were swooning over the splendor and vibrance
of the city. The fountain directly in front of us, the River Seine
and the beautifully illuminated Notre Dame cathedral to our right,
it was intoxicating. We couldn't believe we had been so fortunate
as to choose this location for our stay in Paris.
We marveled at the antics of the taxi drivers
as they jockeyed for the lead in an automobile race that only
they knew about, and we watched pedestrians, young and old, in
every manner of dress as they paraded around the Place St. Michel
for our entertainment.
After spending quite some time taking in
the wonder of the city, my wife asked me the time. We were sure
it must have been getting close to the café's closing time.
We were both astonished to learn it was 3:00am. Had it not been
dark, the activity on the street might have led me to believe
it was 3:00 in the afternoon.
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