Paris: Week Two, Day Five
Thursday, July 6
Today was class as usual. I’m gaining a bit in confidence, but I still feel incompetent compared to the other students. Regardless, I’m giving it my all. Every day I record the entire 3 hours of class. Then, I spend that evening and the next morning listening to it on repeat. I review class materials to make sure I understand them. I define words and practice grammar. I try to force myself to listen to people speak French even if I can’t understand them. Yes, I eavesdrop on others’ conversations. Not that it matters much. I can’t pick out more than the occasional pronoun or verb. I keep trying though. Altogether, I probably spend about 6 hours per day purposefully trying to learn French. The rest of the day is built around reinforcement of ideas and such as I see and hear words that are slowly becoming familiar to me.
After class today, I met with my AIFS group to explore Montmartre. I went there last year but enjoyed it enough to return this year. I hate the pathway up to the Sacre Coeur, but it’s okay. I need the exercise.
I took the wrong metro exit when I arrived in Montmartre and ended up at the Abbesses station. The steps to the top went on forever. People were stopping and resting, growing too tired to carry on. Why was there no elevator??? Maybe I missed it somewhere. I felt bad as an elderly couple in front of me stopped often to rest. It was quite a trip, like coming up from the Catacombs.
I remember being at this metro stop last year. My teacher explained that the entryway sign is one of only like three originals left in the city. I’ve seen two of them but can’t remember where the third one is. Anyway, I took a photo of the historic sign that explains more.
The sign states that Hector Guimard designed this sign along with the ones at Porte Dauphine and Place Sainte-Opportune. The sign is art nouveau. It’s shape is a stylized M which eventually was simplified and now represents all the metro entrances in Paris. I always look for the M everywhere I go. This metro sign was added to the inventory of Historic Monuments in 1970. It was moved here in 1974 from another location.
There was an additional sign at the metro for Hector Guimard.
The sign says Guimard (1867-1942) was at the origin of the Art Nouveau style, a.k.a. the Modern style. Art Nouveau reject the classical model at the time, and incorporated flowing forms resembling nature.
“The Castel Beranger, at 14 rue La Fontaine in Paris, is a manifesto of his [Guimard’s] art. But the Parisians mockingly call it the “deranged Castel,” and claim, with Salvador Dali, that Art Nouveau is an edible art. Hence, its name, noodle style.”
After grabbing these photos, I had to try and catch up with the group. Eventually I got someone to respond by email so that we could rendezvous. Jane, the leader of our tour, was really great. She told me things I didn’t learn the last time I came here. So, I think it was a great experience. It’s nice to learn about the culture and the history rather than just focusing on architecture and urban planning.
Along the way, I saw some cool street art.
I learned a lot on the way. For example, I learned about Le Bateau Lavoir. I tried to translate the historic sign but it wasn’t very coherent. It might need to be updated.
It basically talks about Picasso (1881-1973) who came here at the age of 19. He set up a workshop in 1904 where he finished up his blue period works and pink period works. It also appears that he began the early form of Cubism here. The Bateau Lavoir (boat Lavoir), originally a boat wash house, and then an old piano factory, was divided into artists’ studios around 1889. The original building was destroyed by a fire in 1970, but later rebuilt to its current structure.
The front window is an interactive panel. You can push buttons which light up panels in the window. There, you can learn about each artist and why they were significant. It also gives a bit of history about the place. I couldn’t get a good photo because of the glare from the sun. Désolée.
I also got to see the wall of love. It is a wall where the word love is written in many languages. It was kind of cool to see it. I have no idea why my teacher didn’t take us there last year. It would have been a quick stop. But, it doesn’t really have anything to do with architecture or historic preservation. Maybe that’s why we missed it.
Later, I saw this weird wall statue thing. Apparently it’s based on a story by Marcel Aymé called “Le Passe-Muraille.” In English this is something like, “The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls" or “the passer-through of walls.” It’s a short story available to read in English here. Took me less than an hour to read through it.
The basic idea is this guy gets the ability to walk through walls one day. Eventually he falls in love with a woman gets locked in a room by her husband at night. He visits the woman by walking through the walls. One night, he goes to visit the woman just as he loses the ability to walk through walls and he gets stuck inside the wall. There are more details but I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone who is interested. If you read it, leave a comment and let me know what you think.
We also visited Dalida’s house and statue. Dalida’s real name was Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti. She was Egyptian by birth but became a famous movie star and singer in Paris from the 1950s-1980s. She is probably well known for some of her disco songs. She had a very troubling life and eventually committed suicide. Interestingly, many of Dalida’s friends and ex-spouses also committed suicide long before she ever did. It must have been sad to see so many of the people she loved choose to end their lives. Dalida is buried in the Montmartre Cemetery. I visited this cemetery, but the video hasn’t been released yet. I’ll update this page once I release the video. At any rate, I didn’t find Dalida’s burial while I was there. You can learn more about Dalida here. As usual, you will need to translate the page to English.
Dalida bust located in Montmartre. Her chest is golden because people often rub her chest as they walk by. I even saw people taking selfies with their hands on her breasts.
Dalida’s home in Montmartre.
During the tour, we visited a lot of places. You can check out all the pictures from Week Two in Paris here.
Finally, we made it to the Sacre Coeur. It is one of my favorite areas in Paris.
I don’t know who that guy is behind me. He walked up quite purposefully while I was trying to record a video, which you will see later. It made me uncomfortable, so I moved to another location. You can see he looks kind of creepy!
The fence around the Sacre Coeur, filled with locks.
For this visit, I decided to record a video walking through the area. Once inside, the video is sped up 1.5 times. That’s why people are moving weird. Also, I was able to record the chanting they play inside the Sacre Coeur. You’ll hear that underneath all the other sounds in the place.
NOTE: My videos are uploaded in high quality. If your video looks grainy or fuzzy, you can change the video quality yourself by going to the video settings, select video quality, and then choose the highest quality available. I’ve tried to set all my videos to high quality so they play like that immediately but YouTube won’t let me do it. Not sure why. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
After visiting the Sacre Coeur, I stopped outside to discuss the love locks that people are leaving on the fencing around Montmartre. These locks have plagued France and cause massive destruction. In my video about these locks, I stated that 4 tons of locks were removed from the lock bridge. That is not true. 45 tons were removed. That’s 700,000 locks!
I’ve posted a few links below where you can read more about these locks and the terrible fate of the lock bridge.
PARIS: AFTER THE PONT DES ARTS, THE LOVE LOCKS WILL BE REMOVED IN MONTMARTRE
Check out my short video below about the locks. It’s not that great but I think I get the point across about the damage these locks do to historic structures around Paris.
After the tour, our tour guide left the group so we could wander freely. I left to find the Montmartre Cemetery. Unfortunately, it closed before I could find the entrance. I’ll have to try again another day. I did find a walking bridge that took me over the cemetery. It was one of the coolest views of a cemetery I’ve ever experience: from above!
Since the cemetery hunt ended in partial failure, and I was exhausted from all the walking, I decided to find a nice place to eat. I decided on La Villa des Abbesses. It was a GREAT choice!
I ended my day with a Lemoncello and a long metro ride back home. As soon as I hit the bed, I was out until the next day.
