Standing Idols and Hidden Treasures

This week I took the metro from my apartment to my morning class without looking out to see which stop I was at or counting, so I guess you could say I’m starting to feel like a local. I was a little worried that after spending an entire week outside of Paris that I would have to take some time getting back into the rhythm of things and to relearn the metro, but more than anything, coming back to Paris felt like coming home. I may still be really bad at the language, but coming back to Paris was so familiar and comfortable.  The weather even stayed warm for a bit, which was a pleasant mid-autumn surprise.

I took the opportunity this week to finally catch up on a few of the locations that I had been putting off visiting, mostly all around the Place de la Concorde, and I was really blown away. Almost all in a straight line from each other are the Palais L’Elysée (home of the current president of France), the Luxor Obelisk (symbol of Egypt’s relationship with France), the location of the revolutionary guillotine (death place of the French monarchy), the Eglise du dome (tomb of Napoleon), and the Pont Alexandre III (symbol of Russia’s relationship with France). Any one of these monuments is amazing and significant, but to have so many of them in such a close distance was truly inspiring. Especially grandiose was the Tomb of Napoleon near l’Hôtel des Invalides. Standing in the wake of such a significant historical figure (albeit a dead one) was quite humbling.

Although I spent so much time this week in front of the grand, a theme for me this week was to find the hidden treasures that could be overlooked. For example, when I first walked by the Palais l’Elysée, I had no idea that it was perhaps the most important government building in France. Besides the extra military on the block, in resembled most any other gated building in the city. But when I read in our walk guide that this was the French White House? That was pretty exciting for me to find myself in front of. And again in the Hôtel des Invalides, I decided to check out some of the museums. I didn’t have extremely high expectations for this museum. It was easy the least crowded of the 3 I went to that day, so I thought it would make a pretty quick stop in and out. Little did I know that this unassuming would have the famous portrait of Napoleon by Ingres. It was in a little room to the side with no visitors and it absolutely took my breath away. And then in the hallway outside of that room was a taxidermy of Napoleon’s horse. Of all the things that could have been in that museum, that was not something I was expecting.

The trip out to Provins was quite charming. The village was largely maintained in its 12^th century form, which was pretty special. A lot of the old placed that I’ve been too show a lot of modern signs nearby, making it hard to really feel immersed in an older time, but Provins was pretty special in that there was very little adaptation. Occasional cars, and a slightly updated shop or two, but besides that, wide landscapes of medieval cityscape, making for a relaxing end to the week.