The Seven Ages of Paris | A Personal View
Whereas London, through the ages, has always betrayed clearly male orientations, and New York has a certain ambivalence, has any sensible person ever doubted that Paris is fundamentally a woman? Sexy and beautiful, but also turbulent, troublesome, and sometimes excessively violent.
-- Alistair Horne, introduction to The Seven Ages of Paris, published in 2003 --
It was my first visit to Paris as a student of history in 2006. I was on a tour of the world wars' major battlefields with my college advisor, Dr. Tom Conner of Hillsdale College, and we stood atop the Arc de Triomphe looking across the Champs-Élysées toward the Louvre. In the deep and resonating voice that made him a favorite of his students, "Doc" Conner wove together a beautiful story of Parisian history, its wonders and mysteries, and pointed from the summit of Napoleon's edifice toward where each event took place. I was spell-bound, and I wanted more. Doc told me of a book by the British historian Alistair Horne, published three years earlier, that he believed gave the best perspective on the history of France's "City of Lights." When I returned home, I bought a copy and read its four hundred pages in less than a day.
This season, Joe and I thought it would be a nice change of pace to intersperse our narrative podcasts telling you about the lessons of history with some book recommendations. I love getting a new book, feeling its weight, and diving into the story--fiction or non-fiction. I know that many in our audience may prefer e-books or other forms of diversion, but we here at 15-Minute History treasure the written word as much as the spoken, and we hope these episodes will encourage you to pick up an old or new book, or perhaps rekindle a love of reading that may have become crowded out of your busy schedule in these unique times.
The Seven Ages of Paris begins with Horne's quote about Paris being a woman, and this is a theme throughout the narrative. Not at all sexist or demeaning, the book celebrates the many Parisian women for their roles in shaping the city's history. Horne chooses seven time periods from the Middle Ages to the 20th century and combines history with personal stories. Now, I am not going to analyze the writing style or critique his choice of characters. Rather, I want to share some of my own experiences during my many travels to Paris while using Horne as my guide.
The Île de la Cité
The oldest part of Paris is an island in the Seine River at the heart of the modern city called the Île de la Cité. Covering an area of 56 acres--roughly the same size as the US Capitol building's grounds--it has been inhabited since before the time of Christ. The Romans and Franks settled the island, and King Clovis built a Merovingian palace on it during his reign at the turn of the 6th century. Today, it is the most cluttered part of Paris, with narrow streets crowded with tourists, and the island houses several government ministries and two large churches, the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris and King Louis IX's Saint-Chapelle.
I first walked the streets of the Île de la Cité with Doc Conner and our tour group in 2006. I was amazed at the number of people surrounding me and impressed with the beautiful architecture of its large government buildings. I will always remember standing in front of the Justice Ministry and reading the words "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" on the arched gateway. Doc used this opportunity to tell us of the French Revolution's motto and how the Jacobins destroyed so much of French culture in their efforts to promote equality and brotherhood. His reminder of Edmund Burke's words, "You began ill, because you began by despising every thing that belonged to you," was a stark reminder of history's importance in learning its lessons and not rejecting things that are old simply because society has moved on.
Some of you in our audience may remember the tragic events of April 15, 2019. I was sitting at my desk in my office grading papers when I got a news alert about a fire at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Turning on the TV, I watched in horror as this great Gothic monument go up in flames. That summer, I traveled with a small AET group to Paris and got a chance to see its burned-out remains. Though the roof and spire were gone, the church looked much as it had during my earlier visits on AET tours. I remember sitting on the banks of the Seine opposite the cathedral with Joe, three students, and a "trip mom" who had joined us; we had dinner, laughed and told jokes, and admired the beauty of Notre Dame. I once walked through the church on another tour with a young man who was Catholic, showed him its marvelous artwork and gorgeous relics, and after he had knelt in prayer before an altar to the Virgin Mary, he told me how special it was for him to have had this opportunity. My heart broke as I watched the fires consume this amazing piece of history and realized that, at least until the church was rebuilt, no one would have that chance at Notre Dame.
The Axe Historique
Apart from the Eiffel Tower, which will not appear in this episode for reasons I expect Joe to ask me about in our discussion, Paris' most recognizable feature is the "historic axis" in the city center. Beginning at the Palais du Louvre, it runs to the Place de la Concorde and then up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, then on to the suburb of La Défense. This amazing piece of city planning began in the 17th century, but its modern appearance is the work of one man: Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann. Before the 1850s, Paris witnessed many riots that led to full-scale revolutions--most famously in 1789--and Emperor Napoleon III hoped to secure his government by tearing down the many slums that crowded the streets, thereby widening them to allow soldiers to move through the capital to trouble spots. The Champs-Élysées is the best example of Haussmann's work. It is almost 230 feet wide, and the buildings on both sides look identical as one gazes up and down the wide boulevard--which the city government strictly regulates to keep up the uniform appearance. The apartments inside are some of the most exclusive addresses in all of Europe and home to many financiers, politicians, and pop culture icons.
The Louvre deserves its own podcast, and whole books have been written about the incredible treasures contained in its halls and vaults. I confess that I find museums a bit overwhelming, and this was nowhere more true than when I walked into the paintings gallery and saw the enormous works like The Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon. The Mona Lisa was a bit of a let-down, probably due to its small size and the fact that I could not get close because of the crowd of tourists taking selfies in front of the world's most famous portrait. I also remember that, when I first visited the Louvre in 2010, it was the day that Apple opened its first retail store in France outside the entrance. It is an odd memory, but I recall that there were almost as many people pressing to get in and buy an iPhone as there were to see some of the world's greatest art treasures.
The Champs-Élysées itself is best viewed from above on the Arc de Triomphe, but you can have a bit of fun strolling along its sidewalks. My students often poke their heads into the Gucci or Dior Homme stores, then come back stunned at the prices! We will sometimes have a nice meal at an exclusive restaurant during our last night in Paris, which is always a good time. However, my abiding memories on the Champs-Élysées are time spent on the Arc de Triomphe, built by Napoleon Bonaparte to commemorate his many victories, and hearing Doc Connor's stories or retelling them in my own, less skilled, way to my travel companions. We discuss the events of 1918, when the victorious Allies marched up the boulevard to celebrate the end of the First World War, or of 1940, when the Germans took the same route after capturing Paris, or of 1944, when the Champs-Élysées was filled for days with nearly a million Frenchmen and Allied soldiers in a joyous party atmosphere at the liberation.
The Empire and the Republic
Two large churches outside the city center in Paris often attract attention, and they certainly draw my own every time I go to France. Les Invalides began as a military barracks and hospital for wounded veterans of King Louis XIV's many wars. Today, it is a museum of French military history--which is one of the reasons why I always enjoy visiting--and contains exhibits ranging from the Hunnic Wars of the Early Middle Ages to the conflict in Indochina in the last century. However, this is not the main draw of Les Invalides. At its southwestern end is a chapel, the tallest in France, topped by a magnificent golden dome. Inside are the tombs of France's great military heroes. The center is cut out and ringed with a half wall, and when gazing through the main floor, one sees the awesome sight of Napoleon Bonaparte's burgundy-colored quartzite tomb. The emperor's mortal remains returned to France in 1840 on the orders of King Louis Philippe, who hoped to bring about a sense of national pride and a return to the empire's greatness. This failed, and he was ousted by the emperor's nephew Louis-Napoleon eight years later.
In 1871, France had suffered a military disaster at the hands of the Prussians. Napoleon III was gone, and the new government was too weak to hold onto the capital. A group called the "Paris Commune" revolted against the Third Republic and set up the world's first Marxist regime. A civil war raged in the streets of Paris for three months and culminated in the "Bloody Week" of early May. The Communards battled government soldiers atop Montmartre, the tallest hill in Paris, and their last stand was in a cemetery. When they fell, the troops simply kicked their bodies--sometimes still alive--into open graves. The slaughter and trauma of the Commune scarred the nation's soul. Fifteen years later, work began on the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur, the "Sacred Heart," as an atonement for the Communards' crimes before God. It sits atop Montmartre and, along with the Eiffel Tower, is visible from almost any rooftop in Paris. Traveling there today is a bit of a mixed bag. The church itself is gorgeous, and I have a fond memory of one of its tour guides complimenting our AET group on how well-behaved they all were. However, getting there involves a lot of stairs up to the church, and at the base is a large plaza where street vendors and pickpockets lurk, hoping either to sell or steal.
"The Glory of France"
The last of seven memorable places for me is outside Paris and one we have covered in a previous episode on 15-Minute History: the Palace of Versailles. Built by King Louis XIV, this sprawling edifice to the great king's vanity once nearly bankrupted the nation and hosted some of the most important events in European history. Otto von Bismarck proclaimed the German Empire from the "Hall of Mirrors," and that same immense room witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 to end the First World War. The gardens are a wondrous maze of The Seven Ages of Paris: A Personal View By Jon Streeter flora and fountains, and one might get lost were it not for the helpful signs and guides stationed at important points.
My abiding memory of Versailles--apart from a humorous story which Joe will tell in the discussion--is of being in the Hall of Mirrors. It is always packed with tourists from around the world, and their voices and different languages fill the space and make it difficult to hear one's own thoughts. Each time I take a group into the Hall of Mirrors, we try to find a space to talk for a moment, and they draw close to hear the stories of Louis XIV's daily ritual of greeting his ministers, the mighty German soldiers hailing their new kaiser, and the arrogant diplomats forcing the defeated enemy of the First World War to sign a treaty that all but guaranteed a second. We use the cacophony of voices to our advantage in these moments--the noise helps our students imagine what it was like to witness those turning points in history, and they often comment afterwards that it was a memorable moment on their tours.
Learning from History
"Ok, Jon, it's great that you saw all of this stuff, but we can't go to France right now!" I hear this, and I hope that my stories have not discouraged you. It is true that in our Covid-ridden world international travel is all but impossible. I do not tell you these stories to lord my travels over you, but rather to demonstrate the importance of reading good books like The Seven Ages of Paris. The human imagination is a wondrous creation, and the words of brilliant authors like Alistair Horne can open our minds to enjoy stories told far better than I have done. There is so much going on in the world right now, and sometimes we all need to take time, settle down, and read a good book. I spend far too much of my day looking at my phone or laptop--though it is often in service of you, our audience, writing and preparing these episodes--and I often have to remind myself to take a break.
Books like The Seven Ages of Paris and others that we will be sharing with you take us to far-away places and give us a much-needed respite from the real world. Yes, Netflix and TikTok do this too, but in my humble opinion a good novel or history opens the mind and allows it to be free to dream, whereas modern technology and entertainment serve mostly to reinforce the daily grind and outrage culture in which we live. I hope this episode, and others later in this season, will not make you resent the current circumstances of 2020 but rather, as I said in the beginning, encourage you to read more and to let your mind drift away from work, politics, and Covid even for a few hours.
