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Newsletter #22 - November 14-20, 1959 |
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Newsletter #22
November 13 to 20, 1959 Mailed, Lisbon 11/24/59 Received, Philadelphia 12/3/59 Bonjour (Good Morning or Good Afternoon) Bonjour Vous Prendie (Good Morning to you) Since we're now in Gay Paree we'll have to do as the French do, so at least we will learn "thank you" and a few words for convenience. We arrived here on Saturday [November 14] afternoon after a 3 hour sit on one train and a 3-1/2 hour stand on another. When we changed trains at Dijon it was very crowded and many people, including us, stood the entire trip from Dijon to Paris. We are now comfortably lodged in a nice convenient hotel l/2 block from the Arch of Triumph and quite pleased with the location. We walked for miles this afternoon and most of this evening trying to get familiar with the layout of the city as we will be here for a while. We walked down Champs Elysees and looked in all the lovely store windows and soon arrived at the famous Place de la Concorde, one of Europe's most spacious and beautiful squares which is dominated by an Egyptian obelisk from the 13th Century B.C. and this is adorned by two large and elegant fountains and eight pavilions honoring the great towns of France. After ogling over its beauty like two "hicks" from a country town we walked on until we came to the Gardens of the Tuileries which were laid out in the 17th Century and still show the graciousness of the classical French art. From here we saw the Louvre, one of the world's richest museums, which is housed in palaces on which eight centuries of French sovereigns have lavished their care and fortunes. (We'll visit this huge and fantastic area another day.) By this time we were quite tired but we went back by the park area which is flanked by lovely trees with their leaves partially fallen but still with enough color to know it is still autumn in Paris with winter creeping up fast as it gets mighty cold when the sun goes down. We passed many deluxe hotels and sidewalk cafes which are now enclosed in glass and since we were quite hungry we tried our first French Restaurant. Some fellow travelers suggested the la Pergola, only 1 block from the Arc de Triumph and we found that the food here was very tasty and our only major problem was knowing how to select from the French menus. Today, Sunday [November 15] , it is crisp and quite cold but we walked to one of the world's most famous sections called La Opera. Here you find all the fashionable and luxurious specialty shops where leather goods, pets, furs, perfumes, jewelry, dresses, etc. are sold. The Opera building is tremendous in size and until recently it was the world's largest. It is architecturally beautiful and of the Second Empire. From here we went to another elegant area called the Place Vendome which is a huge and splendid square and is a masterpiece of harmonious 17th Century design. In the center of this lovely area is a spiral column on which stands Napoleon in a Roman toga. (Reason for the toga I cannot understand.) Not too far from this square is a lovely statue of Joan of Arc on a splendid horse which is quite outstanding. We walked to all of these places and things are really spread out so, of course, another day is ended. Went to the U.S.Embassy for mail today [November 16] and we surely hit the jackpot. I am sure we had at least 60 pieces of mail. Certainly want to thank you all for the lovely and interesting Thanksgiving and Birthday wishes. I am sure the woman in charge of mail must have thought we were celebrities when she handed us the packs. Discovered the American Embassy has a dining room for visitors as well as personnel so we enjoyed a nice American hamburger with onions, potato chips, and a hot fudge sundae. Best we have had in months. |
| Other notable buildings which we saw today were Hotel de Ville, Church of St. Gervais, which was struck during World War I; the tall tower of St. Jacques; the Palais Royale, originally built for Cardinal Richelieu and now a vast quadrilateral with dozens of attractive shops; the lovely Church of the Madeleine; the Church of St. Vincent de Paul, St. Augustin and also the Church of St. Ferdinand. These churches all have fine architectural features and are tremendous in size. Since Paris is a city for art lovers decided to give a day to the museums [November 17]. We began with the Louvre where we saw the famous statue of Venus de Milo and also the Winged Victory. We next walked for miles seeing famous paintings by all of the noted artists of the world and eventually came to the painting most noted, the Mona Lisa, which really was a treat in itself although we found hundreds of other truly beautiful paintings and we surely enjoyed the many hours of walking in the Louvre. The buildings are immense and are castles of yester years. We next went to L'Ecole des Beaux Arts which was art of a more modern era but just as interesting. (Do hope my pupils find out I was at the Louvre as we studied art appreciation last year and I promised I would go to the Louvre, the Dresden Galleries and the British Art Museum.) These two museums took us one entire day and we didn't near cover the Louvre. Another day [November 18] we went to visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame which was built by Maurice de Sully. It is in Notre Dame that all great national events have been celebrated such as the coronation of kings and queens, marriages of notables (among them Napoleon II and Mary Stuart) and funerals of many notables. This lofty "parish church of the history of France" is one of the most perfect medieval works of art with its charming entrances and beautiful doorways, it's XIII Century Rose Windows and tremendous stained glass windows and many frescoes, bas-reliefs and chapels. Nearby we visited the Palace of Justice which hides within its walls the jewel like Saint Chapelle, a Gothic glory of stained glass windows built by Louis IX to house what he believed to the true Crown of Thorns. This Church with its delicate lightness and rich coloring was the most unusual we have seen here in Paris. We next walked along the Left Bank of the Seine River where we saw many fascinating book stalls and old print stalls ranged along the stone parapet. We also watched the lovers stroll along the Seine and saw the river steamers going under the arches of the many bridges (26) across the Seine. A little way in from the Seine River on the left bank we saw the Pantheon, a sort of French Westminster Abbey, with the tombs of such literary celebrities as Rousseau, Voltaire and Victor Hugo. Hot far from the Pantheon was the imposing buildings of the Luxembourg Palace, housing the Council of the Republic (Senate) with its adjacent Museum devoted chiefly to contemporary sculpture and paintings. Also its lovely formal gardens with several beautiful fountains. Bear the boulevard St. Michel we saw the students of the Sorbonne and the many buildings which comprise this area. Our last place of interest for today was the Eiffel Tower which we had a difficult time finding by car. We have seen it every day since we have been here but today was the first time we were right smack at the tower. This tower was completed in 1889 and was for a time the tallest building in the world until the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building were constructed. This great peak of iron you can mount to the summit by elevator in three lifts. On a lover level you may lunch in a restaurant. There is a lovely park area beneath this wonderful Eiffel Tower with lovely walks among the massive trees and shrubs. - 2 -
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| It is rather late and we are mighty tired because, after all our many days of sightseeing, we felt we had to see "The Folies Bergere" and we just now came from this very popular treat. It began at 8:30 and we got out at 11:45 with only a 15 minute break. They really gave us three hours of many kinds of entertainment good, bad and mediocre and we enjoyed each type. The costuming was extravagant and of the very finest. It beat anything we have ever seen on Broadway and came very near to being as good as some of the entertainment we saw in Tokyo. Here it is Friday [November 20] and the end of another newsletter week and also our last day in Paree as tomorrow we leave for Orleans to begin a trip through the Chateau Country which everyone tells us not to miss. We have lots of loose ends to pick up before leaving Paris as we won't get back for at least 4 more months. We did not get to a few important places we planned to such as the Flea Market, the hill of Montmartre and its twisting streets, etc. which we hope to do in April when we return. Lately we have not made any new friends as it seems in large cities everyone is too busy to tall: so we have nothing to tell you of too personal a nature and no doubt once we're traveling entirely by car we will meet fewer people which I certainly will miss. We did make a telephone call to U.S. yesterday and talked to Dad Neiman as Meredith's films sent by air mail had not been found yet and he was concerned and needed some information as to which Airline they were sent by as he would like to have them before we leave France. Today we traced them to the Airport where they wanted to collect $120.00 duty or 60% - by putting them in bond and paying charges at the French-Spanish border we will eliminate the duty charge and must only pay the expense of shipping them to the border. (Sure is a lot of red tape to shipping and receiving in most of these countries.) Want Dad Neiman to know it sure was nice to hear his voice even though it was only a short conversation. (Short but costly.) Seems these newsletters are getting shorter each week but I can assure you we certainly are seeing wonderful places each day and my education is becoming more extensive and also more confusing as I am beginning to get my few words in different languages so mixed up I don't remember if its Indian, Egyptian, Japanese, Burmese or Chinese. Once more we will tell you we are both fine and glad to be in Europe. Did forget to tell you we picked up our new car (a little coral colored Renault Dauphine) which we think we will like very much. We got two tickets for overparking the first day and one ticket for parking were only V.I.P.'s park the second day, so we really have a police record in Gay Paree already. We have named our car the "little Princess" so if I ever write about our little Princess you will know who I am speaking about. Meredith has done all the driving so far but I will try my luck at shifting gears, etc. next week. We hope everyone is fine and that you'll all have a very pleasant "Thanksgiving Holiday". Our fondest regards and Au Revoir until next week, Meredith and Charlotte |