16th Arrondissement

   The Sixteenth Arrondissement has many apartments and buildings for people to live in.  It is like an urban village since this is where people sleep and then they leave the area to go work.  The atmosphere was different not as loud as a city and hardly any tourists.  There were wide sidewalks lined with trees and many places to live rather than shop after shop.  In addition, there weren’t as many restaurants.  The area still had a hint of the Paris charm though and from some parts of the area there was a view of the Eiffel Tower. 

The walk also went to the Statue of Liberty, the one in France.  It was situated on the tip of a skinny island, similar to its twin in New York.  This was the miniature model for the one in New York that the French Republic gave to the U.S..  It was to commemorate the country’s first hundred years as a nation.  I find it interesting that something the French gave to us has become such a well known monument that people from all over come to see and yet it isn’t even American.  The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of liberty though to both countries.  The revolutions of the two countries are very similar but also different.  The American Revolution was a role model for the French.  They both were fighting for liberty but the two liberties differed based on certain beliefs, experiences, and goals.  The Americans were fighting for liberty from the British monarchy and to be able to set up its own government. On the other hand, the French wanted to abolish the monarchy but also to change the whole society.  The Americans have a more individualist perspective when French consider the people together as a whole and that it is the government’s duty to help the people towards a greater good.  The two countries both hoped for liberty but since they wanted different liberty, they received slightly different results in the end.  

Latin Quarter - Cluny and Sorbonne

Musee Cluny

This walk explored the Latin Quarter of Paris.  The walk began at the Cluny Art Museum.  This museum was the ruins of a medieval hotel that was built to accommodate the monks traveling to Paris.  Below the ground were the visible remains of Roman baths that date back to the second century.  The only remains of these baths are the Frigedarium, Tepidarium and Caldarium (cold, warm, and hot baths).  The architecture can be examined and analyzed though as to how things were built.  The rough versus smooth blocks of rocks were an option in the building.  Also below the floor of the baths there was a small compartment left to allow the warm air to swirl and heat the floor. 

Sorbonne

College de France

The walk also went by some universities in the Latin Quarter.  The first one was the Sorbonne.  It was founded in 1257 to train future theologians and they all studied and spoke Latin which is where the name Latin Quarter comes from.  Then it showed the Collège de France, a university founded in the sixteenth century during the reign of Francois I.  This school was intended to be a humanist alternative to the ultra conservative Sorbonne.  The school system in France is different than in the U.S..  During the high school time, the French students are put on a track that gears them toward their future career whether it is more math and science or literature based.  Then at the end of their lycée they have to take the Bac test that helps determine their schooling afterwards.  For higher education there are public universities or the more prestigious grandes écoles.   The grandes écoles are more difficult to get into but this way the French create an élite.  The French has always had a broken up class society so it is their mindset to have one.  Plus the French society is about working towards this greater good and creating a grand French society. 

The Marais

It is surprising to think that Marais used to be a swamp land.  Today, it is bustling with people and the streets are lined with restaurants and shops.  There is an energy and vibrant color that makes this area of Paris alive.  The Marais had good and bad times during the history and this is one of its good times.  In the thirteenth century, the swamps were drained and the city wall, a part of it can be seen on the walk, was built to include this area in the city.  Henri IV attracted nobility, clergy, and philosophers to this area.  But it was later abandoned and then repaired returning the area back to a similar status.  The Marais, today, still seems to attract similar people like it did before. 

It attracted nobility and still in a way does.  The buildings of the area still consist of hotels, which are private residences with an entrance to a courtyard and a garden in the back.  They are almost like mini chateaus.  This is a very French kind of architecture since it exudes grandeur and shows off pride and elegance.  Since nobility truly lived here, they were known to build extravagant residences.  These grand hotels thus have a reputation and history that lingers in the Marais.  They demand higher class and more wealthy people and have a reputation for it.  The whole hotels however aren’t typically owned by one person like they were before but they are distinct reminders of the past.

I find it interesting that the LDS church is in one of these hotels.  It is an unusual setting and building for a church.  The church buildings are normally in a chapel or separate building away from others, but here it occupies part of a hotel.  Paris has so many grand and large cathedrals and various church buildings that I’m surprised the church doesn’t have a separate chapel.  I find it in a way symbolic though.  First of all the church is almost tucked away and subtly inserted into the Paris community.  It isn’t an obvious or flashy building that persuades people to enter just based on the architecture and grandness but it is situated in a more casual and average type of building.  But the church isn’t in just any kind of building, it’s placed in part of a hotel, a building that royal people once occupied.  This seems symbolic of the fact that the church helps people become royal nobles.  In the church, we believe that after this life the righteous will become heirs of the kingdom and will rule over nations.  The church in general is also not flashy and prideful so it doesn’t make sense for it to create a building to compete with the extravagant cathedrals.  The placement of the church makes sense and fits with the church’s goals and this adds to the Marais’s nobility aspect but also religious aspect of community. 

There are also many churches still in this area which contribute to the clergy aspect of the Marais.  The walk points out the church of Saint-Paul Saint-Louis but it takes a side entrance called the Passage Saint-Paul.  This was an entrance for the Jesuits who occupied this area in the 1500s and had this church built.  Louis XIII even laid the cornerstone for the church in 1627 which again shows that the Marais is an area of nobility and clergy. 

The shops in the Marais also reflect the nobility aspect of the area but also the philosophical.  There are many some small expensive boutiques that attract people who have money.  Not everyone could afford the items in the boutiques that demand money.  The shops aren’t the most typical though.  They are unique and artsy that add to the more philosophical side of the Marais.  These kind of shops contrast with others in Paris like the traditional or departmental stores and makes it one of a kind. 

Marais means swamp and that is exactly what the area was, swamp lands, but now look at it the Marais is an energetic and colorful area full of people, shops, and restaurants.  After it was first built, nobility, clergy, and philosophers were attracted.  With some ups and downs the Marais is still a lively area and draws similar people.  The remaining hotel architecture influences the people today and the assortment of churches in the area brings in the aspect of clergy.  The LDS Church is even tucked away in one of the hotels in the Marais symbolic of the nobility.  The small shops are expensive but unique and different adding to the atmosphere.  The history of Paris influences the city so much and in essence has never left the city.  Paris is built upon layers of history and with no abrupt break it all becomes one.  The past and the present of Paris are inseparably tied together.