La Route des Manifs: Canal St-Martin, Republique, Bastille, Viaduc des Arts

            This was the route that French protestors have marched since the Bastille was torn down in 1789.  In France, protests are not a rare occasion but a normal, sometimes even daily, event.  This is a big difference between France and the U.S. as there are not very many protests in America, but this is just the way of French people.  The French learned this public protesting from its revolution and this right of the people to voice their opinion through revolt has remained with them.  The French revolution was basically a revolt of the poor lower class against the wealthy royalty.  The French have no problem voicing their opinion since this is how they know they can do it.  It was interesting to walk this route and imagine the protestors marching down the street.  The Republique is known to be included in the route whether it is at the beginning or the end but in my case it was at the beginning of the walk.  This statue was built in 1883 and symbolizes the French Republic that was restored for the third time in 1870.  Along the base of the statue, there are relief sculptures that depict significant events that led to the Third Republic.  This is a statue that embodies this revolutionist uprising and the new government.  I feel like the French probably respect this statue and get a sense of pride as well as excitement from it because it represents a successful turn of events that ended in the Third Republic.  They probably feel some support from it too if they are protesting since they know protests before led to a successful new Republic. 

             Then down the street from the Republique statue is the large column for the Bastille.  The Place de la Bastille was a prison that was stormed in 1789 to free prisoners that were held captive by the crown.  The Bastille was a symbol to the people of the arbitrary king and so they attacked it eventually taking it apart brick by brick.  The column honors those who fought and died in the July Revolution of 1830.  The remains of hundreds of victims rest in the statue’s base and on the top of it is a bronze statue of Genie of Liberty.  It makes sense that this spot would become part of the protestors’ path as it symbolizes this break through of hard earned freedom.  And if the protestors are fighting for something this spot additionally gives them support in fighting for it since they know a fight years ago was successful in receiving the freedom they have today. 

Metro Walk

          The metro walk was interesting as it took us on various metro trains.  This wasn’t the typical outdoors type of walk like the others.  Instead most of the time was spent on the train or walking in the tunnels underground.  The walked explained some of the history and how the metro started out with only two lines.  Since then it has expanded and there are fourteen lines today.  It seems like someone can get anywhere in the city with the metro now with the dozens of stops dispersed throughout the city. 

In the U.S., there are also metro systems.  I have been on some of the different metros before like those in New York, Washington D.C. and San Francisco.  So riding the metro was somewhat familiar to me and not something completely foreign.  I knew about the ticket turnstiles, that two trains go opposite directions from a stop, and that the trains can get very crowded during rush hour times.  Bart, the metro system that I use in the Bay Area, connects the suburbs into and through part of San Francisco which is similar to the RER combined with the metro lines.    

There were a few differences that I noticed concerning the American and French metros.  First of all, the Paris metro is very complex and large, much more than Bart.  It reminded me of like the metro in NY in the sense that there are many stops all throughout the city.  I found that the lit up signs with all the stops inside the Parisian metro trains is very helpful but yet different from the metros I have ridden.  Also, some of the metros in Paris have a lever or button you use to open the train doors at the stops.  I found it odd at first since the trains I’ve been on before all have doors that automatically open.  However I think that this seems to be an advantage in keeping out the cold air (or maybe hot air during the summer months) out since the metro doors must be opened manually.  

There are no signs on the Paris metros about food or drink.  In America, most of the trains have signs that say no food or drink but yet people still end up eating and drinking.  In Paris though there are no signs I have seen giving a definite rule.  I, however, haven’t ever seen anyone eat or drink on the train with maybe a few exceptions which were probably tourists anyways.  French people are not snacking kind of people.  They don’t eat on the run or in public.  The French instead eat only in restaurant and kitchen settings.  And when they do eat they take their time and enjoy it.  They find it rude to eat in any other situations or in a rush.  This comes from France’s past.  The French are prideful people in being French and take pride in their food.  They consider it more of an art.

The trains within the Paris metro system even differed from each other.  Some of the trains were quite squeaky and some were cleaner.  All of the trains seemed to have some sort of graffiti whether it was on the inside or sometimes even on the outside.  The people riding it consisted of all sorts of races and ages.  The demographics of the people seemed to vary depending on where the metro was within Paris.  Each arrondissment has a reputation and has certain people living in it whether it is more of a rich or a poor neighborhood.  This was due to how Paris began to grow as a city.  The poor people got pushed to the outskirts of Paris while those with money could afford the inner sections.  Some parts of the metro switched from underground to above ground which was a nice change from the dark tunnels.  Some tunnels had round arches and some had flat ceilings.  Some stops had more color than other such as colored tiles or painted murals.  Even the metro entrances varied from each other.  Hector Guimard designed some of them making them more unique and pretty. 

This walk helped me to familiarize myself with the Paris metro system.  I rode a train from every line and saw some of the unique features of the French metros.  There were some differences I noticed comparing the French and American metros.  The French metro is complex and varies from one another.  It is interesting that the French don’t eat on their metro and there isn’t even a rule publicized.  The French have pride in their country and so they strive to even have pride in their French metro system.  

Paris in Layers

       Paris is an old city.  It has been established by many different empires, expanded upon, and rebuilt several times.  There is no real distinction from the past and present; they are woven together into one piece.  It is so interesting how far the history goes back in Paris.  It is much different than America, which in relativity is not a very old country at all.  Many of the sights here in Paris date back to very early times.  This walk took us through several layers of the city’s history and showed us how the city has been built upon through time. 

 It started out with the Hotel de Ville.  The original was built during the time of Francois I but destroyed during the Commune.  The one today was built in 1873 but is an imitation of the original.  Honestly, I think the building looked very authentic and wouldn’t have known that it wasn’t the original.  The building had a good amount of detail on the outside making it quite an elegant building.  In the square in front of the Hotel de Ville, numerous executions took place during the ancient regime.  Today, depending on the season, there are many family activities like ice skating in front of the building.  It is crazy to think that some time before people were being killed here and now people are skating around an ice skating rink without a thought about it.  This piece of land in Paris has a long history but yet has evolved and been rebuilt upon. 

Then we walked across the Seine River to head towards Notre Dame.  The bridges were old and as you looked to the river you could see water marks along the wall of the river.  These lines show some history as well depicting where the river once flowed.  It was also interesting to look at some of the apartments that were along the street and above the stores.  Some looked newer than others but for the most part they also seemed to have a history themselves.  This was no suburban string of homes that were only a century old like in America.  They had character and decoration that dated to other eras in time.   

At Notre Dame, we gazed at the cathedral and reflected on its history.  Our book explained how the cathedral is a collage made up of elements from almost every century since it was first constructed.  It was built on a site that once was where a Romanesque church stood and even before that there was a Roman temple.  The cathedral has been partially destroyed and rebuilt many times.  I noticed the ornate detail and sculpture design on the frontal portals.  The walk then took us to the Crypte du Parvis that shows more of the ancient layers of Paris.  Nineteenth-century foundations have been built over sixteenth-century which has been upon twelfth-century and third century.  I had never known about this deep layering of the city.  The city is definitely a collage of the past. 

Then the tour winded around the Palais du Justice and Conciergerie.  These buildings had past uses that have now evolved.  Part of the Conciegerie was under construction and so we were unable to see the oldest clock in Paris that has been ticking since 1370.  The Conciergerie was a royal residence during the middle ages but during the revolution it served as a prison.  At times it held over a thousand of prisoners that awaited execution, some of them being Marie-Antoinette and Charlotte Corday.  It was in the Conciergerie that they spent their last hours before being led to the guillotine at the Place de la Concorde.  Inside the building there was very interesting medieval architecture.  There were vaulted ribbed arches that were pointed.  The thick stone pillars helped hold the weight of the ceiling.  Today the building is used as a museum exhibit hall but as people walk through they can reflect on the long history that the building contains. 

The foundation of Paris has been built upon previous establishments, the architecture of the buildings date back to earlier times, but yet the places used today differ from what it used to be.  The history of Paris has not left the city; it continues to have a strong influence on the culture and people and is so noticeable by just looking at the buildings.  Parisians can’t tell a distinct break from the past and present because the two are so tightly combined and attached together.  Everything is still part of the city and on this walk we were able to peel through a few layers and see what the city really was made of.