Saturday, April 02, 2005

Passy Walk

We had a tour of the Passy area yesterday. It's my neighborhood so I wasn't too excited. Don't I already know everything there is to know about the area where I live?

But once again I was surprised by all the information I learned yesterday and smug with the information I already knew. We started at the Eiffel Tower and from there headed into the Passy cemetery -- a huge presence in my neighborhood, but a place I've never visited. I was really glad to have a reason to check out this big walled off mysterious place that I often pass (the walls around the cemetary are very high). We talked about a couple of the famous residents and then walked past the Benjamin Franklin statue. In December 1776, Franklin arrived in France to represent the Revolutionary American government at the French court, America's ally in its war of independence. He was very popular because he had taken the time to learn the French language and French manners. He was also something of a celebrity because of his famous lightning experiment. There is actually a chiseled lightening rod on the building that stands at the place where Franklin lived in Passy.

While talking about the French - American relationship, our guide mentioned the Statue of Liberty. Apparently, the statue in US faces toward France. The replica here, on the Isle de Seine, faces toward the US.

Finally, we walked through a part of Trocadero park. My children often play here. When we leave the park, we always pass by this rustic looking rock stairwell. I found out that this walk was created for the 1937 World's Fair and is one of the few remaining things that still exist from that event. The statue in front is Francois Joseph Paul Compte de Grasse, who fought with Lafayettte at Yorktown.



-- said Auntie M in Paris
8:44 PM

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