Hangzhou Global Tour: Day 24

We started our day touring the Latin quarter of Paris, which is the oldest part of town…dating back some 2000 years. There are even some remnants of Roman occupation which visitors can see.

Something I found interesting is that Paris is designed in what is described as a snail shell.  Each clockwise rotation beyond the center of town is a new district. The center of Paris is located at Notre Dame, which I explained in yesterday’s post. Our hotel was in district 14 and I believe there are 17 in all. The higher the number, the farther you are from the city center.

Much of Paris was reconstructed in the 19^th Century by Napoleon the 3^rd, so a lot of the historic parts of Paris were destroyed by choice (although a good deal through wars as well)…in an effort to modernize the city. You can clearly the similar architecture design block after block. It’s quite nice how it has stood the test of time, but also a shame that so much of the really historic parts of Paris no longer survive.

An interesting tidbit I learned on our tour as we observed the architecture, was that the higher up you lived in a building, the poorer you were. Opposite from today. Back then, there were no elevators, so it was considered menial to have to climb the stairs—therefore the top floors were typically reserved for the maids.

While there is little evidence of Roman architecture left in Paris, apparently there are a number of underground structures. I’m not sure if these remnants are open to tours, but if they are, I can only imagine how fascinating it would be to explore.

While we were in District 1, we stopped by Shakespeare and Co., a very well-known bookstore for publishing English literature. As a matter of fact, they published “Ulysses” by James Joyce, which is regarded as one of the best novels of all time.

We did not get an opportunity to tour the Louvre, however our guide provided some interesting stats and facts as we drove by. For starters, the Louvre did not start out as a museum, but rather a palace that morphed into a fortress. Its construction began back in the 12 century, but had been added to over the centuries to become the monolithic structure it is today. The Louvre became a museum during the Renaissance period and has become the art world’s crowning jewel. There are 872 Halls within the Louvre, displaying over 75,000 pieces of artwork. During college, I took a couple semesters of art history and learned that if you spent 1 minute in front of every piece of work within the museum, it would take 6-7 months to go through. Now knowing how many pieces of work there are, I did the math, and that number is about correct (spending 8 or so hours per day at the museum).

I also learned in my art history classes that during WWII, Hitler was salivating at getting his hands on the treasures within the Louvre. Not only was Hitler a big art connoisseur, but he was also a pragmatist and realized that he could fund and continue his war efforts by seizing the valuable works of art. The Parisians became aware of Hitler’s march toward Paris and were fully aware of Hitler’s intentions to loot the Louvre. City leaders were bound and determined to protect the national treasure, so they gathered groups of trusted individuals—in just eleven days, they were able to hide every single piece of artwork within the Louvre throughout Paris. In homes, business, underground bunkers…wherever they could find a suitable place. When Hitler’s army arrived in Paris and marched though the museum, they discovered it completely bare. After the war, every single piece had been returned to its place. An extraordinary and impressive feat!

Video footage of Hitler’s army marching through the Louvre event actually exists, we were shown it during one of my art history classes. Several years later, I had the opportunity to visit Paris and tour the Louvre, which was an amazing experience. To see so many of the pieces I’d studied in school was a thrill. The works of art within the Louvre are simply extraordinary, so if you’re ever in Paris, take an opportunity to visit.

Tomorrow we visit the Eiffel Tower, so please stay tuned for my next update. In the meantime, click here if you missed yesterday’s update. Click here for the next.