Paris Journal 2013 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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Les Journées du Patrimoine (Heritage Days) used to drive us into
mania; we’d try to see as much as possible in two days. Now, after participating in many years of
Heritage Days in Paris, we are much calmer about it. We select just a couple of main attractions
to see; one on Saturday, and one on Sunday.
We may take in a few minor ones along the way, but now we have a
clearer idea of the places – normally not open to the public – that we most
want to visit. The main goal
for yesterday was the Lycée Henri IV.
We’ve been hearing about it for years as the place where some of the
country’s most important people attended high school. Jacques Chirac went there, we’ve been told. We know that it
is located within the former abbey of Sainte Genevieve, and that the old
Sainte Genevieve bell tower still stands within the school’s walls. That old historical/architectural aspect
especially intrigued me; the old school aspect was of particular interest to
Tom, naturally, since he’s a professor. A “lycée” is a high school. The Lycée Henri IV is a high school, plus a
CPGE – a place to take the classes
to prepare for the grandes écoles. CPGE is a
post-high school, pre-university level of education. We stood in
line in the rain for about 15 minutes before we gained access in a group of
about 20. The headmaster, Patrice
Corre, greeted us in the entry vestibule and gave us an introduction to the
school. He said the tours were
conducted by students. His French was
not that easy to understand. He did
not enunciate. When our tour guide
took over, we were relieved. The guide
was not a high school student, but rather a graduate student at the
Sorbonne. His French was superb –
clear, precise, and enunciated. We
could understand him perfectly. His
name was Laurent, and he was very handsome in that dark, Mediterranean way. The abbey of
Sainte Geneieve was started in 506 A.D.
It became an important part of the Sorbonne, and had one of the
greatest libraries in the world. After
the Revolution, it became France’s first public school. Admissions to
the school are very competitive, and are based on grades. Applicants come from throughout
France. The school is known for its
great teachers. Most of the students
are male, and by far most of the teachers are female. I did not take
many photos during the tour because I needed to concentrate on understanding
the spoken French, and also because we were advised by the headmaster that we
should not take any photos that would disturb students who where there to
study (for example, in the beautiful library). But there is a virtual
tour on the school’s web site that will show you what we saw, and more. Our tour
started in the old cloister, with a great view of the old bell tower, whose
first levels date back to Roman times.
The upper levels are clearly gothic.
The old refectory, off of the cloister, was turned into a chapel in
the 19th century. With its
vaulted ceiling, it does look like a chapel, but I’m surprised this
chapel-conversion was done at a time when this was a public school! I should
mention that the name of the school changed many times. The current name was selected in 1973, the
year I graduated from high school. One of the most
historic and lovely parts of the old abbey that we saw was the stairway of
the prophets (which some call the stairway of the Virgin Mary). It dates to the 1600s, and is a graceful
double stone staircase and hall, featuring statues of four prophets from the
Old Testament in the hall, and the Virgin Mary above them, on the stairway
landing. This staircase
is one of the ways to gain access to the grand library. As wonderful as the library was, I think my
favorite room was the Salle des
Medailles, which was formerly a “cabinet of
curiosities.” The room, completely
carved-wood paneled, had built-in armoires with mirrored doors all
around. The armoires formerly held a
collection of curios, objects of interest, collectibles, which are now in
various Paris museums. The room is now
a special classroom or meeting room. Tom was
concerned about the amount of restoration and maintenance that needs to be
done at this school. The state of the
school’s facilities seemed to be good to me, however, except for the rotunda
at the center of the library. The
inside of its dome had a wonderful painting that has now almost completely
faded away due to water damage.
Netting was stretched across the rotunda to keep pieces of it from
falling on our heads. The tour lasted
for about an hour. We saw only part of
the school, which is surprisingly large.
It has 2,700 students, and a large number of teachers. There are three courtyards, two of which we
did see, and a park/garden where the fourth courtyard would be, if the school
was a quad. At the end of
the tour, we descended from the library via the other staircase, one which
allows the public to have access to the library when the school is closed. It was raining
harder when we left the school and headed for home, passing through the grand
place where the Panthéon presides over Paris.
We talked about what to do for dinner, and decided that a very nearby
restaurant would be best, considering the rain. I reserved a table at Coté Bergamote, which
is becoming one of our favorites. Once again, we
were given a corner table with some space around us. Tom doesn’t like the tiny, claustrophobic
restaurants. As much as we like Le
P’tit Fernand’s food, we haven’t gone back there this year yet because the
tight spaces are unappealing for Tom.
(Oddly enough, it was my friend Bob W. who first recommended that
resto to us; Bob is over 6 feet tall.) So Coté
Bergamote was it. We started by
sharing the crawfish salad again. Then
I had the best magret de canard of
this season there, and Tom had a delicious steak. Dessert was a shared
chocolate cake which came right out of the oven, topped by a little scoop of
vanilla ice cream. Our server was
a fun young man who was half French, half Texan. His accent, when he spoke English, was a
unique blend of a bit of French accent mixed in with a warm Texas twang. I’ve never heard anything like it before. He said he
visits Austin, Texas, often, and that he has a U.S. passport (as well as his
French passport). I said I hoped he
was registered to vote in the U.S. He
said yes, indeed he was, and that he voted for the President. I gave him a thumbs up and a smile. Unfortunately,
he had to register to vote in the part of the U.S. where his mother last
lived, and that was Michigan. So he
doesn’t know enough to vote knowledgeably in the local elections. Shortly after
our main courses arrived at the table, he came by and inquired, “Y’all happy
over here?” Can you imagine? With a French and a Texas accent? We loved it. When dinner was
done, we said goodbye, and he said, “Y’all come back soon.” And we will! |
Sunday, September 15, 2013
The
bell tower of the former Saint Genevieve abbey, now part of the Lycée Henri IV.
The
cloister courtyard at the Lycée.
The
rue d’Écosse used to be longer, and was cut off and
made into an “impasse” by the
construction of the Collège Sainte Barbe. As we
passed by, I heard a British tour guide wrongly telling his group that this
wall was instead one of the old city walls.
This short, narrow street has a steady stream of water running down
its middle, coming from beneath a little metal door in the street at the foot
of the wall.
Coté Bergamote’s magret
de canard, above, and steak, below.
Freshly
made chocolate cake with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream. |
