Americans in Paris: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Paris. 20 June. My companions who have been in the belle ville before & wished it to strike me as it ought, are scarce content with my qualified admiration. Certainly the eye is satisfied on entering the city with the unquestionable tokens of a vast, rich, old capital.

We crossed the Seine by the Pont Neuf & I was glad to see my old acquaintance Henry IV very respectably mounted in bronze on his own bridge but the saucy faction of the day has thrust a tricolor flag into his bronze hand as into a doll's & in spite of the decency the stout old monarch is thus obliged to take his part in the whirligig politics of his city.



I live at pension with Professor Henri at the corner of Rue Neuve Vivienne directly over the entrance of the Passage aux Panoramas....This Passage aux Panoramas was the first Arcade built in Paris & was built by an American Mr. Thayer. There are now probably fifty of these passages in the city.




From Journal, 1833, in Americans in Paris: A Literary Anthology, Adam Gopnik, editor (New York: The Library of America, 2004), p. 53, 57.

Americans in Paris: James Gallatin

James Gallatin was secretary to his father, American diplomat Albert Gallatin, and accompanied his father on his missions in Europe between 1813 and 1827.



July 30
21 rue de l'Universite

The house is really very fine entre cours et jardin. Furniture old but very good. We have to supply our own plate and linen. We have to make some alterations, so mamma and Frances have gone to the Lussacs at Versailles. I have my own valet, Lucien, aged twenty five -- a very important person he thinks himself, valet to a Secretary of the Embassy. He will call me "Excellence."




From The Diary of James Gallatin in Americans in Paris: A Literary Anthology, Adam Gopnik,editor (New York: The Library of America, 2004), p.33.

Americans in Paris: With Apologies to Adam Gopnik

For many months now, I've slowly been working my way through Adam Gopnik's wonderful literary anthology, Americans in Paris. The book begins with extracts from the letters of Benjamin Franklin, written when the nation now known as the U.S.A. was only an idea, and continues up to the 1960s. Gopnik has included the work of many greats of American letters -- Mark Twain, Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, for example -- as well as those of historical figures not known for their writing such as P.T. Barnum, Isadora Duncan, Charles Lindbergh, and Diana Vreeland. It's not the kind of book that you'll plow through in a week at the beach or in front of the fire when you're snowed in. Rather, it's one to be savored in bits and pieces, always with time for looping back and re-reading. And Gopnik's introduction itself is pitch perfect. He's captured the joy and optimism but also the regret and nostalgia. Somehow Paris is always both just as we imagined it and somehow a smaller shadow of its former self.

Over the next month, I'll be sharing with you some snippets from the anthology, paired with photos of the places in question. I've left out some of the choicest bits that simply don't lend themselves to this format. Think of it as a taste of what Gopnik's book has to offer. And then go out and get yourself a copy. This is a book that you'll want to own.

Stay tuned.

Willy Ronis

Call it an embarrassment of riches but I can't tell you the number of times I've planned to go to a concert, a show, or an art exhibition and by the time I got my act together, it was too late. That could have easily happened with the Willy Ronis exhibit at La Monnaie de Paris but fortunately it didn't. And there's still plenty of time for the rest of you. This incredible show of black and white photographs, mostly from the 1940s and '50s, is on until the 22nd of August. And unlike the Orsay and the Louvre, there are no crowds and the exhibit is the perfect size, enough to absorb without completely exhausting you.

If you don't know Ronis by name, you will certainly recognize some of his pictures. That iconic photo of the little boy running with his baguette? Ronis. That amazing shot looking down a flight of stairs near the Parc des Butte Chaumont? Ronis again. And even if you don't recognize each one like some old school chum, you know the atmosphere right to your bones. Ronis's subjects are prosaic, factory workers, shopkeepers, and ordinary people at work and play, but even so, these pictures show the Paris of your dreams. If you're in town, make sure you get there in the next six weeks. If not, you can get a glimpse of what you're missing on the Web site of the Hackel Bury Gallery which is still representing Ronis, even though he died last September, just shy of his 100th birthday. Even better, if you have $6,000 lying around, one of these can actually be yours.

Finale

I'm making an exception to my general rule of not blogging on Sunday because the final match in the World Cup is tonight. Despite not having a clear favorite in the game, I'm going to be watching anyway. And yes while it's been great seeing world class players at their best (what ball handling!), what I've enjoyed most about watching the matches is the crazy enthusiasm of the commentators. They don't yell "GOAL!" but they go nuts all the same. My favorite is when something goes wrong and then it's nothing but a string of "oh la la la la las."

So here's the best video clip I could find just to give you a flavor of the reportage. No comment on the performance of either team here.

But de Klose : Argentine 0 - 4 Allemagne, 89ème (03/07/2010)

Work in Progress

Last Sunday when I was flying solo, I took advantage of the fact that it was the first Sunday of the month (aka Free Museum Sunday) and got myself to the Musee Guimet. A world class museum of Asian art, the Guimet is one of those places I've always wanted to visit but somehow never seemed to get around to. Excuses no more.

But if you think I'm going to blog about the museum, you are wrong, so wrong. Instead, I want to share with you this photo which I snapped from the rotunda on the top floor. At the moment, it's a cafe/library for the special exhibit on manga. But, as you can see, special exhibit or no, there are some pretty fabulous views from there.

And what did I spy? A construction crew on Avenue d'Iena taking apart this large raised structure on steel girders which for many months as served both as construction office and worker housing for a major renovation of the mansion opposite. It's a big project that has been transforming what was once the home of Prince Roland Bonaparte (Napoleon's great nephew) into the Shangri La Hotel; the opening is set for December of this year. While I'm sure the hotel will be another fabulous five star experience for some, it's the construction structure that's more interesting to me. You see these elsewhere in Paris, wherever there's major work, creating facilities for the renovation without inconveniencing the rest of the neighborhood by commandeering a lane or two of the roadway. Win win, I say.

Glamour Don't

Dear Ladies of Paris,

When the temperatures hit the 30 degree Celsius mark (86 degrees F), it might be a good idea -- for your own comfort, that is -- if you didn't wear any of the following:

• those pleather pants;
• turtlenecks;
• suede boots;
• your winter coat (or even a trench for that matter);
• tights (even if they are the kind that stop at your ankles); or
• fuzzy gloves.

I'm just sayin'.

Bisous,

Just Another American in Paris