MEMORIES:
Mikey remembers...Later on, my love and I will make it here. That would be very nice. More »
Posted on 01/08/09
PHOTOS:
Humphery Bogart and Ingrid Bergman remembered it. Billy Crystal and Debra Winger forgot it. It's built majestically onto everything from river islands to gentle hills. Inhabited off and on for over six thousand years, the Celtic Parisii tribe settled for good in the third century, B.C. From its first to fifth century occupation by the Romans, the burgeoning city was known as Lutetia. It wasn't until the sixth century, A.D. that Paris rose again to prominence, this time as the capital city of Frankish king Clovis I. And as it was one of the first cities to ever adopt the use of street lights, it became known as the "City of Light."
The history, of course, is part of the allure of this enchanting city. More than perhaps any other city in the world, Paris is where history and modernity come together. From l'Arc de Triomphe to la Grande Arche de la Défense, the scope of histories medieval, renaissance, baroque, and more are utterly tangible. The former castle stronghold known as Le Louvre, which once protected the city's western flank, has since become the most visited (as well as one of the largest, oldest, and most prestigious) art galleries and museums in the world. Evidences of the "Hundred Years' War," the "French Wars of Religion," and the "French Revolution" can be found everywhere. Age old colleges and universities meet modern day commercial centers. Ten of the largest companies in the world find their headquarters at La Défense alone.
But all cities have historical events. Paris has historical movements. The French Renaissance. The Baroque. The Belle Époque. Impressionism. Art Nouveau. Their found in paintings and preserved in the architecture. One finds the sprawling majesty of the Renaissance in the Chateaux of the Loire Valley, the gardens of Catherine de Medecis' Tuileries castle, and the reconstruction of the Louvre. One sees the Baroque period in Pont Neuf, the Place des Vosges, and the Place Dauphine. Gustav Eiffel built the city's enduring landmark to commemorate the French Revolution, demolishing the Trocadéro Palace to do so.
From around the world, they come by the millions. They come to gaze up at the Basilica of Sacré Coeur and down at the Notre Dame from the heights of Montmartre. They come to shop "the most beautiful avenue in the world," the Champs-Élysées. They come to spy on the commercial homes of Chanel, Louis Vitton, Givenchy, and Dior on the Avenue Montaigne. They come to see the oldest monument in Paris, Place de la Concorde (formerly, Place Louis XV), the Egyptian obelisk where lived the dreaded guillotine. They come to weep at the spectacles within and without the Opéra Garnier. They come to spend time at Montparnasse, Les Halles, Le Marais, Place de la Bastille. The come to enjoy Parc Monceau, the Jardin des Plantes, Parc de la Villette, Luxembourg Garden. They come to mourn Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison and others at Père la Chaise. They come to relive history within Les Invalides, Musée d'Orsay, Musée Picasso, Musée Rodin, and the Centre Georges Pompidou. They come for the cafes and bistros, the music and metros, the past and the present. They come to forget and remember. They come for Paris.
