La Commune de Paris

While you mostly see pictures of Jeff and I in various states of leisure, there are certain practical reasons the University sent me to Paris. One of my goals while here was to learn more about the city and its history during the 19th century, a time when France in general and Paris in particular was a pretty crazy place to live. An event that's always been fascinating to both Jeff and me is the brief, four month period when Paris had its own revolution and formed its own socialist government. 

This was right after the rather humiliating loss of the Franco-Prussian war and a very long, painful siege that left Parisians in bad shape. When the French army came in the middle of the night to get some canons that the Parisians had bought for the National Guard, on March 18, 1871, people in the working class areas of Montmartre weren't having it. Along with their local National Guardsmen, they chased the national army out of the city entirely.

We recently went to an exhibit of photos and other documents from the Commune at the Paris Hôtel de Ville. You can see some photos of the city under the Commune here. 

This poster is calling for the construction of barricades to defend the city streets. 

When Parisians have a revolution, they like to tear up the cobblestones and build giant walls out of them. That is the correct and traditional way to do it.

These posters publicized the new laws established by the Commune. Among them are the separation of church and state; free, universal and secular education; and the abolishment of night work for bakers. Some of these things later became French law under the Third Republic.

Unfortunately, things didn't go so well for the Commune. Internally, things were tough - the city was once again under siege, now by the national French forces. There was little money to pay soldiers or employees, and though they probably could have raided the Banque de France, they did not. Besides, not everyone was excited about the new government, and I imagine the formation of a Comité du Salut Public (Public Safety Committee) didn't reassure them - that's the same committee Robespierre lead during the Terror.

Long story short (here is a more detailed version, from a pro-Communard standpoint, for those interested), during the week of May 21-28, things turned ugly. The national army invaded the city with the help of some Prussian troops who were still hanging around. There were battles in the streets. Knowing they were about to be defeated, angry Communards decided if they couldn't have Paris, nobody could, and set fire to a number of major buildings, like the Hôtel de Ville, the Palais de Justice, the Palais des Tuileries, and the Palais Royal, among others. 

A lot of the fires were blamed on working-class women called "Les Pétroleuses," 

later vilified in the press.

In order to put a definitive end to the Commune, the French government decided that all support for it was a serious crime, punishable by death or exile. Accordingly, they summarily executed many people believed to have fought for the Commune - sometimes this belief was based on light evidence, such as  looking at a man's hands and deciding he might have shot a gun recently. People disagree about how many people were killed during la Semaine sanglante (the Bloody Week), but estimates range between 10 and 30,000. 

A good number of them were shot against one of the walls of Père Lachaise cemetery. There is now a sculpture and a monument on either side of this wall, commemorating the people who fought and died in Paris's 1871 Revolution.

So while many people may think Paris is about luxury goods, or "who can doubt that Paris is a woman?", or la vie de bohème or whatever, and it is all those things (except a woman), but it's good to remember it's also a battleground.

Parc de Bercy and Le Baron Rouge

Friday afternoon we set out for a walk to Parc de Bercy. On the way we took in the view from the bridge over Port de l'Arsenal, the marina directly south of Place de la Bastille. That's the Colonne de Juillet in the distance.

On the edge of Parc de Bercy, near the stadium and the highway is a pretty incredible skate/bike/rollerblade/razor scooter park.

This fountain tumbles down from the Simone-de-Beauvoir pedestrian bridge that connects the park to the left bank. I think the little guy in the lower right had just accepted a dare, putting his head under the flowing water to impress the girls upstream.

If you are keeping up, you know that we made plans after our first visit in November to return to Parc de Bercy when the roses bloomed in spring. Check out the rose garden map below. Formidable! We were still a little too early for most of the roses. Alas, we will have to return.

The early bushes were in bloom, but not the hybrids or the vines on the bower.

a small vineyard in the park

wisteria

November/April

It's duckling season. On the left, a mother in her nest. On the right, a group of male mallards pacing in the waiting room.

mother and little one

The ponds contain other wildlife: turtles and very handsome carp.

After the park we stopped by Le Baron Rouge to relax with a pot of rosé. Le Baron Rouge has a lot going for it: a beautifully worn room, welcoming staff, a family-friendly neighborhood vibe, a great wine selection and a cheap food menu with just the essentials (oysters and charcuterie). Due to its many virtues, it is mentioned in many Paris guides. It attracts a good number of tourists but manages to handle them gracefully and still maintain a local feel. One of the best parts of Le Baron Rouge is its house cask wine selection, available in reusable liter bottles. Two reds, a white and a rosé, filled and capped on demand for about €3.50 plus €.50 bottle deposit. In the afternoon you can often find a group of budget-conscious neighborhood ladies waiting, bottles in hand, for the doors to open. If you are having a party, or are just more honest about your wine consumption, you can get a 5 or 10 liter plastic jug with built-in spigot. Below, a young lady monitors the preparation of supplies for her mother and a group of friends.

Lyon, la Fin

 One of our main reasons for visiting Lyon was the Institut Lumière, part of which is a museum dedicated to the Lumière brothers. Auguste and Louis were Lyonnais inventors of much of the technology for producing moving pictures. They made some of the earliest films and also, through the production of projection equipment, film and cameras in their factory, helped to popularize and spread film across the world. Here is Lia at the front door of the old Lumière villa, now home to the museum.

Behind the museum is the old Lumière factory. The original wood frame structure is somewhat visible in the photo below through the windows of the larger glass building that was built to protect it. The new building also has a theater to which we returned the next night for a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey as part of the Stanley Kubrick retrospective. 

At the first motion picture screening in Paris in 1895, the first film shown was called "La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière à Lyon" known in English as "Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory." 

Here it is, all 47 second of it.

 

The courtyard now has glass panels with images of the original workers leaving the factory. 

Here we express our honor and respect for these cinematic pioneers.

There was some major excitement across the street from where we had lunch after visiting the museum. Fire! It was terrifying! There were firemen and police and onlookers, all due to an errant cigarette meeting a collection of leaves and garbage under a sidewalk grate. The fireman put it out and shoveled the detritus up onto the sidewalk where I assume someone else was supposed to clean it up. It stank.

The next day we went to the amazing Parc de la Tête d'Or. We love botanical gardens and try to find them in every city we visit. Tête d'Or has a large conservatory building, several smaller greenhouses and a vast outdoor garden area. 

After leaving the conservatory, we set out for a walk around the park. I saw what I thought from a distance were groups of people enjoying lovely pique-niques.

Upon closer inspection, they were deer. Or something like deer. 

We quickly learned that part of the park is a large open air zoo. 

flamingos!

watusi!

pelican!

agitated pelican!

The next day we took the funicular subway train, or la ficelle ("the string") as the Lyonnais call it, up to the Croix Rousse neighborhood. Croix Rousse is set on the hill on the north end of the peninsula. It was for many years the center of Lyon's silk industry. We were going to visit La Maison de Canuts- The Silkworkers Museum. Here is the neighborhood as viewed from the right bank of the Rhone.

Croix Rousse is also known for its traboules, a byzantine collection of stairways and passages that pass through the buildings on the way down (or up) the hill. 

The last shot is not in Croix Rousse, but I like the skyway.

I also like whatever this thing is. It was on a landing in a Croix Rousse traboule.

It looks like a very old golf shoe cleaner.

After Croix Rousse, we visited the Musèe des Tissus et Arts Décoratifs (Fabrics and Decorative Art). They do not allow photography due to the fragile nature of the fabric, some of which is about 2000 years old. It was pretty amazing and I recommend it to anyone visiting Lyon. After the Fabric Museum we were too worn out to tackle the Decorative Arts, but I imagine it is impressive as well. 

Our last night in Lyon we went out for dinner at Magali et Martin, a restaurant on the higher end of the fancy scale than the bouchons. The chef had worked at several three star joints in Paris before settling in Lyon. It was a great meal- seasonal, elevated and refined Lyonnais cooking. No photos were taken, but the memories of the meal are still clear, which is a strong recommendation.

In conclusion, Lyon rules- great food, interesting sights and history, two rivers, natural beauty, old stuff. Smaller than Paris, with a more relaxed, casual feel- not unlike Minneapolis. We were often struck by how much it felt like home. 

 The Flower Tree on Place Antonin Poncet.

I ran like hell to get this yellow suit guy in the frame with the sculpture as he walked by.

Our two hour train ride back to Paris lengthened to four (4!). Due to congestion at the terminal, some trains had to stop a little outside of town. Despite official warnings to not open the doors, some 100 people from other waiting trains apparently took early departures and so we then had to wait for room at the station as well as the removal of an impatient horde before ending our journey. 

Luckily, I bought a large beer in Lyon.