Blog

By Emily Clott, Class of 2012

It will be news to exactly no one that Paris is one of the world’s most heralded cities. Poets, artists, and musicians are drawn by its beauty and avant garde attitude. Lovers claim it as theirs by attaching “locks of love” to its picturesque bridges. Even the Nazis were aware that it would be a crime to destroy a city that has been a cultural treasure for millennia.

In Chicago, we tried at our 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition to out-Eiffel Gustave Eiffel’s Tower from the 1889 Paris World’s Fair with George Ferris’s Wheel. Burnham and Bennett’s 1909 Plan promoted Chicago as “Paris on the Prairie.” Today Paris and Chicago are sister cities. For these and many other reasons, fellow docent Mary Jo Hoag and I were drawn by the magnetic pull that Paris exerts.

I’d already been to Paris nine times: as a student, as a French teacher with many student groups, with my husband and my family—so why go again? Would a visit to Paris yield worthwhile new experiences? That was the question I hoped to answer this spring when Mary Jo and I made the trek to Paris together. The answer was a resounding YES!

Mary Jo had visited Paris once with her parents when she was 22. We’d casually kicked around the idea of traveling to Paris, but all was just talk until I saw an excellent round trip air fare one January day. MJ and I jumped on it, and planned our departure after DAN in April. The fates were smiling when I learned of an available Parisian apartment. Everything fell into place, and we embarked on our excellent adventure.

Shared Interests
As CAF docents, traveling together meant that we shared an interest in history and in architecture, that we wouldn’t mind a lot of walking, and that we would not be easily bored. Mary Jo was the navigator, figuring out the best way to get to our destinations; I was the translator, asking for help when needed, deciphering captions on historical signs, works of art, and museums exhibits. We made a formidable team.

While we visited the usual sites—the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysees, the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the Musee d’Orsay—we also spent most of a day wandering the winding streets of Montmartre. There we visited the Institute of the Arab World, were moved by the Memorial of the Deported of WW II, lunched at the Grand Mosque of Paris, and explored the Cluny, Picasso, and Rodin museums. As river docents, MJ and I felt compelled to take a cruise along the Seine as well. The sights are amazing, but the guide didn’t hold a candle to our docents! Of course Mary Jo, CAF’s Queen of Cemeteries, wanted to go to Pere Lachaise, and I was pumped to explore the burial sites of luminaries from Heloise and Abelard to Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf to Jim Morrison.

Small World
A short train ride outside of Paris brought us to the Cathedral and town of Chartres, a highlight of our visit, where we marveled at the architectural and engineering feats of medieval Christians. There we took a guided tour of the cathedral and crypt with Ann-Marie, a guide who turned out to be from Oak Park, IL, and remembered meeting CAF docent Joan Winstein on a cathedral tour last summer. Small world, indeed!

Late April is a great time to be in Paris; the trees are in blossom, the crowds are light, and the weather, though mercurial, is temperate. On a typical day, we’d explore from about 10 in the morning to 7 in the evening, then return to our 13th arrondissement base for dinner and down time. The boulangerie across the street provided baguettes and croissants for breakfasts in the apartment, and we enjoyed many delicious meals all over the city. Our favorite neighborhood restaurant was Verbalon, where the debonair Adrian was our waiter.

I’ve always loved Paris, but being able to spend ten days there at a leisurely pace, lingering or cutting things short without having to consider a schedule or the preferences of a group, was a revelation. All you really need is good walking shoes, and for comfort in any weather, a good guide book (we loved Rick Steves’), and a companion who is a kindred spirit to create an unforgettable experience. May all your travels be April in Paris!