Tag: Paris

Posted on

Medieval Paris

We are very close to having the first two books ready to go to print. For those of you new to my blog site, these two books are walking tours of Paris based on the French Revolution. I take you to buildings, places, and sites that were significant to the events surrounding the Revolution. In Volume one (Versailles to the Faubourgs), we begin in Versailles with the convening of the Estates-General and end with two walking tours in Paris. Volume two (Marie Antoinette’s Last Ride) centers on the events from 1792 to 1794. In other words, the time frame when the Revolution got very ugly.

So I have some time on my hands. Well, not really. I’ve begun to write the third book, Where Did They Burn the Last Grandmaster of the Knights Templar?—A Walking Tour of Medieval Paris (987–1547). Just so I don’t get bored, I decided to begin the research on the fourth book, Where Did They Put the Gestapo Headquarters?—A Walking Tour of Nazi Occupied Paris (1940–1944). All along this process, I’m collecting the names of interesting people who are buried in the Paris cemeteries. Why?—because the fifth book will be a walking tour of the Paris cemeteries (Where Did They Bury Jim Morrison, the Lizard King?).

Heads_in_Cluny_museum,_June_2013
Heads in Cluny Museum Photo by Guillaume Speurt

As I write the book on medieval Paris, it strikes me how many sights there are to take you to. Despite Baron Haussmann’s efforts and the urbanization of the 1970s, there are a lot of places to see evidence of medieval Paris (beyond ABC—Another Beautiful Church). One of our stops will be the Musée national du Moyen ge (the National Museum of the Middle Ages—formerly known as the Cluny Museum). The building represents one of four remaining residences left in Paris that was actually built in the Middle Ages. Built in 1334 over the 3rd century Gallo–Roman baths, the building was originally used as the residence for the abbots of Cluny. Today, it houses artifacts from the Middle Ages including the six tapestries of the Lady and the Unicorn. It also has the heads of the statues from Notre Dame that were cut off during the French Revolution. Read More Medieval Paris

Posted on

Virginia Postrel’s 7 Most Glamorous Women in History

I Prefer Blondes

For my entire life, I’ve always been attracted to strong women (preferably blonde). Okay, now my secret is out. So as not to get into trouble, it’s the stories of strong blonde women that I’m attracted to. For some reason I turned to Virginia Postrel’s article in USA Today (August 8, 2014) entitled, History’s 7 Most Glamorous Women. What caught my eye was the woman she named number one: Marie Curie.

Marie Curie, an influential woman
Marie Curie (circa 1898). Photo (photographer unknown). Wikimedia Commons.

The Strong Ones 

I’m very familiar with the story of Marie Curie (#1). She was responsible for the discovery of radiation (she coined the term radioactivity) and x-rays. Madame Curie shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in physics with her husband and she won outright the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She died in Paris (1934), likely of radiation poisoning from the x-rays she performed during World War I. Madame Curie is the only woman buried in the Pantheon based on the merits of her own achievements. Based on the pictures I’ve seen of Madame Curie, I would not put her in the bucket called “glamorous.” By the time I got through the remaining 6 names, I figured out that by “glamorous,” what Ms. Postrel really meant is “strong.” While I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with Ms. Postrel’s identifying these individuals as strong women, I would perhaps come up with some other women to put in their place or at the very least, to join them on the list. I guess it could be a toss up between Joan Crawford (#7) and Bette Davis. Or how about Barbara Stanwyck and Mary Pickford? Clearly, this is the entertainment category. Read More Virginia Postrel’s 7 Most Glamorous Women in History