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Post by Happygoin on Jul 12, 2007 9:19:35 GMT -5
I don't care if it IS cheating, Anne. It's cool to know! Thanks.
We await Professor Arrow's version to see if he concurs or has anything to add.
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Post by arrowcapet on Jul 12, 2007 9:40:32 GMT -5
Hmmm....it is indeed Henri IV. I have never heard the story about the smaller statue of Nap in his arms, although it is definitely true that the present statue is post-Nap. The original was torn down during the revolution, but was rebuilt and erected after the re-installation of the monarchy. As for the "why?"...it's pretty simple...the bridge was built by Henri IV (yes..it was started by Henri III but finished and opened under IV), so when he died, Marie de Medici, his wife, had the statue placed there to commemorate all he had done "building bridges" so to speak...both literally and figuratively. "Paris vaut bien une messe!" he is attributed to saying. He's the guy that converted to Catholicism to take the throne, and after long and bloody religious wars signed the Edict of Nantes granting protestants certain rights and safe havens. (It was later revoked by Louis XIV at the urging a Mme de Maintenon). So...anyway...yep, it's Louis IV and he's there cuz he's the one credited with building the darn thing.  |
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Post by geordy on Jul 12, 2007 9:51:20 GMT -5
Happy, I quite like Chez Clement, have eaten in several(since they are in just about every area I've stayed in!)  Kind of like comfort food..and a good choice if you don't have plans for dinner and it is rainy or coldor it is getting late and you just want a simple dinner but more than a Cafe menu. They have sometimes great specials but because it is continuous service the special I've found is usually gone by dinner! They've got oysters and other shell fish, good composee platters, and of course the roitisserie option! And the price..and quality ..is good! |
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Post by Anne on Jul 12, 2007 9:56:50 GMT -5
I cannot spot any small statue in the arms of Henri IV on this photo indeed, yet I am sure that this smaller Napoleaon statue story applies to the Pont-Neuf bridge as it was a Napoleonic revenge from the manufacturer of the new Henri IV statue . Maybe the smaller statue was taken away long ago ...
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Post by geordy on Jul 12, 2007 14:17:51 GMT -5
Whoops! Posted that last one here about Chez Clement here instead of the Three girls in Paris thread! And shoot...when did I become a Senior!!??  Have to talk to Truffaut about THAT title!!  Then again...this post seems like a Senior Moment!!  |
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Post by Anne on Jul 13, 2007 8:52:49 GMT -5
Arrow, I finally found the answer about the statue of Napoleon  : >>Le nouveau sculpteur, François Lemot, hostile au régime, aurait dissimulé dans son ouvrage une petite statuette de Napoléon et la Henriade de Voltaire (auteur détesté par la monarchie du fait de son antichristianisme).<< That comes from www.insecula.comIt says that the sculptor, hostile to monarchy, IS SAID to have hidden INSIDE the sculpture a small statue of Napoleon plus a book from Voltaire, who was loathed by monarchy because he was against christianity . I KNEW (well, I hoped) that I was not being senile about this  |
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Post by sistereurope on Jul 13, 2007 9:32:44 GMT -5
Good digging, Anne! You DO win the prize!! ;D
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Post by Anne on Jul 13, 2007 9:37:44 GMT -5
Thank you Sister . Now, what IS the price ?
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Post by sistereurope on Jul 13, 2007 9:44:09 GMT -5
Well, it was Arrow Capet's contest, so I suppose that he should determine the prize...but I exalted you for your knowledge and researching skills |
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Post by Anne on Jul 13, 2007 9:53:47 GMT -5
Thank you so much sister .
Since I am going to the Netherlands tomorrow, I plan to celebrate this personal victory (plus incidentally the 14th of July) with a local feast of herrings and beer (and here, Gitte would add : "burps")
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Post by sistereurope on Jul 13, 2007 10:03:44 GMT -5
Have a great trip - enjoy your herrings and beer!
I'm leaving tomorrow too, for Mexico, where I will enjoy some tacos and margaritas...
hmmm, I wonder what our Paris friends will be feasting on...?
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Post by Anne on Jul 13, 2007 10:10:07 GMT -5
Will I surprise you by telling you that I would GLADLY exchange my week-end in Maastricht with your certainly-longer-than-a-week-end time in Mexico, where I have never been yet ? And you can have the Dutch delicacies, I'll have your tacos and some pinacolada too . If only !... |
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Post by sistereurope on Jul 13, 2007 10:18:36 GMT -5
That's ok Anne, I'm a lot closer and this will be my first time to Mexico!
Although I've never been to the Netherlands either...MAN!! There are SO many places I want to visit.
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Post by Happygoin on Jul 13, 2007 10:50:59 GMT -5
That would actually be a fun thread. Where do you WANT to go. I'm assuming that most of the people on this board enjoy traveling  or they wouldn't be here. The Netherlands is actually high on my list...along with Scotland. Hey...speaking of Great Britain, anybody know where andi of andiandgaz fame has been lately? |
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Post by sistereurope on Jul 13, 2007 11:01:15 GMT -5
I've been thinking about andi too, Happy.
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Post by arrowcapet on Jul 13, 2007 11:46:20 GMT -5
Anne,
I've heard stories about all kinds of things that are supposed to stuck in there...so I don't doubt the validity of those claims. Apparently, the idea came to the folks who rebuilt the statue after they discovered several things that had been hidden inside the original as well.
One of the things that continues to amaze and excite me are the discoveries that are made from time to time when no one's really expecting it. The heads of the Kings of Judea from Le Cathedrale de Notre Dame, for instance. Or, one of my favorites, back in the 80's when the Dauphin's apartments were being restored for public viewing at Versailles, it was discovered that all of the original walls had simply been "covered" with new walls built on top of them during the Napoleonic era. They were in almost pristine condition, and gave historians and architects involved in the restoration their most complete sense of what Versailles had actually looked like during the end of the 17th and early 18th centuries.
These infrequent but important discoveries, and the continued restoration of various sites in and around Paris are just one more reason to go back to Paris time and time again.
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Post by Truffaut on Jul 13, 2007 11:55:32 GMT -5
Arrow, the top of the Tour Saint-Jacques is now visible. It's pristine white and gorgeous. It was so black previously, that there was just no way to see the intricacy of the decoration. Be sure to take a peek!
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Post by GitteK on Jul 13, 2007 14:18:47 GMT -5
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Post by Becky (Berkeleytravelers) on Jul 13, 2007 14:57:44 GMT -5
Thanks for that reminder, Gitte -- anyone who hasn't posted there should hop on over right away! |
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Post by geordy on Jul 13, 2007 18:15:20 GMT -5
Well, Now that the 14th of July is upon us..what are we France lovers going to do??? Other than those of us in Mexico(only one marg por mois Sister?  )or the Netherlands(I'll take a beer Anne, keep the herring!) and of course our "fellas" and other friends in France? Well..I'd like to hear what they are doing as well!!! ;D I had a LONG day at work today so tomorrow I'm going o Citeralla(a gourmet grocery here) getting a baguette, brie, blueberries, and who knows what else. I have a tinned pate from Paris,,and red , white, and blue Terra chips! Plus a Loire Rose and Sparkling Wine. Probably take it to Central Park for a picnic!! Then Sunday I'll hit the Bastille Day festivities on 60th St. sponsored by AF/FI. (Alliance Francais/French Institute) |
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Have to talk to Truffaut about THAT title!! 
: 
or they wouldn't be here. The Netherlands is actually high on my list...along with Scotland. Hey...speaking of Great Britain, anybody know where andi of andiandgaz fame has been lately?
)or the Netherlands(I'll take a beer Anne, keep the herring!)
Let the riot begin! LOL - 
hahahha