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An American in Paris

big sax

May 15: An American in Paris. Actually, two Americans celebrating their 24th wedding anniversary. After resting following our 24-hour, sleepless journey, we recognized that we had little time to experience the French capital. We went out to eat at a nearby restaurant in the Latin Quarter, so named because the language was taught at many schools in the area in the Middle Ages.

One of the first things one notices is giant teddy beans seated throughout the establishment. When I asked why, I was told they were a sign of happiness during COVID. They’re not limited to that restaurant but also appear at various shops.

As we were leaving, I took particular joy in seeing three adults my age or older sitting with this specific bear, even though there were other tables available.

We wandered down to Notre Dame. It’s a mighty impressive edifice, even during its renovation following the 15 April 2019 fire that toppled its iconic spire.

I love this hidden garden.

This piece of art was a block from our hotel.

May 16: After breakfast, we walked around the immediate area. The Panthéon is “a monument in the 5th arrondissement… built between 1758 and 1790.”

Ultimately, we realized we needed to take a tour bus around the city to see the sights at least. There were at least two Hop-on Hop-off bus tours of the city we saw, Big Bus and TootBus, which we took. It cost about 40 Euros, more if we wanted to ride the Seine, which we could have, but time was more a factor. We did stop at the Louvre, though we didn’t have tickets, so we didn’t go in.

We did see the noted locales, albeit briefly. C’est la tour Eiffel, taken on the tour bus.

TJ

We returned to the MUSEE D’ORSAY area because we had homework. Our daughter wanted us to make a video of us singing to the beginning of The Election of 1800 from Hamilton with something definitively French in the background. Specifically, she wanted us to emphasize the lyrics: “And they say I’m a Francophile: at least they know I know where France is!”

My wife had spotted a statue of Thomas Jefferson. We made a couple of attempts, but I don’t think they’re satisfactory, in part because of the lack of skills of the actors and film crew.

We ate at a nearby restaurant. While we were sitting, a dozen police vehicles, all with sirens, passed by; we never did figure out what that was about.

We decided to walk back to our hotel. It was farther than I anticipated, and we stopped twice. But what was great was that we got to see random images we photographed. We also purchased a couple of souvenirs for our daughter, including a pink beret and a wedding card for Deborah and Cyrille.

After a brief stop at our hotel room, we went to a restaurant only two blocks away. We stayed inside partly because it was cool and the cigarette smokers were out there. Even indoors, we could catch a hint of tobacco stench from the guy outside our window.

I was captivated by a table of eight people sitting outside, six women and two men. At least three people walked or rode their bicycles by and stopped to chat with the octet. It seemed very…French.

Torschlusspanik: travel plans

one phone number at a time

From https://mocomi.com/torschlusspanik/

The Word Of The Day for April 26 was Torschlusspanik, pronounced toɐ̯ʃlʊsˈpanɪk. It means “The fear that time to act is running out.” It is a German word from the 1960s that literally means “gate-shut panic.” A sample sentence: “I raced to the train station with the Torschlusspanik that I was going to miss the last train of the evening.”

We felt this during the last two weeks of our travel plans before our trip to France—the first big worry: communication. I called my phone carrier to learn how to use my cell phone overseas. The answer: I can’t. Their service covers only the US and Canada.

I called a friend who has traveled to more countries than any three people I know, and they suggested a carrier. During the 90-minute call, I also ordered a new phone and a watch.

The new phone was supposed to arrive on Monday, six days before our departure, which would have been great. But it was rescheduled for Tuesday, a busy day; sure enough, the attempted delivery occurred while I was away from home.

It finally arrived on Wednesday morning, but I needed to accomplish so many non-trip tasks that I could not start on the phone tasks until Thursday, three days before departure. The first piece was setting up a remote WiFi device so my wife could use HER phone and I could access my computer. But I couldn’t get it to work.

Magic

I had to contact my current cell carrier and get a transfer PIN to give to the new carrier so I could keep my old phone number. After I unpackaged the new phone, I had to wait. My previous phone was the first iPhone I ever owned. I learned what others already knew, that the applications from Phone 1 move to Phone 2 when they are nearby.

Then my wife called to say she was coming home, and I had to take out the garbage, run the dishwasher and pack. We have to pick up our daughter from college the next day. Because my wife had to work Saturday, she correctly decided that we should drive out the night before and stay at a hotel.

We arrived at our daughter’s dorm. My, there’s a lot of stuff. We had brought home quite a bit at spring break. But I doubted whether what she packed could fit in the vehicle, and I’m an excellent car packer.

Ultimately, she abandoned a couple of items. Still, there were things under my daughter’s feet. Her dirty laundry was in a large plastic bag between my legs, which I pressed down so that it would not block the mirror on the passenger-side door.

We unloaded the car, and my daughter and I schlepped the items inside as my wife went to work. Our living room was a disaster area.

During this process, my new carrier assigned me a new telephone number. Yikes, no! I spent another two hours returning to my old cell number and synching it to the new watch.

Wizard’s Wardrobe

One day before departure, my wife was tabling in Washington Park during the Tulipfest on Saturday. She’s promoting where she works, Wizard’s Wardrobe, an afterschool tutoring program in Albany’s South End. I volunteered to work a three-hour shift, which was productive and fun, but it fed into the Torschlusspanik.

Ultimately, after I got home, my daughter got the SIM card into a device, scanned my wife’s and my passports into a Customs app, Mobile Passport Control, and did it all in four minutes after I was unsuccessful.

We’re packed and all set to go to France. Or I hope so.

Deborah and Cyrille are engaged!

Gulf of Morbihan

My friend Deborah wrote to me in October 2022 that she and her beau Cyrille are engaged! I was happy for her and also a bit surprised for reasons.

Did I want to come to the wedding? Well, sure, of course. The slightly complicating factor is that they live in the Brittany section of France.

I’ve never been to France, or, for that matter, anywhere that’s not in North America. I always wanted to, and now’s an excellent opportunity.

Still, after they sent out the electronic, animated invitations on December 4, I did not respond despite indicating my desire to attend in an email. The wedding is a very elaborate series of events, which will be described in due course. On December 11, Deborah asked about my wife and me attending since I had not RSVPed yet.

This involved the next issue. After six months off, my wife would start a new job on January 2, 2023. It involves an afterschool program, and the school year is still going on May 19, when the wedding occurs.

(I should note that the six months “off” included her falling on her face, getting COVID, and having a leg infection that sent her to the hospital for four days plus more treatments for a month and a half afterward.)

I wrote, “I am going. [My wife] says she wants to go too but has to negotiate. She also needs to apply for her passport. I will let you know by the end of the month.”

Oui

We said yes on December 19, the same day we went to the local AAA office to discuss the trip with a travel consultant. They wrote back two days later: “Attached is a quote for your trip to France. Unfortunately, Avanti did not have any hotels in Erdeven. I checked, and none of the suppliers that we work with have hotels there. The closest town would be Auray (where the train goes) or Carnac.”

The trip involved flying from JFK Airport at 1830 on May 14, arriving at Charles De Gaulle Airport on May 15, staying at a hotel in Paris for three nights, then taking a train to Auray.

On January 4, we received another message from the couple, marked URGENT. “We are happy that you are coming.

“But we have learned that our wedding is during a major Brittany event, La Semaine du Golfe… It is urgent to make your hotel and transport reservations as soon as possible.”

Re: that event, taking place from Monday, May 15th to Sunday, May 21st, 2023.: “The Gulf of Morbihan regularly welcomes over 1000 classic and traditional vessels for La Semaine du Golfe, a quite unique maritime festival sees the fleet split into flotillas by class, with around 18 harbours welcoming a new flotilla on each day on the event.”

Deborah and Cyrille wrote: “We also want to invite you to a post-wedding brunch at our home on Saturday, 20th of May, at 12:30 pm at our home. Please RSVP by 15 January.” This we did.

Ascension Day

Next complication. We need to rent a car to get around to the various wedding locales. Avis in Auray, both at the train station and downtown, close at noon on the 17th, and they are closed all day on Thursday the 18th for Ascension Day.

What the heck is Ascension Day? “We commemorate Jesus Christ’s ascension into heaven (as per Christian belief) by celebrating Ascension Day, which occurs on the Thursday, which is 40 (or 39) days after Easter. This year, it will take place on May 18. Known by multiple names — The Feast of the Ascension, The Ascension of Jesus, Ascension Thursday, Holy Thursday, or Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord — this is a Christian holiday that doubles as a public holiday in many countries like Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, and more.”

This took me by surprise. The Wikipedia list of countries puts France as the 17th least devout among 144 counties, with only three in ten people saying that religion is important. (In the US, two in three say religion is important.)

So we returned to AAA on the phone and changed the train from the 18th to the 17th. Also, we booked a place to stay in Auray on the 17th and the 18th. But we did not yet undo our three days in Paris because AAA couldn’t get Avanti to lock in the train tickets.

But that’s for the next installment.

Josephine Baker: I knew so little

Genius in France

I knew that Josephine Baker was a famous black entertainer starting in the 1920s. Yes, I was aware that she left the United States because of its open segregation laws. She was a big star in France. That’s about it.

That is until I was watching CBS Sunday Morning while waiting for my train to arrive. This segment is rightly titled The legacy of Josephine Baker.

First a bit of biography. “She was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 3, 1906, to washerwoman Carrie McDonald and vaudeville drummer Eddie Carson. Eddie abandoned them shortly afterward, and Carrie married a kind but a perpetually unemployed man named Arthur Martin.” After a brief and difficult career in the US, her career thrived in Paris.

I’m fascinated by how France has been perceived as this sanctuary, at least for a little while. Some of the notable transplants, at least for a time, included James Baldwin and Lenny Kravitz. My noted activist cousin Frances Beal lived there for a few years. And American soldier Henry Johnson, for years, got a lot more recognition for his World War I exploits by the French than by his home country, the US.

A star over there, but…

For Josephine Baker, a “1936 return to the United States to star in the Ziegfeld Follies proved disastrous, despite the fact that she was a major celebrity in Europe. American audiences rejected the idea of a black woman with so much sophistication and power, newspaper reviews were equally cruel (The New York Times called her a ‘Negro wench’), and Josephine returned to Europe heartbroken.”

She was active in the French resistance during World War II. “She performed for the troops” and… smuggled “secret messages written on her music sheets.” The French government later awarded her medals for her valor.

In the 1950s, “she began adopting children, forming a family she often referred to as ‘The Rainbow Tribe.’ aided by her third husband, composer Joe Bouillon. Josephine wanted her to prove that ‘children of different ethnicities and religions could still be brothers.’ She often took the children with her cross-country.” She raised two daughters, from France and Morocco, and 10 sons, from Korea, Japan, Colombia, Finland, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Venezuela, and three from France.

Civil rights advocate

But she did make it back to the United States again. I was struck by this dialogue in the CBS piece.
Reporter: “How long are you going to stay?”
Baker: “You want me to stay, don’t you?”
Reporter: “I’d like you to stay. I think you could help the Negro movement in the United States.”
Baker: “Oh, don’t say that.”
Reporter: “Why not?”
Baker: “Because it’s not a Negro movement. It’s an American movement.”
True enough.

She spoke at the historic March on Washington in August 1963. “You know, friends, that I do not lie to you when I tell you I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents, and much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad. And when I get mad, you know that I open my big mouth. And then look out, ’cause when Josephine opens her mouth, they hear it all over the world.”

Triumphant return

Josephine Baker “agreed to perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall” in 1973. “Due to previous experience, she was nervous about how the audience and critics would receive her. This time, however, cultural and racial growth was evident. Josephine received a standing ovation before the concert even began. The enthusiastic welcome was so touching that she wept onstage.

“On April 8, 1975, Josephine premiered at the Bobino Theater in Paris. Celebrities such as Princess Grace of Monaco and Sophia Loren were in attendance to see 68-year-old Josephine perform a medley of routines from her 50-year career. The reviews were among her best ever. Days later, however, Josephine slipped into a coma. She died from a cerebral hemorrhage at 5 a.m. on April 12.”

And in 2021, she has been inducted into France’s Pantheon, the first black woman, the first performing artist, and the first American so honored. She joins Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and Marie Curie among the 80 so honored.

La fete Nationale, Quartonze Juillet

Declaration of the Rights of Man

It’s the 230th anniversary of La Fête Nationale, Le Quatorze Juillet, or, as I learned it growing up, Bastille Day in France. It “commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison on July 14, 1789. The French Revolution transformed France into a land of equality and democracy with the Declaration of the Rights of Man in August 1789, which I assume also now apply to women.

I don’t really know much about that document. What did it say, anyway?

DECLARATION

“Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.” I’m reminded, via the musical Hamilton – which we’ll finally see in August 2019 – that while the French aided the colonists in the American Revolution, the news nation remained neutral in the French conflict with the same George III of England.

“Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights.” This appears to be an intractable fight in the United States, from abortion rights to gun control.

“The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.” May we apply this to our use of social media?

“The security of the rights of man and of the citizen requires public military forces. These forces are, therefore, established for the good of all and not for the personal advantage of those to whom they shall be intrusted.” The lessons of Eisenhower seem forgotten as certain Americans are wowed by the “military parade that is a high point of the national holiday celebrations,” and wish to emulate in the US.

Of course, democracy is never a straight line. While the French Senate was founded in 1799, by 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte had declared himself the first Emperor of France. Americans should be aware that we’re not immune to such demagoguery.