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Lady Liberty, The US and France
by Sharon Atchley
Our visit to Paris was wonderful! We rented an apartment in the 6th
arrondissement (district), and became Parisians for the month of
September. While the main purpose of our trip was to attend a French
language school, we of course did a lot of sightseeing. Which brings me
to this very important observation from our sightseeing around Paris,
regarding something dear to both America and France, and that is a very
important Statue.
Today there is a sense of apprehension and
uneasiness between France and the US, due to the war in Iraq. Both
countries' governments and their people need to think about these
statues, to appreciate them, and hopefully bring our countries back to
friendlier terms.
Her name is the ‘Liberty Enlightening the World’ and
she adorns not only New York's harbor, but also Swan Ally on the Seine,
and Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. Yes, there are three Lady Liberties
[most Americans don't realize there are three statues, as well as many
French people that aren't familiar with Paris]! The Lady is a symbol
for friendship, freedom and peace between the US and France. We all
have architect Frederick Auguste Batholdi to thank for this beautiful
lady, and his perseverance to have this project come to fruition.
The original cast ‘life size’ Statue of Liberty stands amongst the beautiful flower gardens, and fountains in Luxembourg Gardens
[which is home to the French Senate] in Paris. On her pedestal she's
approximately 15 feet high, and absolutely ‘magnifique' among the
flowers and trees. This was architect Batholdi's miniature mold for our
US Statue of Liberty, which was to represent peace and freedom for man.
It is a most treasured gift from France to the United States.
The larger Statue of Liberty is a fifth of
the size of our US Statue [approximately 35 feet in height on it's
base] stands upon a bit of land called ‘Swan Ally’
in the Seine near the Grenelle Bridge. This exact Statue of Liberty
replica monument was offered to the French by the Americans as a
remembrance to commemorate the Centennial of the French Revolution. It
was inaugurated on November 15, 1889 and was placed so that it faced
the Eiffel Tower [so not to have it's back to Elysee Palace]. However,
its creator and architect Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was most upset
that it did not face the New York Statue of Liberty, so at the World's
Fair in Paris in 1837 the statue was turned around to face America.
On this Swan Alley statue, the tablet that the Lady holds, has the dates 4 Juillet 1776 et 14 Juillet 1789 which
are the dates of the US and French revolutions [again, freedom
symbols]. While riding on the peniches (flat-bottom cargo boats) and
dinner cruise boats on the Seine, this is the lady that you'll see, and
in turn reminding you of what she stands for!
Then there is America's Statue of Liberty,
on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, and the most majestic Lady
Liberty of them all. At over a 151 feet tall, and on her base she's
more than 305 feet tall, she's truly magnificent! The statue was a gift
to America from the French people in honor of the centennial of
American independence. It is one of the most universal symbols of
political freedom and democracy [and a World Heritage Site].
The statue was designed by Auguste
Bartholdi, the structural engineer for the project was Gustave Eiffel
[Eiffel Tower], and the pedestal designed by Richard M. Hunt.
The statue's title is ‘Liberty Enlightening the World’ [but known to Americans as ‘The Statue of Liberty’].
Construction finally began in 1875 in France, and was completed in June
1884. The statue was dismantled, shipped to New York and arriving on
June 19, 1885. The statue then took four months to rebuild. The statue
was inaugurated by President Grover Cleveland, on October 28, 1886. On
Lady Liberty's tablet is inscribed “July 4, 1776 in Roman numerals, Day of America's Independence from Britain: July 4, 1776”,
and inscribed upon the base for the statue, an excerpt from the famous
poem by Emma Lazarus's ‘the New Colossus’, and reads as
follows:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.
On your trip to Paris, please be sure and
visit these beautiful ‘Ladies'. She is probably the most famous
statue in the world, and while your in New York you can visit Liberty
Island, the Statue of Liberty is closed to visitors now, due to the
attack on the Twin Towers in New York, but you can go to Liberty Island
to see and take pictures of her.
I just felt that I needed to enlighten
everyone about the Statue of Liberty. I hope that all people realize
that she stands for friendship, freedom and peace between our two
countries! We all need to do some reflecting [both countries and their
people]! I think it's ridiculous for these two countries to be at such
odds, when we have such mutual and binding ties as ‘The Statue of
Liberty'.
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