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Place des Vosges
by Franck Schiff
In the Marais quarter, a stone's throw from the Nouvel Opera Bastille and near the Place de la Bastille, Place des Vosges is tucked neatly away from the street noise of the 3rd district.
Yet, from the inside of the enclosed square,
the hustle and bustle of the neighboring streets seems miles away. This
is the location French novelist Victor Hugo chose to write "Les
Miserables". And this is where French Queen Catherine de Medicis took
power upon the death of her husband, King Henri II, after he played
(and lost) deathly tournament games outdoors in the courtyard.
This Parisian jewel is an enclave squared
off by 35 low-level red brick and white façade buildings. It has
a peaceful park in its heart where Parisians and tourist picnic, sit
and read, or have a Frisbee catch.
Walk through the arched gateway wall
leading into the square, and take a right turn to go to Victor Hugo's
second-floor apartment nestled in the corner. Today the building (the Rohan Guéméné mansion)
houses a museum in honor of the great French writer. This is where Hugo
penned his classics while he stood upright during the night writing
novels such as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." During the daytime, Hugo
sat quietly in the park meditating and mingled with others who absorbed
the quiet ambiance.
Well, my aunt Monique is no Hugo but she lives in the 12th
district, not too far from the Place des Vosges. Last June she decided
to take my mother and myself there after we sipped drinks of Monaco (a cocktail of beer and grenadine) at a street-side café on the Seine River.
The famous location really feels like a
secluded place from the crowded tourist postcard shops and bistros.
Entering it, it seemed for a second as if I had walked into Central
Park in Manhattan, but at a much, much smaller scale.
At the center of the square is a small park.
Inside I met college age men and women sitting on the lawn and playing
in the neo-classical statue water foundation. Some sat quietly reading
on the park benches taking in words from the present and years gone
past, simply enjoying the soothing warm air of this June afternoon.
At the center of the park, notice the
small-sized Louis XIII statue. On its pedestal it says this French king
died at the young age of 33. His son, Louis XIV, or the Sun King,
lived over 74 years! Talk about longevity. From the statue extend sand
pebble paths leading to each corner of the park. Sideways wrap around
the lawns on which people can walk and rest. Not all lawns are allowed
to the public in Paris.
In the square's southern side, there is the King's
pavilion, on the northern side the Queen's pavilion. This is where the French royalty of the 16th Century lived.
During those heady days of Kings and
Queens, the park was used for sporting events. During a tournament of
life and death, King Henri II met his match and was mortally wounded.
Shortly after Queen Marie de Medicis, heartbroken, unable to live with
his memory or bored, decided it was time to pack her bags and move to
the Louvre.
Yet, Place des Vosges still was home to the
rich and powerful. Cardinal Richelieu, Prime minister of France during
Louis XIII's reign, lived here in building number 21. Almost 200 years
after him, Victor Hugo took up residence in building number 6.
The grips, nevertheless, of the French
revolution could also be felt here. The statue of Louis XIII —
which Richelieu had built for His Highness — was torn down and
destroyed during the revolution. The one which stands there today was
built about 30 years after the revolutionary fever.
Today, there is no bloodbath of revolution
or aristocratic duels. Place des Vosges has become a square of
serenity, mostly a get-away from the day-to-day hustle and bustle of
Parisian life. Yet it quietly reminds one of being in Paris inside the
red and white façade of history that silently whispers.
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