Paris1972-Versailles2003

Well here is another of my off the beaten path road/or foot warrior thrills of my eternal Paris. I have been by here lots of time as had many functions in the across the street Palais Brongniart (see post) and saw the building. Weird at first, need to look again , as have heard of AFP but never figure where they were! my gosh they were just across the street from my management conventions !!! So, let me tell you a bit about AFP or Agence France Presse; it that can be had guided visits.

AFP is a global news agency, providing rapid, comprehensive and verified coverage of current events and issues that shape our daily lives. With an unrivaled network of journalists, deployed in 151 countries, AFP is also a world leader in digital investigation. It has, they say 2,400 employees, of 100 different nationalities, cover the world in six languages, with a unique quality of multimedia production in video, text, photo and computer graphics. Cross-checking and disseminating information, in a neutral, reliable form that can be used directly by all types of media (radio , television, written press, websites) as well as with large companies and administrations.

AFP took over the premises and customers of the Havas company founded in 1836 by Charles-Louis Havas, son of the royal inspector of the Librairie de Rouen (76)  and who became a cotton merchant after the French revolution. The agency moved to 111-15 place de la Bourse, in the Champeaux restaurant building, then faced competition from American agencies, before taking advantage in the 1920s of the financial advertising boom.

It was only under the Nazis occupation that a change took place: the agency’s advertising sector became a mixed company with German participation and kept the name Havas; the information branch is nationalized and is now called the French Information Office (OFI).  During the Liberation of Paris, August 20, 1944, journalists members of the Resistance seize the OFI, five days before the arrival of Gen Leclerc’s tanks, They issued the first dispatch of a free agency which would take the name of Agence France-Presse (AFP) on September 30, 1944. For its part, the Havas advertising agency is nationalised.

AFP takes over the OFI building, created by Vichy from the Havas agency, which the occupier had transformed into a propaganda center, in defiance of a history dating back to 1835. AFP also inherited structures born under the occupation: the French Information Agency (AFI) launched in London in 1940, the France-Africa Agency in Algiers in 1942, and the Information and Documentation Agency (AID), created in 1944.

AFP wanted to become autonomous, rather than a semi-governmental agency. This wish was granted on January 10, 1957, thanks to the unanimous vote by parliament of a specific law on its status. The former resistant Jean Marin, first president elected according to this law, directs AFP until 1975, developing the network, the technical means and an ever wider clientele. AFP is one of the four world news agencies with the American Bloomberg, Associated Press (AP) and the British Reuters.

It is located at 11-15 Place de la Bourse, 2éme arrondissement of Paris across from the Palais Brongniart (see post), You can reach it on metro line 3 Bourse, and on bus lines 20/29/39/74/85 arrêt/stop Bourse.

The official AFP webpage in English : https://www.afp.com/en/agency/about/afp-world

There you go folks, another dandy off the beaten path monument that is right smack in a wonderful neighborhood of Paris with plenty to see, shop, and eat! Hope you enjoy the post on AFP as I. Nice to have found it indeed

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

And as the wintery weather continues chez nous ;I like to update and bring you back into my eternal Paris. There are no words to describe the city, why bothered , millions have tried and there is always something new.  And , there is always something old seldom seen or off the beaten path of Paris. This is the case of the Musée National de la Legion d’Honneur et des ordres de chevalerie, something like the National Museum of the legion of honor and the orders of chivalry. Let me tell you something about it ok.

I have to admit, never thought of coming here until my oldest son got a training job on his restaurant degree at the Maison des Polytechniciens , a very presitigious school nearby , which students often call the X , and even after trips to the Musée d’Orsay right across it, never had ventured here before. Well so much to see even if living here ,there is always more and more, more lots more to see. For info the X webpage : http://www.maisondesx.com/

The National Museum of the Legion of Honour and orders of Chivalry , a national Museum of Art and History dedicated to the orders of chivalry and merit, decorations and medals, both French and foreign. It is located in the Hotel de Salm in the 7éme arrondissement of Paris, right across from the Orsay Museum ,and school,

The museum was created on the initiative of General Dubail, Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour, and financed by an open subscription among the legionaries and military medalists, whose success was particularly keen in the United States. It was inaugurated in 1925. The initial nucleus of the collections, composed of the Grand Chancellery Fund, of National Museum deposits, have been added, over time, to numerous donations of collectors , but also donations made by foreign States in order to complete the existing collections , finally prestigious purchases and items.

The museum occupies a modern wing built between 1922 and 1925 on the site of the former stables of the Hotel de Salm, overlooking the forecourt of the Musée d’Orsay. The museum presents its permanent collections on several levels, in thematic areas dedicated to: the history of the palace and the creation of the museum, the chivalrous and religious orders, the French royal orders,  the Legion of Honor, Imperial orders and memories of the first Empire, foreign orders, and  the French orders, decorations and medals of 1789 to the present day.

It is to this day, the only museum dedicated to the Phaleristics ( an auxiliary science of history which studies orders, fraternities, and award items such as medals and other decorations).  The museum regularly organizes large-scale exhibitions, as well as exhibits of interest in orders, decorations and medals. The Phaleristics on the Legion of Honor of France: https://www.legiondhonneur.fr/fr/page/le-monde/245#continent1

Some webpages to help you plan and understand your visit here are:

The official legion of honor museum: https://www.legiondhonneur.fr/en/node/249

The Paris tourist office on the museum :https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71101/Musee-de-la-Legion-d-honneur-et-des-ordres-de-Chevalerie

The Society of Friends of the National Museum of the Legion of Honor and orders of Chivalry was founded in 1970 : https://www.amis-musee-legiondhonneur.fr/

The Association of Ancient Hereditary Honors (AHH), is a non profit association created in 1967 that brings together in a friendly circle families of which at least three consecutive generations were received in the Order of the Legion of Honor. http://www.honneurshereditaires.net/

And one very much on the museum and all over France, Napoleon’s official family webpage : https://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/places/national-museum-of-the-legion-dhonneur-and-the-order-of-knights/

There you go folks ,another nice spot to visit while in Paris, and it should be given more recognition indeed, and more it is so close to the Orsay museum , it should be a 1-2 punch with the National Legion of Honor and Chivalry museum. Hope you enjoy it as I !

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!

Now I thought had this one in my blog but after searching could not find anything, pity. It deserves to be in my blog for the memories of family walking in the Marais of Paris. The story is fascinating from the resident of a Duke , to the archieves of Paris to a Jewish museum, this is my eternal Paris. I like to tell you a bit on the old and new archieves of Paris!!

The new archives of Paris are a service of the city of Paris. They are located at 18 boulevard Sérurier, at the end of allée Marius-Barroux, in the 19éme arrondissement of Paris and have an annex ,not open to the public in Villemoisson-sur-Orge. (Essonne 91) This site is served by the metro station Porte des Lilas line 11.

The new archieves building was built in 1989, with two archive silos placed at the rear, marking the verticality, are a landmark in the landscape. Their facade is compact, in washed gravel, punctuated with small holes. To the front are several rooms accessible to the public (including a reading room) with complex geometry. This building holds the territorial archives of the city and the department of Paris (75), the archives of decentralized state services in Paris and Ile-de-France region, as well as private archives. Reading room opening hours: Monday 13h30 to 17h30, Tuesday to Friday 9h30 to 17h30, Saturday 9h30 to 17h

The official archives of Paris how to reach it : http://archives.paris.fr/a/71/venir-aux-archives-de-paris/

The interesting part here is where they were before, right in the Marais of Paris and the building I am familiar with as walked by several times, No need yet to see the archives !! On this old building at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois 3éme arrondissement, the history tells us that part of the Paris archives disappeared during the fires during the Paris Commune in May 1871, in particular most of the parish and civil status registers ranging from the 16C to 1860. After the renovation of the Hôtel de Saint -Aignan in 1978, the archives of Paris are installed there. They left it at the end of the 1990s for Boulevard Sérurier.See above.

The Hôtel de Saint-Aignan was built in 1644-1650 for Claude de Mesmes, count of Avaux, superintendent of finances of Mazarin, outside the enclosure wall of Philippe-Auguste. In 1688, the hotel was bought by Paul de Beauvilliers, Duke of Saint-Aignan,(therefore the name) who undertook a campaign of renovation and modernization. He converted the first floor into apartments and called on André Le Nôtre to redesign a French garden.

In 1792, during the French revolution, the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan was seized and placed under sequestration. It became the seat of the seventh municipality in 1795, then of the seventh arrondissement until 1823, before being divided into commercial premises of all kinds. By 1842, the hotel was devoted to commerce and small industry, where Jewish artisans who had immigrated from Poland, Romania and Ukraine then lived.  The Hôtel de Saint-Aignan was bought by the City of Paris in 1962 , and assigned to the archives of Paris (see above). A second hotel restoration campaign started in 1991. In 1998, following an initiative by Jacques Chirac when he was the mayor of Paris, the Saint-Aignan hotel was assigned to the installation of a museum dedicated to Jewish civilization: the Museum of Art and History of Judaism. For info, the official Jewish art and history museum of Paris :https://www.mahj.org/en

The Hôtel de Saint-Aignan had he usual plan of large aristocratic mansions, main building set back from the street, at the end of a large, slightly rectangular courtyard and a single wing back to the right with a large gallery upstairs. On the ground floor of the right wing were the kitchens, refurbished today to accommodate workshops, as well as the dining room, now attached to the MAHJ bookstore (the Jewish museum) , which has an exceptional fresco decor. On the left, a trompe-l’oeil facade, known as a “fox”, which in fact hides a wall resting on the outline of the enclosure wall of Philippe Auguste. On the same principle of continuity, the four facades which frame the courtyard are identical, not particularly distinguishing the main building, contrary to custom. A passage leads to the small farmyard, where sheds and stables had a direct exit onto the street.

There you go folks, a dandy story of my eternal Paris me think. One of the glorious benefits of walking the streets of the most beautiful city in the world!!! The building is nice, architecture and history galore, and the museum educational. Hope you enjoy this small tour of the off the beaten paths of my Paris.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

This is a classic building of gorgeous architecture and wonderful history I passed by it several times. See my other posts on what is on the square or Place du Général-Catroux in the 17éme arrondissement of Paris. However, let me tell you a bit of an off the beaten path monument , the banque de France in Paris!

A bit on its history I like

The Banque de France is the central bank of France. It is a bicentennial institution, with private capital when it was created on January 18, 1800 under the Consulate (Napoléon), then became the property of the French State on January 1, 1946 when it was nationalized by Charles de Gaulle. Independent since 1994, the Banque de France became a member of the Eurosystem and of the European System of Central Banks in 1999. Its three main missions are monetary strategy, financial stability and services to the economy. However, since the creation of the Eurosystem, the European Central Bank has taken on much more importance in matters of monetary strategy.

On February 13, 1800, the first General Meeting of the Bank’s shareholders was held, including the First Consul (Napoléon ), his mother, the Beauharnais and the Murats. It acquires a clientele by merging with the Caisse des comptes sociaux (social savings bank), Napoléon Bonaparte was its first shareholder, In 1811, the Banque de France set up its headquarters in the Hôtel de Toulouse, the former private mansion of the Count of Toulouse, Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, rue de la Vrillière, in the 1éme arrondissement of Paris, However, since 1997, the Banque de France can no longer be legally qualified. Indeed, it is no longer under the supervision of a French administrative authority, but of the European Central Bank, at least as regards to the metropolitan territory as well as the overseas departments and territories having the European statute of the outermost regions of the European Union.

In order to protect the gold reserves from the Nazis during WWII, they were transferred out of the headquarters in 1933, a few tons were sent to branches located near the coast, to Brest and to Toulon, then in 1938, 600 tons were transported by cruisers of the French Navy to the Federal Reserve of the United States. Finally, between May 17 and June 23, 1940, the transfer of the remaining gold which was transported by 35 convoys of 300 trucks then by ships in more than 20,000 packages and crates, mainly to Dakar, the West Indies and the Americas, The transfer of 400 tons to Canada is carried out aboard the liner SS Pasteur ,and the same ship transported to Halifax in Canada, 213 tons of the reserves of the Bank of France which are sheltered at the Royal Bank of Canada at Ottawa , Also, in June 18, 1940, 736 tons of gold reserves of the Bank of France leave from Brest towards Dakar in AOF. 275 tons of gold from the National Bank of Belgium and the Bank of Poland will join the trip aboard the auxiliary cruiser Victor-Schœlcher , The gold reserves will be repatriated to France in 1946,

Head office in Paris 39, rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs 75001 with postal address: 31, rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs 75049 Paris Cedex 01, Opening hours Monday to Tuesday: from 9h to 12h30 ; only for transactions on banknotes and collection of coins and Thursday: from 9h to 12h30 p.m, only for transactions on banknotes and collection of collector coins.

The official Banque de France : https://www.banque-france.fr

However, the most interesting thing about this post and building is the creation of the Le Cité de l’Économie or Citéco , a museum dedicated to the economy . it was open to the public on June 14, 2019 ,This educational venue, aimed at explaining the concepts and mechanisms of the economy, is funded by sponsorship from the Banque de France. It is housed in the Hotel Gaillard, located at 1, place du Général-Catroux, a historic neo-Renaissance monument, located in the 17éme arrondissement in Paris .This neo-Renaissance mansion, whose construction was completed in 1882 , The hôtel Gaillard was sold to the Banque de France in 1919 , and was the most beautiful branch of the Banque de France. I passed by it several times before the museum was open so the picture.

The Cité de l’Economie is the first museum in Europe devoted to economic mechanisms. It allows you to discover the concepts and economic issues in an interactive and fun way, through a scenographic space of 2,400 m2. This place of life and exchanges also offers thematic meetings, shows and temporary exhibitions to approach the economy differently and make it accessible to all.  The spaces that can be privatized are :

Les Toits Malesherbes or roofstop of Malesherbes, located at the top of the monument, the Toits Malesherbes consist of an interior and an exterior: a modern room divided into two zones (240 m2 + 95 m2), unfolding around a 200 m2 terrace. m2 with a view out of the ordinary.

The Salle des Coffres or vault room: thousands of safes line the walls of this room, which once housed the most valuable goods of bank branch customers. Today, it has become one of the museum’s must-see rooms, thanks to its fascinating numismatic collections. Protected by a moat and a modern drawbridge, this prestigious room is full of surprises.

The Tourelle Space or tower space: this old courtyard has been transformed into a warm interior space thanks to a contemporary glass roof. Adorned with a sublime historic turret, this room has a vast overhead light.

The Monceau Auditorium: equipped with 95 places (+ 3 places for people in wheelchairs), this modern auditorium is equipped with a video protection and sound system.

The meeting rooms ,the Chopin lounge, and the North or South workshop can be rented in combination with the other spaces. Good to know, for lovers of cultural heritage, Citéco offers tours on the history of the place and its architecture.

The official Citeco economic museum: https://www.citeco.fr/en

There you go folks, a unique monument in my eternal Paris and now open to the public with guided tours on the economic working of the European Union, educational and on a historic building to boot. Hope you enjoy the post as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

Many folks passed by the monument and try to figure who it is in Paris! There were even guessing post in a popular travel forum as to who it was! Well I happened to passed by there quite often while working in Paris, and have a picture. Enough to write this post and tell you a bit more on who was Admiral de Coligny of Paris! Oh this is in rue de Rivoli corner with rue de l’Oratoire ,1ér arrondissement, across the street from the Louvre.

And of course, as I am an amateur of history and we have plenty in our belle France; let me tell briefly on the Admiral. Hope you enjoy it as I.

Gaspard de Coligny was born in Châtillon-sur-Loing (today Châtillon-Coligny) and died in Paris, assassinated during the Saint-Barthélemy massacre. Count of Coligny, baron of Beaupont and Beauvoir, Montjuif, Roissiat, Chevignat and other places, lord of Châtillon, admiral of France, he is one of the best known members of the house of Coligny, which extincts in 1694. He is the son of Gaspard Ier de Coligny, Marshal of France under François Ier, and his wife Louise de Montmorency. He is the brother of Odet, Cardinal de Châtillon and François d’Andelot.

In 1533, the year of the schism between Rome and England, Francis I married his son Henry, the Dauphin, to Pope Clement VII’s niece, Catherine de Medici. Grateful, the Pope offered France seven cardinal positions, of which Odet de Coligny, who was barely 16, was one of the beneficiaries. During this time, Coligny continued his studies in the company of the king’s children. In 1542, the Colignys were going to make their debut. The war declared against Charles Quint, Gaspard campaigned in Luxembourg, in the County of Flanders, and in Italy where he participated in the victory without a day after Cerisoles. Peace signed with the emperor in 1544, he took part in the naval offensive commanded by Claude d’Annebault against the English. Several times wounded in these combats, he distinguished himself by his daring. Peace was signed with Henry VIII of England in 1546 leaving Coligny discharge of duties,

King Henri II had as one of his first acts to recall the uncle of Gaspard, the constable of Montmorency. Gaspard, for his part, was appointed ordinary gentleman of the king’s chamber and decorated with the Order of Saint-Michel. England was then eyeing the throne of Scotland, which Mary Stuart had inherited on the death of King James V of Scotland in 1542. A marriage with Edward VI of England, who had just succeeded Henry VIII who died in 1547, would have united the crowns of England and Scotland, which the Guises, in particular François, uncle of Marie Stuart by his sister Marie, wanted at no cost. Coligny was part of the delegation that went to London to negotiate peace. On returning to Paris, judging himself poorly rewarded for the efforts he had made in the service of the king, Coligny retired to his land and took advantage of his free time to write a very rigorous military code which aimed to moralize the behavior of the troops.  The king soon recalled him and Coligny set out again on the campaign. Removed from the siege of Metz by François de Guise, he contributed to Renty’s victory, notably seizing the Spanish artillery. He was appointed admiral of France in 1552 and governor of Picardy.  In 1557, after the breaking of the truce of Vaucelles passed with Charles Quint, the imperial army, led by the duke Emmanuel-Philibert of Savoy, besieged the city of Saint-Quentin, defended by Coligny. After long resistance, he had to surrender on September 27. The battle of Saint-Quentin was a very heavy defeat for France: it led to the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559.

At court, he urged Catherine de Medici to adopt a policy of conciliation with regard to the Reformation. Originally, very moderate in his adherence to the Protestant Reformation, he refused, out of loyalty to the king, the path of violence and condemned the conspiracy of Amboise. But, weary of court intrigues and removed from power by the Guises, he retired regularly to his home in Châtillon-sur-Loing; in this retreat, reading the books of the innovators changed his religious opinions, and at the instigation of his wife and his brother Andelot, he converted to Protestantism.

In 1562, when war broke out between the Protestant party and the Catholic party, Coligny joined forces with the Prince de Condé. Having difficulty maintaining an army, he negotiated financial aid with Queen Elizabeth I of England and was led to cede the port of Le Havre to her in the Treaty of Hampton Court. He took part in the Battle of Dreux which marked the defeat of the Protestant army against the royal army. With the authorization of King Charles IX, he chose the Huguenot captain Jean Ribault in 1562 to establish a colony in Fort Caroline, Florida (today Jacksonville) with 150 of his co-religionists. French Florida, after two unsuccessful attempts, only lived from 1562 to 1565.

And with Louis I of Condé, François de Coligny and Guyonne de Rieux, he was considered one of the instigators of the surprise of Meaux in 1567, an attempt by the Protestants to seize King Charles IX of France and the queen’s mother Catherine de Medici. The third religious war saw the defeats accumulate: first Jarnac (March 13, 1569), where Condé was assassinated. Then, despite the victory of La Roche-l’Abeille, he wasted time at the siege of Poitiers because his unpaid mercenaries wanted booty, and he had to lift the siege before being beaten and wounded at Moncontour (October 3 1569), where he was defeated by the Duke of Anjou, the future Henri III.  Coligny then fled south with his troops, escaped Monluc and Montmorency-Damville, and joined the army of viscounts in Languedoc. He was then able to regain the initiative, raised troops, plundered the Catholic villages, took Saint-Étienne, won the victory of Arnay-le-Duc and went back in 1570 to La Charité-sur-Loire, thus threatening Paris. The king yielded, and it was then the peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (August 8, 1570).

On August 22, 1572, shortly after the marriage of Henri de Navarre (future Henri IV), Charles de Louviers, Lord of Maurevert, who had killed the Calvinist leader Vaudrez de Mouy in 1569, shot and wounded Coligny from a house belonging to a faithful des Guise, the canon of Villemur, former tutor to the Duke of Guise (an assassination attempt). Having previously sent his surgeon Ambroise Paré, Charles IX, accompanied by his mother and his brother, went to the bedside of the injured, promising him justice. But the assassination of all the Protestant leaders was then decided and, on the night of August 23-24, 1572, the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre took place. Three lords ,the Duke of Guise, the Duke of Aumale and the half-brother of King Henri, Grand Prior of France were responsible for organizing the assassination of the admiral at his home, at 144 rue de Béthisy. Coligny was finished off in his bed, with a dagger, by Charles Danowitz dit Besme, a captain from Bohemia; his body was thrown out the window, gutted, emasculated and beheaded in the courtyard, again by Besme. The body was then carried to the Seine river, before being dragged through the streets by children and then hanged from the gallows of Montfaucon, place of ordinary executions, where it was exhibited, hanged by the feet.

The axis of the Louvre Oratory passes through the center of the square courtyard. At the beginning of the 17C, Louis XIII realized that the Louvre, under construction, did not have a chapel. He then came up with the idea of ​​having this role play in the church that Jacques Lemercier was building for the Order of the Oratory. The church and the palace were ultimately never reunited. Under Napoleon I, the chapel will become a Protestant temple, but its name, Temple of the Oratory and its orientation recalls its historical link with the Louvre. One of the best known members of the illustrious house of Coligny. Gaspard Ier de Coligny, Marshal of France under François Ier, and his wife Louise de Montmorency. He is the brother of Odet, Cardinal de Châtillon and François d’Andelot. In his honor was inaugurated, on July 24, 1889, the statue of the Admiral, erected, rue de Rivoli, at the bedside of the Oratory of the Louvre, a former Roman Catholic church made available to the Reformation cult. by Napoleon I on February 23, 1811.

Gaspard first married, in 1547, Charlotte de Laval, daughter of Count Guy XVI of Laval, in the chapel of the castle of Montmuran in Ille-et-Vilaine (dept35). Charlotte de Laval died in 1568. They had eight children including: Louise de Coligny, wife of Charles de Téligny, then William I of Orange-Nassau, stadtholder of Holland, mother of Frédéric-Henri of Orange-Nassau; François de Coligny, Charles de Coligny, who became Catholic and joined the League camp. In his second marriage, on March 25, 1571 in La Rochelle, he married Jacqueline de Montbel, Countess of Entremont and of Nottage. He died assassinated in 1572, while Jacqueline was pregnant with Béatrice, who was born 4 months after the death of her father.

The Oratory of the Louvre on monument to Coligny : https://oratoiredulouvre.fr/index.php/patrimoine/visites/exterieur-de-loratoire-du-louvre-au-xxie-siecle/le-monument-de-lamiral-gaspard-de-coligny

The Musée d’Orsay to our great men, on Coligny: https://anosgrandshommes.musee-orsay.fr/index.php/Detail/objects/5058

The Paris tourist office on the oratory of the Louvre: https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71938/%C3%89glise-r%C3%A9form%C3%A9e-de-l%27Oratoire-du-Louvre

There you go folks, a dandy in my Paris,and now you know the story. I love these spots all over Paris; they are just so many will need time and space! Hope you enjoy the post on the monument to Coligny, and do stop by it while in Paris; its a great area!

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!