What to do on a rainy Tuesday in Paris when many of the major museums are closed? Find one that is open that is not only close by but also free. I went to the musée Carnavalet, which is not a carnival museum as the name implies, but rather a history of Paris set up in two mansion houses in the Marais. Some of the paintings of everyday life in Paris (like the one above) were stunning, and there was a whole floor dedicated to the French Revolution. I learned what the Bastille looked like (one of the most popular monuments in Paris that isn't there any more confounding many tourists).
And I started to learn more about what happened to the French royals in the time between the revolution and their famous deaths at the guillotine. And them got more confused as the revolutionaries themselves were executed. More questions. Luckily, there was a walking tour today with Paris Walks highlighting the places in the Latin Quarter important to the revolution. Here is our little crowd braving the rain. My umbrella sprang a spoke 2 minutes into the tour. D'oh!
The tour was entertaining and very informative. I learned that one of the causes that sparked the revolution was a sudden change in the weather patterns as a result of a volcanic eruption in Iceland which weakened the grain harvest and made bread scarce. Combine reduced supply with a deregulation of the price of grain implemented by Louis XVI and suddenly much of France is starving. Apparently there is still a French law that requires bakeries to register their holidays with the local prefecture so they can coordinate the bakery closures and no Parisien will go without his or her baguette. Failure to register your closure will cost you 11 euros a day in fines. Luckily for the bakers France abolished the use of the guillotine in - my goodness a quick Wikipedia check - not until 1981! Paris and I expect much of the rest of France is still fueled on baguettes. I know I am when I am here!
Other interesting tidbit on the tour was one of the original metre measurement standards on a wall of what was the Luxembourg prison during the Revolution and is now the French Senate building. The metric system was introduced by the revolutionaries. Luckily their other idea to decimalize time never caught on.
Well there was lots more interesting stuff, but that's enough French history today. If you want to hear the rest, you'll have to come to Paris and take the tour.
Tomorrow it's back to French opulence with a tour of the Beaux-Arts splendor of the Palais Garnier opera house and a visit to the art nouveau Galeries Lafayette. Hopefully my shoes will have dried out by then! I'd rather not have to tromp around the opera house in my waterproof sandals.
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