An Introduction to Paris: Thursday, July 19, 2010
After an eight and a half hour flight from Dallas, our group landed in Paris at Charles DeGalle Airport northwest of the city center. The trip into Place d’Itale where our hotel was located took another forty minutes by train and subway. The subway system in Paris isn’t traveler friendly for those lugging suitcases and backpacks up and down stairs to the various levels. At least on the way out of the stations there are escalators that help a bit.
Once we checked in to the Hotel Mercure Place d’Itale, our home base for the next five days, we met in the lobby to begin our journey of art and architecture through the City of Lights.
Upon emerging from the Metro to our first site as I saw the architecture all I could say was “WOW!” During the 1850s and 1860s, Napoleon III rebuilt Paris into the city that we see today.
Our first video set up found us at the Pont Alexandre III. Here Jerry Hansen shared information on the importance of this bridge. “It was built between 1896 and 1900 to celebrate the alliance between the Russians and the French…On the pylons on the right bank are representations of medieval France, while on the pylons on the left bank are statues of Renaissance France and the France of Louis XIV.” (Note: Any quotation in my blog entries are direct quotes from the World Foundations 2010 Faculty Inservice Trip guide booklet compiled by Jerry Hansen.) Many of these statues atop the pylons are in gold and were astounding to see through the viewfinder in the shimmering afternoon sun with a gorgeous blue sky. A videographer couldn’t have asked for a better day to shoot video!
After recording Jerry’s video introduction to the bridge, I spent some time shooting closeups of the various things he talked about. One thing a videographer must do, especially when working by yourself, is pay close attention to what is being said by your talent so you can enhance their narration with visuals for the intended audience.
At the western end of the bridge we found ourselves at our second location. Here David Peck and I recorded a short video intro to the Hotel des Invalides. This Baroque complex includes “the Dome and the Church of Saint Louis that stretch between Palace Vauban and the Esplanade des Invalides…It’s construction in 1671 was designed as a refuge for old and invalid soldiers who were often forced to beg for a living. It was finished in 1676.”
Shortly after shooting David’s intro, we encountered our first dilemma with shooting video on our trip. Around the entire complex is a small retaining wall that is approximately two feet in height. Just inside the retaining wall is a moat that must be about ten feet in width. Next is another two-foot tall retaining wall. Many museums and other historical sites where you must pay a fee to enter will not allow you to shoot video with or without a tripod. Such was the case at Les Invalides. We could shoot all the video that we wanted outside the exterior retaining wall, but not from inside the interior retaining wall some ten feet closer to the complex. It seemed like a ridiculous rule to me since we were able to get what we wanted whether we were inside or outside of the zone that was designated for shooting video.
Inside the complex a visitor will find the French military museum with artifacts on display from all of the various wars that France has been involved in. But the most interesting is the Dome and Church of Saint Louis. Here many important French military leaders like Foch are buried. It was Foch who stated that the Treaty of Versailles was just a twenty-year cease-fire agreement and that the world would be at war again in twenty years. Foch was correct as in 1939 Hitler invaded Poland with threw the world in World War II.
The most important homage to a French leader found the the Church of Saint Louis is the tomb of Napoleon I, better known to Americans as Napoleon Bonaparte. If you read British history, Napoleon is not discussed in an admiring light. But to France, Napoleon is the great leader who brings France out of their Revolution and into the modern age. A rotunda of numerous bas-reliefs surrounds the unmarked sarcophagus where Napoleon had been laid to rest.
After our time at Les Invalides, it was time to walk over to the Eiffel Tower. “The Eiffel Tower was built in for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889 commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution.” As to be expected, large crowds were gathered around the tower’s base providing a party-like atmosphere. The lines to take the stairs or elevator up the tower were extremely long so we paused long enough to take photos. Due to its height it was impossible to shoot video of the tower. From a distance I didn’t think that the Eiffel Tower was all that tall. I could see it from the window of my hotel room. But when you get up close you realize the enormity of it.
The tower is 1,050 feet tall and is painted every seven years. It was in the process of being painted during our visit. From what I understand, it takes two years to paint the tower using 40 tons of paint. As we walked further to the north towards the Seine River it was easier to get a photograph of the tower, but still too close to shoot video.
On the spur of the moment we decided to take an hour-long tour boat cruise up and down the Seine. This open-air environment allowed we to shoot a lot of establishing shots of important Parisian landmarks (The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, The Louvre) that undoubtedly will be used in the classroom videos we are creating.
It was getting dark and most of us were extremely tired. Personally, I had been up for almost thirty-six hours and needed some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be another long but fruitful day.
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