quelques perles que je recommande ...

When you live in a City that is full of “Bling, Bling” you sometimes forget to notice the gems that can standout just as much – if you take the time to find them.

Paris is known for many “have to do’s” such as la Tour Eiffel, les Champs-Elysées, Notre-Dame de Paris, Sacré-Cœur Basilica, musée d'Orsay, Château de Versailles,  and le Louvre, and yes you must see these absolutely mind boggling sights – but, truly … once you’ve seen le Louvre you never need to go back …. The Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) painted by da Vinci (1503 – 1506) is disappointing – it is small, dark and nothing really stands out about it … yet the statue known as ‘Venus de Milo’ (real name is: Aphrodite of Milos) is breath taking, especially knowing that it was created between 130 – 100 BC.

I’m finding the gems not on the tourist “beaten path” the most enjoyable, so I thought I’d share some of them with you.

 

Le Musée de l'Orangerie

This museum isn’t an ‘unknown’ museum, but I’ve yet to have anyone say they wish to visit it – and it has become one of my favorite museums!

Housed in which was once l’orangerie in the jardin du palais des Tuileries (the ‘Tuileries Palace’ – now known as le Louvre, near Place de la Concord  where King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were beheaded during the French Revolution, ending the rule of France by royals) is an art gallery of impressionist  and post-impressionist paintings.

It is most famous for being the permanent home for eight Water Lilies murals by Claude Monet, the museum also contains works by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Rousseau, Alfred Sisley, Chaim Soutine, and Maurice Utrillo, among others.

 

Water Lilies - Claude Monet

 

Le Musée de la préfecture de police
This museum is located in the 5^th arrondissement on the 3^rd floor of the Police Department (Hôtel de police) and it is free.

The history of law enforcement (in its many forms) is found in this museum – starting in 1254 with the creation of “the night Watch and the night Watch knights” whose motto “Vigilat ut quiescant” (He’s watching so they rest) is still the current motto of the police Préfecture.

In 1667 King Louis XIV created the Lieutenancy General of Police (lieutenance générale de police) for special issues of security and public order within Paris. It was disbanded at the start of the French Revolution in 1789, and was replaced by the current Préfecture de Police created by Napoléon I on February 17, 1800.

The museum has the various uniforms from throughout the centuries, maps of Paris from the different times, many documents – including arrest warrants, a guillotine, the instruments of Alphonse Bertillion – who founded in 1883 the ‘Bertillion system’ to identify individuals (suspects) adopted throughout Europe and the United States and still used up to 1970, various crime weapons, histories of notorious French criminals, as well as the influence on the police department during the various wars including the French Revolution and the occupation by the Nazi’s.

Police Museum

 

When you visit, and enter the Police Department – on the ground floor – see if “Toff” is working the front desk. If so, identify yourself as a police officer (or retired police officer) if you are, or if not, tell him you know me. He is the nicest person I’ve met so far in France! And, as a bonus – he speaks English.

 

Le Musée national de Céramique-Sèvres

The real name of this museum is Sèvres – Cité de la céramique (Sèvres City of Ceramics) created from the merger of the Musée national de Céramique-Sèvres and the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres.

The museum, opened in 1824 was the first museum dedicated to fine ceramic arts in the world. The goal was to collect and study fine ceramics from all over the world and this is evident by the display of ceramics from every corner and time period of the world: antiquities (a piece from Cyprus: 1300 BC), Islam countries (Iran: 1311), Asian countries (China: 10^th century), the Americas (Mexico: 1600’s), Renaissance (Italy: 1575) … as well as those ceramics made in France and other European countries.

On display is dinnerware used by Kings and Queens, vases, and statuary … both old and contemporary designs are on display. Below is a picture I took of a candelabra that is about 7 feet tall – the absolute beauty in the detail of the statuary was stunning to me.

 

Ceramic Candelabra - so delicate, so beautiful 

 

Le Musée des arts et métiers

The Museum of Arts and Crafts is an industrial design museum in Paris that houses the collection of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (National Conservatory of Arts and Industry), which was founded in 1794 as a repository for the preservation of scientific instruments and inventions.

Among its collection is an original version of the Foucault pendulum, the original model of the Statue of Liberty by Auguste Bartholdi, some of the first planes (Clément Ader's Avion III, Louis Blériot's Blériot XI, Blaise Pascal's Pascaline (the first mechanical calculator).The museum presents seven different collections: Scientific Instruments, Materials, Energy, Mechanics, Construction, Communication, and Transportation.

It was fascinating seeing the scientific instruments, some from before 1750 … along with the communications area where a printing press (1750) was located, to a ‘modern’ color television (one of the first) to a CRAY supercomputer to satellites sent into space.  An interesting museum.

 

 

Le Musée Carnavalet

OMG!!!! This museum is the gem of all gems to visit. It is dedicated to the history of Paris and it houses collections tracing the development of the city from prehistoric times to the present day. A huge selection of works of art, mementos and scale models on display show how the city looked in different eras.

There is a “sign gallery” showing the signs spanning from the 16^th to the 20^th centuries. Shopkeepers, whose customers were often illiterate, attracted the attention of customers by using picture signs. The chat noir cabaret sign hung at the foot of the Butte de Montmartre hill in 1881.

Le Chat Noir Cabaret

 

Paris in the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th centuries have rooms recreated from former Kings – in particular King Louis XVI. There is also a cabinet of items belonging to Queen Marie Antoinette. I’m currently reading a book by Madame Campan “Memoirs of the Court of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France: Being the Historic Memoirs of Madame Campan, First Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen”, which made seeing the items related to Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI all the more meaningful to me.

There are rooms dedicated to the French Revolution, the Second Empire and the Third Republic. Leading into the 20^th century where there is a room that recreates the bedroom of Marcel Proust.

 

Queen Marie Antoinette Personal Items

 

Le Train Bleu

Le Train Bleu ("The Blue Train") is a restaurant located in the hall of the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris, France. The restaurant has served drinks and meals to travelers and other guests since 1901 in an ornately decorated setting. Initially called "Buffet de la Gare de Lyon", it was renamed "Le Train Bleu" in 1963, after the famous train of the same name.

There are 41 paintings, each of which portrays a different scene from the beautiful sites along the old railway network or famous events of the 1900’s.

 

Le Train Bleu Restaurant - Gare de Lyon, Paris

 

rue Crémieux

In the 12^th arrondissement, a beautiful pedestrian street with colorful houses (so un-Parisian). 

 

Colorful Houses - reminds me of the "Painted Ladies" in San Francisco

 

It is named after Adolphe Crémieux (1796-1880), lawyer and politician, member of the Gouvernement de la défense nationale.  He is also the author of a famous decree of 1870 which gave French nationality to Jews in Algeria.

beautifully painted tree on the front of the house

 

Not only are the houses colorful, some have additional interesting painted additions such as a blossoming tree on the front of the house, a bird in flight, and a cat leaping from a window sill towards geese on the floor below. Every time I see these houses I think of the “painted ladies” in San Francisco.

the cat jumping towards the geese

 

Two Oldest Houses

The two oldest houses in Paris are in Le Marias district, the historical heart of the capital (the 3^rd arrondissement).

The oldest house in Paris is located at 51 rue de Montmorency.

The rue de Montmorency was named in 1768 after the Montmorency family, prominent residents of Le Marais during the Renaissance period. The Montmorency family is one of the oldest and most distinguished families in France, derived from the city of Montmorency, now in the Val-d'Oise département, about 9 miles (15 km) northwest of Paris. As the Montmorency was a noble family, the street lost its name at the French Revolution. Therefore, it was known between the end of the French Revolution and 1806 as the rue de la Réunion.

The house of Nicolas Flamel was built in 1407 by Nicolas Flamel himself and still stands, the oldest stone house in Paris, at 51 rue de Montmorency. The ground floor, always a tavern, currently houses the Auberge Nicolas Flamel (a restaurant). Nicolas Flamel, a scrivener and manuscript-seller who developed a reputation as an alchemist, claimed that he made the Philosopher's Stone which turns lead into gold, and that he and his wife Pernelle achieved immortality.

On the facade of the building you can still read this inscription: "Nous homes et femes laboureurs demourans ou porche de ceste maison qui fut faite en l'an de grâce mil quatre cens et sept somes tenus chascun en droit soy dire tous les jours une paternostre et un ave maria en priant Dieu que sa grâce face pardon aus povres pescheurs trespasses Amen" ("We, ploughmen and women living at the porch of this house, built in 1407, are requested to say every day an 'Our Father' and an 'Ave Maria' praying God that His grace forgive poor and dead sinners").

 

Oldest house in Paris - Le Marias

 

The second oldest house in Paris is located at 3 rue Volta.

While the house dates to 1644, the street was named well after that time (I don’t know the name of the street when the house was built). Currently, the ground floor is a Chinese restaurant.

Rue Volta was named after the Italian-born Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (1745-1827). He was a physicist, and while professor at the University of Pavia in Italy, his experiments with gases led to his discovery of methane and that its ignition produces an electric spark. The world volt for a unit of electricity derives from his name – Volta. He also invented the battery in 1800. In 1810 Napolèon brought him to Paris and made him a count, but in 1819, at 74 years old, he returned to Italy where he would die. This Paris street was named after him in 1851.

Second oldest house in Paris - Le Marias District

Note: There are older buildings in Paris, such as Notre-Dame de Paris which was started in 1163 (there is still a wall and door from that time period), and La Sorbonne (opened in 1150, it is the second oldest University in the world) was completed in 1257.

 

Dancing on the Quai Saint-Bernard

Every evening, from June until the end of August, hundreds of dancers gather spontaneously at the Jardin Tino Rossi, on the Quai Saint-Bernard. The night I walked by I saw a number of different areas dedicated to dance, with the music genres of Swing, Samba, Tango and Celtic playing. Good thing there wasn’t any Country/Western playing – or I might have embarrassed the friend I was with and started dancing myself!

The Jardin Tino Rossi combines a promenade along the Seine and an open-air museum of late 20th century sculpture. In the 19th century, the site of the Jardin Tino-Rossi, on the quai Saint-Bernard in the 5th arrondissement, had been the place where wine barrels were unloaded from barges for sale at the nearby Halle aux vins. In 1975 it was decided to make the quai into a promenade, featuring rows of trees planted along the quai in the 19th century, and a series of small garden amphitheaters by the edge of the water. In 1980, a more ambitious element was added; an outdoor sculpture garden featuring over fifty works by late 20th-century sculptors, including Alexander Calder, Constantin Brancusi, and Jean Arp.

 

 

Dancing at the Jardin Tino Rossi

 

Lorsque vous visitez Paris - chercher les joyaux inconnus ....

 

 

 

Fromage, fromage et plus de fromage

“A meal without cheese is like a day without sunshine” – French proverb

 

"Comment voulez-vous gouverner un pays qui a deux cent quarante-six variétés de fromage?" (How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?) – French President Charles de Gaulle, 1962.

Street Market "Fromager"

France can be traced back to the Iron Age (approx. 1200 BC – 700 AD) when inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area, now known as Metropolitan France, was annexed in 51 BC by the Roman Empire, which was held Gaul until 486 AD when the Germanic Franks conquered the region and formed the Kingdom of France. In the Late Middle Ages, after its’ victory in the Hundred Years’ War (1337 – 1453), France emerged as a major European power. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a global colonial empire was established, which by the 20^th century would be the second largest in the world. (reference: Wikipedia)

Tradition – (noun). “ 1. the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice, 2. something that is handed down, 3. a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting, 4. a continuing pattern of culture beliefs or practices, 5. a customary or characteristic method or manner”  (reference: Dictionary.com)

There are unwritten, unspoken rules – traditions – regarding French cheese etiquette. Le fromage – its consumption is one of the “Big 3”, along with pain (bread – think baguette) and vin (wine), cultural aspects that define ‘the French’.

According to a 2013 report by the International Dairy Federation, the French eat – per person – 25.9 kg of cheese per year (nearly half a kilogram per week), the Americans eat 15.4 kg and the British 11.6 kg.

There’s a certain etiquette (tradition) to be observed when serving and eating cheese in France (taken from an article in The Local):

1. Cheese is not an appetizer. First of all, serving cheese as an appetizer before dinner like Americans often do is unheard of in France. And you won't see it on a cocktail stick with a pickled onion and tomato. In fact serving cheese at any time of the day or night is a non non (no-no). Just stick to its’ allotted slot in a meal which is....

2. Before dessert. In the UK, finishing a meal with cheese and grapes is quite common, but in France they wouldn't finish a meal with cheese and their reasoning is sound. Just think how smelly some of their most famous fromages are. Imagine all your dinner guests continuing to debate the invasion of English into the French language with deathly Camembert breath. They'd be laid out on the floor. That is why the French always follow cheese with some kind of dessert, which could even be grapes. So don't serve them together.

3. Not a cracker in sight. The French will think you're crackers, if you serve the cheese with anything other than bread. Although it doesn't always have to be baguette. They believe that crackers take away from the taste of the cheese. So keep your selection box well-hidden for when you're on your own.

4. Save a bottle of red. It would be a major faux pas if you had gone through all your vin rouge and had no red left for the cheese course. In general red wine is served with cheese in France, though not always. What wine to pair with what cheese is a whole new subject that can be saved for another rainy day, but often pairing a wine with a cheese from the same region is one way to do it. Another is just to experiment, though the French tend to stick to what they know, which is red.

5. Like wine, cheese needs to breathe. Cheese that has been cooped up in its wrapping in the fridge is not immediately ready to be eaten. Instead, take out the cheese and prepare it on a plate at least an hour before it’s meant to be eaten. Room temperature is where those delicious aromas and flavors really thrive.

6. Odd is better than even. If you’re the one putting together the cheese plate, keep in mind that there should always be an odd number of cheeses, for aesthetic purposes. And in order to maintain balance in the universe, there should be a minimum of three varieties: a soft cheese, a hard cheese, and one blue or goat cheese.

7. Cutting the cheese. Cutting French cheese, one of the most crucial aspects of cheese behavior, is a matter of geometry and manners. There is a right way and a wrong way, and it all depends on the shape.

For round cheeses, it’s pretty straightforward: pie slices, about the thickness of a pencil. For log-shaped goat cheese, go for parallel slices. For square cheeses, triangles are the way to go. For a rectangular cheese like Comté, just cut slices parallel to the rind. Those pyramid-shaped cheeses should be cut into one slice and then halved again. For wedges of Brie, don’t cut off “the nose” — the tip of the cheese closest to the center that holds the most flavor. Instead cut along the side of the wedge so that others can have a taste of the most flavorful part. The same goes for Roquefort. If you take all the flavorsome mold in the middle, it will bring a swift end to the entente cordiale. Cut in a diagonal shape, so you get a lot of the side and just a little of the middle.

You might wonder why your host wouldn’t pre-slice the cheese to save foreign guests the headache and panic of wondering how to do it, but that would be compromising the moisture and flavor of the cheese, an obvious faux pas.

Additionally, never – never take more than 3 pieces of cheese no matter how many different types of cheese are on the serving platter.

8. Small piece of bread, small piece of cheese. Don’t go plopping a whole wedge of cheese on a hunk of bread like some kind of savage. Think small piece of bread, small piece of cheese. Just gently place the morsel of cheese on the bite-sized morsel of baguette. And resist the urge to spread the cheese — it’s not Nutella.

9. Mildest to strongest. When eating your cheese, start with a milder one and work your way up to the smelliest of the bunch. For example: start with Brie, move on to the goat cheese, then the blue, then the Camembert. That way your taste buds will still be able to appreciate the mild Brie as well as the stinky Camembert.

10. Don’t mix the cheeses. For the love of all things cheesy, if there’s no designated knife for each fromage, wipe the knife off on a piece of bread when you’re moving from cheese to cheese. Nobody likes cheese cross-contamination.

11. To rind or not to rind? Actually, even French people can’t seem to agree on whether or not to consume the croûte, so you (probably) won’t embarrass yourself either way. If you want to eat the rind, go ahead and eat it. And if you don’t, that’s fine too. Follow your heart or your stomach.

12. Don’t you dare store cheese in plastic wrap. Storing it in plastic wrap will suffocate that poor cheese. The best way to keep cheese fresh is to keep it in a cheese bag (what, you don’t have any cheese bags?) which allows the cheese to breathe and regular humidity. If you don’t have any cheese bags around, you can resort to wrapping the leftover cheese in wax paper and then loosely in plastic wrap. 

So there you have it, the rules of fromage.

 

There are three types of fromage – cow, goat and sheep – classified under four categories:

·        Fermier: a farmhouse cheese, which is produced on the farm where the milk is produced.

·        Artisanal: a producer producing cheese in relatively small quantities using milk from their own farm, but may also purchase milk from local farms.

·        Coopérative: a dairy with local milk producers in an area that have joined to produce cheese. In larger coopératives quantities of cheese produced may be relatively large, akin to some industriel producers (many may be classed as factory-made).

·        Industriel: a factory-made cheese from milk sourced locally or regionally, perhaps all over France.

Traditionally, there are from 350 to 450 distinct types of French cheese grouped into eight categories 'les huit familles de fromage' (the eight families of cheese). There can be many varieties within each type of cheese, leading some to claim closer to 1,000 different types of French cheese.  Fifty-six cheeses are classified, protected, and regulated under French law.

Below is information regarding three top French cheeses – and following rule 6 above – a soft cheese, a hard cheese, and a ‘blue’ cheese.

Camembert 

Camembert  is a soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century at Camembert, Normandy in northern France. "Camembert de Normandie" is required by law to be made only with unpasteurized milk from "Vaches Normandes" cows.

The cheese is made by inoculating warmed milk with mesophilic bacteria, then adding rennet and allowing the mixture to coagulate. The curd is then cut into roughly 1 cm (1/2 inch) cubes, salted, and transferred to low cylindrical camembert molds. The molds are turned every six to twelve hours to allow the whey to drain evenly from the cut curds; after 48 hours, each mold contains a flat, cylindrical, solid cheese mass weighing generally 250 grams (about 9 oz). At this point the fresh cheese is hard, crumbly, and bland.

The surface of each cheese is then sprayed with an aqueous suspension of the mold Penicillium camemberti, and the cheeses are left to ripen for a legally required minimum of three weeks. This affinage produces the distinctive bloomy, edible rind and creamy interior texture characteristic of the cheese. Once the cheeses are sufficiently ripe, they are wrapped in paper and may be placed in wooden boxes for transport.

Comte

 

Comté (formerly Gruyère de Comté) is a hard French cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Comté has the highest production of all French AOC cheeses, around 40,000 tons annually.

The cheese is made in flat circular discs, each between 40 cm (16 in) and 70 cm (28 in) in diameter, and around 10 cm (4 in) in height. The rind is usually a dusty-brown color, and the internal pâte is a pale creamy yellow. The texture is relatively hard and flexible, and the taste is strong and slightly sweet.

Fresh from the farm, milk is poured into large copper vats where it is gently warmed. Each cheese requires up to 600 litres (160 US gal) of milk. Rennet is added, causing the milk to coagulate. The curds are then cut into tiny white grains that are the size of rice or wheat which are then stirred before being heated again for around 30 minutes. The contents are then placed into molds and the whey is pressed out. After several hours the mold is opened and left to mature in cellars, first for a few weeks at the dairy, and then over several months elsewhere.

The manufacture of Comté has been controlled by AOC regulations since it became one of the first cheeses to receive AOC recognition in 1958, with full regulations introduced in 1976. The AOC regulations for Comté prescribe:

·        Only milk from Montbéliarde or French Simmental cows (or cross breeds of the two) is permitted.

·        There must be no more than 1.3 cows per hectare of pasture.

·        Fertilization of pasture is limited, and cows may only be fed fresh, natural feed, with no silage.

·        The milk must be transported to the site of production immediately after milking.

·        Renneting must be carried out within a stipulated time after milking, according to the storage temperature of the milk.

·        The milk must be used raw. Only one heating of the milk may occur, and that must be during renneting. It may be heated to no more than 40 °C (104 °F).

·        Salt may only be applied directly to the surface of the cheese.

·        A casein label containing the date of production must be attached to the side of the cheese, and maturing must continue for at least four months.

·        No grated cheese may be sold under the Comté name.

Roquefort

 

Roquefort  is a sheep milk blue cheese from the south of France, and together with Bleu d'Auvergne, Stilton, and Gorgonzola is one of the world's best known blue cheeses. Though similar cheeses are produced elsewhere, EU law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may bear the name Roquefort, as it is a recognized geographical indication, or has a protected designation of origin.

The cheese is white, tangy, crumbly and slightly moist, with distinctive veins of blue mold. It has characteristic odor and flavor with a notable taste of butyric acid; the blue veins provide a sharp tang. It has no rind; the exterior is edible and slightly salty. A typical wheel of Roquefort weighs between 2.5 and 3 kilograms (5.5 and 6.6 pounds), and is about 10 cm (4 inches) thick. Each kilogram of finished cheese requires about 4.5 liters (1.2 U.S. gal) of milk to produce. Roquefort is known in France as the king of cheeses.

The mold that gives Roquefort its distinctive character (Penicillium roqueforti) is found in the soil of the local caves. Traditionally, the cheesemakers extracted it by leaving bread in the caves for six to eight weeks until it was consumed by the mold. The interior of the bread was then dried to produce a powder. In modern times, the mold can be grown in a laboratory, which allows for greater consistency. The mold may either be added to the curd or introduced as an aerosol through holes poked in the rind.

Roquefort is made entirely from the milk of the Lacaune, Manech and Basco-Béarnaise breeds of sheep. The cheese is produced throughout the département of Aveyron and part of the nearby départements of Aude, Lozère, Gard, Hérault and Tarn.

The regulations that govern the production of Roquefort have been laid down over a number of decrees by the INAO. These include:

·        All milk used must be delivered at least 20 days after lambing has taken place.

·        The sheep must be on pasture, whenever possible, in an area including most of Aveyron and parts of neighboring départements. At least 3/4 of any grain or fodder fed must come from the area.

·        The milk must be whole, raw (not heated above 34 °C; 93.2 °F), and unfiltered except to remove macroscopic particles.

·        The addition of rennet must occur within 48 hours of milking.

·        The Penicillium roqueforti used in the production must be produced in France from the natural caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon.

·        The salting process must be performed using dry salt.

·        The whole process of maturation, cutting, packaging and refrigeration of the cheese must take place in the commune of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon.

As of 2009, there are seven Roquefort producers. Around three million cheeses were made in 2005 (18,830 tons) making it, after Comté, France's second most popular cheese.

(reference: Wikipedia)

 

Street Market "Fromager"

 

 

Mangez du fromage !

 

 

 

 

 

Championnat d'Europe de football 2016

Glass Bottle Recycle Bin - Decorated as a Football

 

(NOTE: Click on photo for large size in a separate window)

France is the host this year of the Championnat d'Europe de football 2016 (2016 UEFA European Championship) the 15^th addition of the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe organized by UEFA, from June 10^th to July 10^th. There are 10 cities throughout France where the games will be played: Bordeaux, Lens, Lillie, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Etenne, and Toulouse.

Fifty three teams competed for the 24 slots, which was an increase from the 16 teams for the past championship games. The teams playing this year are: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and Wales.

The winning team earns rights to compete at the 2017 FIFA Confederation Cup hosted by Russia.

Each host city has erected a “Fan Zone” where giant TV’s are so that football fans who do not have tickets to the stadiums can watch the games. It is estimated that during the entire event there will be 7 to 8 million spectators at the “Fan Zones” and 2.5 million in the stadiums. The “Fan Zones” range is ‘spectator size’ from 10,000 to 92,000 (Paris) fans.

Fan Zone - Paris

 

In Paris, the “Fan Zone” is located at the foot of the Tour Eiffel on the Champ de Mars, encompassing the entire park. The Champ de Mars is a large public greenspace between the Eiffel Tower and the École Militaire. The park is named after the Campus Martius ("Mars Field") in Rome, a tribute to the Latin name of the Roman God of war. The name also alludes to the fact that the lawns here were formerly used as drilling and marching grounds by the French military. The park is approx. 2,600 feet (9 American football fields) in length and approx. 840 feet (3 American football fields) in width.

Champ de Mars - from Eiffel Tower looking towards Ecole Militaire (building at the end of the grass)

 

During the month it will only be closed on the days that the games are not broadcast on television – otherwise it will be open from noon, 3:00pm or 4:00pm (depending what time the games begin) to midnight. The TV screen is the world’s biggest outdoor screen at 420m2 (4,520 square feet), with additional smaller screens set up within the venue. There are also restaurants, food stands, entertainment, concert stage and a soccer field within the “Fan Zone”.

"Fan Zone" Layout

 

A high priority during the championship games is security  – not only for these games but France is also in the running for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games and this event can/will showcase France’s ability to provide security for such a large event. (Note: France has hosted these championship games twice in the past).

Security has been on the minds of the French, particularly in Paris, throughout 2015 – starting the year (January) with the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack and closing the year (November) with the multi-location terrorist attacks leaving 130 dead and scores injured. The first and last games of this championship are being held at the Stade de France, located just outside of Paris proper in Saint-Denis, which was one of the locations of the November 13^th terrorist attacks. Since November, France has been under “State of Emergency” allowing police greater latitude in their police powers. Terrorist groups, in particular DAESH, have declared France as their number one target for attacks. Because of that threat, along with the attacks that happened in 2015, both the United States and Great Britain’s Department of State issued travel alerts regarding potential terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including mentioning these championship games.

Since I have lived here, I have been truly impressed by the security measures taken by the police (Prefecture de Police, Police Nationale and the Gendarmerie), as well as the military. For these championship games France has tasked over 90,000 security staff to the 10 cities involved. This security staff includes 42,000 police, 30,000 gendarmeries, 10,000 soldiers, and 13,000 private security.

Motor Cops on La Motte-Picquet

Many of you know that I live close to the Champ de Mars/Tour Eiffel, it is only approx. 700 feet to the intersection where the Champ de Mars begins in front of the École Militaire - because of that my neighborhood is directly affected by the “Fan Zone”.

"Fan Zone"

 

At first I was a bit concerned at having the “Fan Zone” – on two levels: 1) the heightened probability that a terrorist attack will occur, and 2) the noise of the footballs fans lasting all night, every night into the wee hours.

I’ll address number 2 first. On Thursday, the 9^th, there was a free concert at the venue so that the security measures could be tested out. 80,000 people attended. From my apartment I could, sometimes, hear music or a drum beat – but it was muted, I have no idea what kind of music it was. Occasionally I could hear someone talking on a microphone but again it was muted. This was with my windows closed, with them open it was a bit noisier. So I expected that I’d be having a bit of disturbance during the entire championship. Then yesterday, the 10^th, the opening game of the series was played, with France being one of the teams. I was surprised that I only notice 3 or 4 times a roar of noise – I know that at least 3 of those times points were scored (by France, they won) – other than that it was quiet …. And I don’t even think the roars came from the “Fan Zone”, it sounded to close – I think it was from people at the two café’s on the corner of my street. So hopefully I’m not writing this prematurely but it looks like I won’t be living in what I’m calling “football hell” for the next month.

Now to address number 1 – as I’ve mentioned above I’m quite impressed with the security via the different police agencies and the military because of the attacks last year. So, I decided I was going to walk around my neighborhood and go to the Champ de Mars and the Tour Eiffel to see what extra measures they took for this event. I had already received a letter from my local Mairie (like a Mayor – for the 15^th arrondissement only) about the event. It was quite an interesting letter because there was nothing ‘politically correct’ about it – it was written in expected French style (known for saying what they think – people don’t get their feelings hurt here if they don’t agree on a topic) clearly delineating that they had tried to move the event from the Champ de Mars to a different stadium due to the terrorist risk factors and the good chance that after the games there could be crime committed by “hooligans (I loved that one), thugs, gangs and demonstrators/rioters” but the main Prefecture de Police refused to relocate the “Fun Zone”. It went on to say that the streets would be secured and everyone would have to show ID and proof of residency at these secure points – to keep non-residents from the area (so far I haven’t had to show either).

 

The Google Map below shows the Tour Eiffel south of the Rive Seine, which has fenced off all general pedestrian traffic and only those who purchase tickets to go up the Tour Eiffel at the temporary entry/exit points can enter. Normally you can walk under the Tour Eiffel. The entire Champ de Mars is fenced off with access only through security check points. Across the street from the south end of the Champ de Mars is the École Militaire. My apartment is denoted with the red drop to the left of the École Militaire on rue de la Cavalerie.

 

Avenue de Suffren to the west of the Champ de Mars

La Motte-Picquet between the Champ de Mars and the Ecole Militaire

 

All of the side streets off of Avenue de Suffren, from La Motte-Picquet to the Seine, on the park side are fenced off with police manning those posts. There is a minimum of 6 officers at each site, with most having about 10 officers.

Side Street Leading to the Champ de Mars off of Avenue de Suffren

 

The major intersection of Avenue de Suffren, and La Motte-Picquet has two security check points – one for Avenue de Suffren and one for La Motte-Picquet, because of that there are many more officers there.

Intersection of Avenue de Suffern and La Motte-Picquet

 

La Motte-Picquet runs between the Champ de Mars and the École Militaire. Today when I walked in front of the École Militaire I counted 25 Gendarmerie vehicles (each holds 8 officers) and 10 Police Nationale vehicles (each hold 6 officers). That was just in a one block location.

Gendarmerie vehicles in front of Ecole Militarie on La Motte-Picquet

 

I estimate, that my walk from my apartment, through the check point at Avenue de Suffren and La Motte-Picquet , then along Avenue de Suffren to the Tour Eiffel I saw 300+ police officers. And, that’s basically just along one side of the Champ de Mars – so I imagine you’d double it for the other side and then realize that it doesn’t account for the officers, both uniformed and undercover, that are inside the “Fan Zone”. Oh, and these security measures are in place 24/7 for the month of the championship games.

I’m feeling pretty well protected in my neighborhood!

Merci police et l'armée pour votre service