Paris in Layers

One of the classes I take here is called Paris Walks, which is what it sounds like; we take walks through Paris (designed by BYU professors), and write about our reactions. Bummer of a class, I know.

The first walk in the book explores the many layers of Paris, and believe me, there are many. There have been people living here on the banks of the Seine since well before the time of Christ, and while a lot of other sites can compete for the age prize (take Stonehenge for example, the biggest henge in the world, although nobody knows what a henge is...), it's not often that you can find somewhere like this where people have lived continuously. For over 2300 years, from Celtic Parisii to chic Parisiens, Paris has been here in one form or another. It just keeps changing and evolving, over and around and on top of what is already there.

The earliest of these historical layers can be found outside of Notre Dame, beneath the Parvis de Notre Dame in the Crypte de Parvis. As you walk down the stairs into the crypte archeologique, you'll find yourself among the carefully excavated remains of gallo-roman walls and roads. As you walk around the exhibit, you'll also see a Roman arena, bath, even an ordinary Roman house. Interspersed with all of this are more modern ruins, like a 16th century home and a 17th century orphanage (I may have those centuries a bit off, but you get the idea). Throughout these ruins runs the remains of roads that date back hundreds of years.



Back above ground stands the magnificent Notre Dame de Paris, one of Paris' most famous monuments. According to Dr. Cropper, who planned this walk, the site where the Cathédral now stands was once a place that pagan Romans prayed to their gods. Later, around the sixth century AD a romanesque was built.



The structure there now is the product of centuries of building (it took 137 years to build it in the first place), tearing down (those Revolutionaries got a little carried away sometimes), and restoration (Victor Hugo, you da man). It remains to this day an active place of worship, with Masses every day and priests available for personal, spiritual discussion and confession.

Later on several of us went to visit Saint-Denis, the pet project of the Abbé Suger who was a major proponent of Gothic architecture. Within the church can be found the tombs of many French kings, as well as beautiful stained glass windows and stunning vaulted ceilings. The church is now in the midst of unexpected surroundings: the walk from the train station to the church is a neighborhood full of immigrants of African, and often Muslim, origin. In the midst of Muslim boucheries, women in burqas, and babies tied to their mothers' backs with brightly colored cloth sits a medieval icon of the French Gothic style.



These layers of history that surround you as walk around Paris are what make this city so exciting. There is always something happening, and it happens right next to or right on top of the last place that something happened.