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This
was my fourth visit to Paris. I’m not an enthusiastic
traveler, never indifferent to my wildest imagination of the prospect
of leaving
my little domain and my dogs. Although I don’t have an extreme
fear of flying, I can be talked into it quite easily.
Just prior to this trip, there was an “announcement” made
over the internet by some Al-Qaeda related terrorist group in the
Middle East that they were going after airliners, Western airliners
and specifically American airliners, so watch out.
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The
view from the Hotel du Rond Point looking towards the
Avenue Gabriel |
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That was enough
to put me in a swivet and decide to cancel my trip. JH, who’s the cool cucumber on this team, proposed that we
go anyway because it was such a “great opportunity.” And
he was right, as you can see just from the pictures and text we’ve
posted thus far (there’s more to come).
I’d also been somewhat indifferent to Paris on past visits.
I qualify that with a “somewhat” because the city itself
is too beautiful to be indifferent to, no matter the time
you’re having.
That’s all past now. We had perfect weather – sunny and
warm with the occasional passing cloudy skies that only add to the
mood of the place. The itinerary of the Trois Fontaines crowd turned
out to be spectacular. I was reminded of so many American friends
who keep apartments in Paris for their getaways, and found myself
wondering what it would be like to live there.
I was also struck by the contrast of the atmosphere versus New York
where at times the tension is palpable. Part of that is simply the
stress of metropolitan life. But there remains, for me, and for many
I know, the stress of the state of the world. Somehow that wasn’t
part of Paris. For me. On this trip. I also didn’t turn on
the television, of course, because I didn’t have time; and
most of it is in French so I couldn’t have understood it anyway.
So the kind
of news I was hearing was more along the gossipy lines – like
the stories about one of the great leaders of the world (shhhh! )
who was in town and a hand full for his security detail because Paris
was doing to him what it is famous for doing to so many of us – igniting
passions – which in his case is “boys.”
To keep up with the far less playful side of life, I read the International
Herald Tribune every morning instead of the NY Times, or the NY
Post.
What a good newspaper it is.
Then too, my experience this time was colored by the most marvelous
circumstances: Versailles. We visited four times in five days; so
much so that it was beginning to feel a little like home. I could
imagine myself having been a king in another incarnation. A very
good king, of course.
There wasn’t much time for visits with friends
and sightseeing. But on Saturday before the big Bal
at the chateau, we did make it over to see our friend Liz
Fondaras’ penthouse
apartment on the Ille St. Louis. The flat is located on the top of
a 17th-century building with a small terrace big enough for a table,
some chairs, and pots of roses and lavender and an outdoor cocktail
party for forty. From there she has a 360 degree view of Paris, from
Notre Dame and the Seine down below
to Les Invalides, the Eiffel Tower, the Pompidou, the Sorbonne and
many other great landmarks of the city. |
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Liz Fondaras in her Paris penthouse |
Liz, who also
has residences in New York and East Hampton, comes to Paris fairly
often. She has had this apartment for about a half century – a
number which belies its owner’s peripatetic activity: she
was leaving shortly to lunch with Guy de Rothschild,
going to Versailles to the Bal that night, and leaving the next
day for London where Billy Rayner was having an art opening.
The charming penthouse has a small living room/dining room with fireplace, a
very adequate kitchen, plus a master bedroom and bath, a guestroom and bath (there’s
an additional studio in the building’s courtyard; and otherwise, that’s
it). It’s a great contrast to her fancy New York addresses. You can see
that these rooms have a sway on her heart unlike any others that belong to her. |
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Two
views from Liz Fondaras' penthouse apartment high above the Ille
St. Louis |
Crossing
the Pont Louis-Philippe |
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Musicians
jazzing up the Seine
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l'Hôtel
de Ville
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From
there we went to pay a visit to our friend Stanislas de Quercize, the
President of Cartier, at their store on 13 Rue de la Paix.
Louis Cartier moved into this building 105 years
ago. It was the first time a jeweler sold from a shop, believe
it or not.
It was here that he conceived of making jewels using platinum
instead of gold for the settings, allowing the designs to become
more pliant and imaginative. Within five years Cartier was the
jeweler of choice for 19 Royal Houses as well as assorted maharajahs,
millionaires and their beloveds.
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Cartier on Rue
de la Paix |
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This very exclusive
emporium was doing brisk business on this late Saturday afternoon.
There were several very casually dressed (the
American fashion – which originated in Los Angeles – is
everywhere in this city) couples, often with babies in tow, sitting
before the glass cases inspecting and selecting the exquisite Cartier
fare.
Stanislas invited us up to the main salon privee where the kings
and maharajahs and their ilk have visited over the past century
to contemplate and imagine the designs. There we met Jasna
Bosnic,
the Directrice. On the wall were many of the great Cartier designs
executed for their regal clientele, as well as photographs of several
maharajahs, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Gloria Swanson and
Jeanne Toussaint, the “muse” of Cartier.
Toussaint conceived of the idea of the famous Cartier leopard pin,
a brooch
of diamonds made rare because of the months it takes to make a
single piece which now runs in price about a quarter million. |
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Jasna
Bosnic and Stanislas de Quercize in the main salon
privee |
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seems to be part of the human condition that a rich and/or successful
man or woman looks for a self-expression in precious stones and
opulent settings
to decorate oneself or a loved one. All I could think was if only the walls
could talk (about those who motivate these rarified purchases). Cartier’s
definitely won’t. |
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A
detail and an overview of the main salon privee at Cartier
Rue de la Paix
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Brian
Solon, Lucia Bryan, and Ashley Bryan
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Small
World Department. Back at the Hotel du Rond
Point, we ran into three more guests of the American Friends – Lucia
Bryan from Dallas,
and her daughter Ashley and Ashley’s fiancé Brian
Solon who live in San Francisco where Ashley
runs a non-profit Safety Organization for Schools (S.O.S.) – an
agency that seeks to improve school safety, enabling communication
that allows students to provide timely
information, campus violence, drugs/alcohol, and bullying. Meanwhile,
back to reality.
Ashley, it turned out, has a sister who lives in New York and works
for Conde Nast, and a step-brother, George Gurley,
who writes for the New York Observer. The three, who've
been part of the first five days of the American Friends of Versailles
itinerary were departing
for an inn in Normandy.
To learn more about Ashley Bryan’s work, visit: safetyorganizationforschools.org
Tomorrow: last days in Paris; an afternoon picnic and evening
of fireworks and entertainment at Chateau d’Anet, the 16th-century
home of Diane de Poitiers. |
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