Paris Day Two

The second day of our trip took us to several locations, each giving a very different view of the difference in the lifestyles of the common man and the aristocracy in France. The first stop on our trip was to Sainte Chapelle. This medieval church with its breathtaking architecture and stained glass made it clear to me the feelings of awe that parishioners must have felt when they entered the grand cathedral. The moment we arrived into the main chapel and saw the beautiful windows after the narrow, winding staircase was truly stunning. This monument built for the people to see the wonder of God was impressive for me, someone accustomed to flashy modern life, must have been quite a sight for medieval eyes, unused to such grandeur in everyday life. The wonder from the beauty of Sainte Chapelle was still fresh on my mind when we arrived at our second location, only a few steps away. The Conciergerie is another beautiful building. Its high, domed ceilings give the main chamber a majestic look, one that seems to disguise the true nature of the building. After we left the main room (and made our way through the requisite gift shop) we found our self in the cells of the French revolutionary prisoners. This part of the building has been turned into something of a museum, with the cells made up to look like they would have for prisoners; complete with dummies in period dress wallowing in their cells. The exhibit also included many items that belonged to or were related to important people of the French Revolution. Perhaps, for me at least, the most interesting and telling of all of the exhibits in the prison was the treatment of the cell that Marie Antoinette spent her last days. The cell was not much different than the others we saw but what they have done to it since is very interesting. The cell that she was held in has been turned in to a chapel of sorts; complete with velvet drapery and grand adornments. I can’t help but find irony in the fact that they have changed a cell that could arguably stand as a monument for the end of the excess of the aristocracy and have turned it into a richly appointed holy place. It is enough to make one wonder.
The trip to Versailles in the second half of our second day was defiantly one to remember. As most young people of my age I have seen the Sofia Coppola movie, Marie Antoinette. This film gave a very sympathetic view of the life of Marie Antoinette and the reasons for her actions. In the film Coppola tried to show the audience that Marie was just a young girl when she came to Versailles and that many of the supposed antics that lead up to her trip to the guillotine were something that she was forced into out of duty or boredom. I enjoyed the film and thought that the director did a good job of making the life of Marie Antoinette into an amusing and interesting film, but my trip to the palace somewhat reassured the idea that I held about Antoinette prior to seeing the film. The part of the trip that I feel was most reflective of the attitude the aristocracy had about the peasants was her Hameau, the queen’s model village on the palace grounds. This was the little play ground that Marie Antoinette had built for herself so she could escape the trappings of her lavish lifestyle and try to get back to Rousseau’s idea of nature. I think that the Hameau, even more than the grand opulence of the palace itself, show how little care the aristocracy had for the common man. In the Hameau Marie Antoinette and her friends dressed as shepherdesses and tended perfumed sheep and docile cows “just like the peasantry”. I was truly surprised to find that the buildings that stand in the “village” today are the same that Marie herself played in. I think that if I were a revolutionary peasant storming the palace, this mockery of the peasant’s struggle would have been the first to go. But then again I always love a little anarchy and what better way to show my peasant disapproval of the frivolous ways of the aristocracy than by taking away their toys.