I could have entitled this “The More-ais” because I have already described most of the sites where I took these pictures. The Paris History Museum had two galleries displaying antique tobacconists' signs, some mounted on the walls and as many suspended from the ceiling. Most were pierced or painted tin, but others were bas-relief sculptures or paintings on metal. The formerly ubiquitous Parisian tabac has not vanished from the city. In its present form, however, a tobacconist's shop does not advertise its wares with the whimsy and creativity that showed in the old tabac signs.
Antique tobacconist's shop sign in the Paris History Museum
Trompe l'oeil mural from the Hôtel de Luyens, now in the Paris History Museum
By becoming a museum, the Hotel Carnavalet avoided being demolished when it fell into disrepair. Neighboring derelict mansions had been razed rather than restored. A trompe l’oeil mural was rescued from the defunct Hôtel de Luyens. Its illusory group of aristocrats in a Classical setting overlooks the museum’s staircase.
There was a cafe in the museum’s courtyard garden where HL and I stopped for a cool drink. Though the menu was limited and the fare overpriced even by Parisian standards, I felt content to be there watching the bees gather pollen until their legs looked floured.
Fabula, the courtyard café at the Paris History Museum
One of the most famous denizens of Le Marais was Victor Hugo. The prolific 19th Century man of letters and his family lived for some years in a house in a corner of Place des Vosges. Now it is a museum, open to the public at no charge. Hugo may have been more renowned as a critic of the French Empire than as a novelist. Certainly Hugo was successful and admired when he decorated his house with fine fabrics, furniture and porcelain, many of them gifts. The opulent chinoiserie style predominated, though the lighting did not permit me to capture much of its effect.
In the Victor Hugo House museum on the Place des Vosges
I stopped at the entrance to the Parmentier Metro station, near the graceful Art Nouveau sign, on my last morning in Paris
Can anyone ever bid Paris farewell? I had to make the attempt at the conclusion of our two days in the City of Lights. Our next stop was to be Lyon.
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