Monnet was born in Cognac, France, son of a brandy merchant. Leaving school in his late teen years, his father sent him abroad to act as a liaison with their foreign clients, advising as he left to take no books, but look out the window and talk to people. The advisibility of that as a whole I might debate, but his business contacts helped him to become an important figure in the coordination of British and French shipping during World War I, and later parlaying that success into the number two spot at the League of Nations. But it was his proposal, presented in the Schumann Declaration (Robert Schumann, statesman, rather than Robert Schumann, composer) that sealed his fame. Fame being a relative term: when his ashes were moved to the Panteon in 1989, a minority of Frenchmen could actually identify him.
The Jean Monnet house (click to enlarge):
Caught more rugby on Saturday, Ireland against Georgia, which Ireland barely managed to pull out. There's another student doing her homestay in John's apartment, a senior from SMU, and John wanted us to meet her and some of her friends. Fun to meet even more new people.
Sunday (and actually Saturday as well, but I didn't find out until Sunday) was a Journée de la Patrimoine, a day on which all the museums, monuments, and government buildings in Paris are open and free to the public. We thought we'd look in on the Presidential residence, but the line outside looked to be a good six-hour wait, so we decided we could make better use of our time and headed south to the Luxembourg Gardens. There we were able to walk directly into the Senate tour. The Senate is housed in the Palace de Medicis, built by Marie de Medicis. Consequently, their official rooms must be among the most ornate used by a government. They even have a gold-leaf room. A gold-leaf room, but no power. In fact, the French Senate is a relatively weak body of their legislature, mostly a dumping ground for old statesmen who can continue to receive the perks of running things without taking on too much burden themselves.
The Senate chamber:
After this, we grabbed some lunch and walked to Les Invalides, where Napoleon's tomb is housed. It was original built as the first element of France's ever-expanding social entitlement programs, a hospital for wounded veterans. The first piece of France's ever-expanding social welfare system. Donc, Les Invalides now house the tomb of Napoleon. Impressive in both size and intricate mural work, Joesephine as well as the WWI French General Foch rest there as well. Attached to the main building, in the Hôtel des Invalides is the Museum of the Army, of which the World Wars wing was all we were able to make it through before the day's walking got to us all.
Les Invalides:
I'll perhaps write about my experiences with food tomorrow, but for now, here's the rest of the set:
http://northwestern.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093807&l=feb1e&id=2411663
"They're all about duty. And it's from Pinafore."
