Paris Je T'aime – A City that He Loved (Journal - Day 1)

Paris Je T'aime – A City that He Loved (Day 1)
(Journal of a Trip to Paris from Toronto between September 26, 2007 to October 5, 2007)

Day 1 – September 26/27, 2007 (Sunny, then rainy at night)

Twenty-six years ago, Chris and I went to Paris for the first time. Unfortunately, we could not appreciate the city fully as our stay there was very brief – merely one day.

On September 27, 2007, with an eager heart, we set foot on Paris again.

Although we did not get much sleep on the red-eye flight from Toronto to Paris, our spirits were high. I believe excitement played an important part.

After checking into the hotel, we immediately rushed to Notre Dame to meet with Jade and Eva. Jade was the girl I met last September in Hong Kong at the Queen's Cafe. Our sole purpose to go to Hong Kong then was to attend Leslie's 50th birthday party. Jade came from Shanghai China and is now living in Lyon, France.

From Hotel Devillas, where we stayed, to Notre Dame, we had to walk along the River Seine for half an hour. The sceneries along the river were so beautiful that it was hard to restrain from stopping and taking pictures. As a result, we were late for our meeting.

Notre Dame

I managed to seek out Jade among the big crowd of tourists in front of Notre Dame. Although this was my first time to meet with Eva and second with Jade, we were like very close friends already. This was all because of Leslie. Eva came to visit Paris from Shanghai to trace Leslie's footsteps. She would also be going to Lyon, Chantilly, Cannes and Nice.



We then went inside Notre Dame. My eyes saw but did not see anything there as I was too concentrated on my conversation with Jade and Eva, sharing our feelings about Leslie.

After Notre Dame, Jade took us to the Pont des Arts ("Bridge of the Arts") – a pedestrian bridge in Paris, France. It crosses the Seine linking the Louvre's Cour Carré and the Institut de France. The bridge was originally built in 1803 and was the first iron bridge in Paris. It was rebuilt in 1984 with 7 arches instead of the original 9.

This bridge was special to us because it was the spot where a scene of "Once a Thief" was shot. In that scene, Leslie, playing the role of James, sat [or rather stood] for a portrait to be painted and then freely walked down the steps of the bridge. That was his first appearance in that movie with a very stunning and unforgettable effect.



Pont des Arts

We tried hard, but failed, to determine the part of the railing where Leslie leaned on. In any case, we took some pictures and were happy to be at the same spot where Leslie had once been. His presence could almost be felt.

One thing that's worth mentioning is that in the movie, because the shot was made from a low angle, the impression that it gave us was that that flight of stairs that Leslie stepped down was a big one; however, in reality, it was small. It was funny to see how the movie world was different from the real world.

We also stopped by Pont Alexander III which is an arch bridge that spans the Seine, connecting the Champs-Élysées quarter and the Invalides and Eiffel Tower Quarter, commonly regarded as "the most ornate", "the most elegant", or "the most extravagant" in Paris. A scene in Leslie’s musical drama “Sunset in Paris” was filmed there, I believe.




Pont Alexander III


We walked past Jardins des Tuileries ("The Tuileries Garden") which covers about 63 acres (25 hectares) and still closely follows a design laid out by landscape architect Andre Le Notre in 1664 [note that the garden at Chateau de Versailles was also designed by him]. His spacious formal garden plan drew out the perspective from the reflecting pools one to the other in an unbroken vista along a central axis from the west façade, which has been extended as the Axe historique.



Leslie filmed his musical drama at the garden of Versailles and it was believed that he loved the landscape design of Andre Le Notre. The layout of Jardin des Tuileries and the garden of Versailles are very similar. Walking through this beautiful garden, I had no doubt that Leslie must have also done so many times when he was in Paris enjoying his holidays.


Jardin des Tuileries

We then moved on to the Place de la Concorde which is one of the major squares in Paris, France. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. The Place was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in 1755 as a moat-skirted octagon between the Champs-Élysées to the west and the Tuileries Gardens to the east.

During the French Revolution the statue of King Louis was torn down and the area renamed "Place de la Révolution". The new revolutionary government erected the guillotine there. The first notable being executed at the Place de la Révolution was King Louis XVI, on January 21, 1793. Other important people guillotined there, often in front of cheering crowds, were Queen Marie Antoinette and Madame Élisabeth, etc. The guillotine was most active during the "Reign of Terror", in the summer of 1794, when in a single month more than 1,300 people were executed. A year later, when the revolution was taking a more moderate course, the guillotine was removed from the square and its name was changed in token of national reconciliation.

This Place was special to us, fans of Leslie, because Leslie had once taken a picture in front of one of the two fountains there. We were puzzled though because both fountains were identical. After some logical deduction, we believed that the fountain where Leslie got his picture taken was the one farthest away from the buildings.




Place de la Concorde

We then walked on the famous Champs Elysees which was lined with beautifully manicured trees on both sides.

The walk was a long and tiring one so we had to settle down in a coffee shop on Champs Elysees to regain our energy.

Later, we ended the day by having a dinner in a Chinese restaurant called Miramar near Notre Dame. The standard of was not bad at all.