Palais de la Porte d'Orée

A visit to the Palais de la Porte D'Orée (Palace of the Golden Door), where the national immigration history museum is housed.  It was originally built for the 1931 Colonial Exposition, which showed the glories (sic) of the French empire.  The palace has over 250 figures sculpted on the exterior, showing all the colonies and the products they produced. Inside the walls are covered with murals.   The building houses both the immigration museum and an aquarium.  See link at left for more.

The permanent exhibit of the immigration museum documents immigration to France from the 19 century to the present. There is a special exhibit going on now, on the immigration story as told through comic books.  The artist-writers are generally immigrants themselves. There are historical examples (eg the Katzenjammer Kids) but mostly they are contemporary and French.

My grandfather's thesis, part 2

I met Patrick today to return my grandfather's thesis, which I had scanned.  We met at Cafe de Flore on Blvd. Saint Germain. (We sat upstairs where there are leather banquettes and old wood tables. This is the quiet part of the cafe, and it is actually up here where Jean Paul Sartre wrote... not downstairs where it's "see and be seen"). Anyway P. had the idea that there might be a copy of the thesis in the U.S., since the University of Paris published its doctoral theses in those days and they were therefore considered books.  Reprising an earlier moment, he took out his iPad and  checked worldcat (global library database).  Et voilá -- it's in the Columbia Law School Library!  We nearly fell out of our chairs laughing.There are actually copies in 23 libraries worldwide, but Columbia is the first to appear.  It's also been digitized and can be viewed on the Hathi-Trust website -- go to http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.35112104929205

Sciences Po

Just in case you thought I wasn't working here...

Above is Rue Jacob in the 6th, CERI (Center for Studies and International Research) is on right, in an old lithographers building.  They gave me an office on the top floor.  To the left, Hotel Danube (where JGN and I stayed for a few nights when we first arrived). Spent quite some time at corner cafe too.

Below is another one of Sciences Po's many buildings in this neighborhood, where my class is held.

The class is held on video conference -- this is the Paris conference room, with the Columbia class on the left screen (and we see ourselves on the right screen).  My counterpart from Sciences Po is in Columbia class. The technology is fantastic and there's a lot of interest in it among both our faculties.

From the public lecture I gave on immigration history and policy -- Latino electoral power!

Food miscellany, part 2

Also recommended!  Le 404 in the upper Marais, a Moroccan restaurant with amazing cous cous,  Also in the Marais, on Rue de Rosiers, the old Jewish district, Chez Marianne, one of several Israeli restaurants on the street.  I think L'as Falafel (a few doors down) is better for the falafel sandwich, but Marianne's has a nicer interior and has great combination plates (falafel, hummus, eggplant, kefka, tabouli, etc etc).  The Israeli falafel are much smaller than what we are used to in the US (the size of a Swedish meatball), which give them greater crunch to filling ratio.

Le 404

Chez Marianne

 Le Petit Zinc (Saint Germain des Pres) has art nouveau interior and great food.  I had grilled marlin fillet served on baby carrots and a delicate sauce and an arugula-warm goat cheese salad, which came with the cheese baked on a puffed pastry tart. (Like so many things here, it's all about the sauce and the pastry!)  ...   Les Botanistes is a lovely bistro. Had grilled wild dorade and an amazing mille-feuille (napoleon) pastry with mushroom and fois grois. (7th, near Le Bon Marche dept. store; speaking of which, check out the grand epicierie--international food market--there).

Le Petit Zinc

Les Botanistes