TROTTING AFTER TOM IN FRANCE
Paris and the South of France: In the Footsteps of Jefferson, April 2002

The 2002 Study Trip Abroad was a huge success. Trust members met in Paris at the Hôtel Lotti, perfectly situated between Place Vendôme and the Tuileries. Our lectures by Susan Stein, Curator of Monticello and Trust Governor, focused our eyes and minds on the thoughts, passions and reality of Jefferson in France from 1784-1789. With two grand walking tours we truly walked in his footsteps and saw his Paris.

There were so many highlights of the trip. First, the group of Trust members that assembled in Paris was a terrific group — fun-loving and flexible, intelligent and energetic. Second, our tour guide, Liz Pairman, was a super strong, hardworking person who made all our ideas of “something else we wanted to do” come to fruition. She described herself as a “beach babe” and she was adorable.

A doric temple at Désert de Retz

The food, the wine, the private homes, the excellent curators and specialized guides couldn’t have been better. Some special highlights would include our visit to the Désert de Retz, an l8th-century, 100-acre park of follies. Few people have seen this wonder and we visited with its most valiant supporter, M. Olivier Choppin de Janvry.

Left: Olivier Choppin de Janvry, owner of the Désert de Retz, introduces Trust members to the classical, fluted, broken column house, built in 1774 by M. Racine de Monville and visited by Jefferson and Maria Cosway.

Right: Among the special treats we enjoyed on this study trip was to see porcelain painting at the Sèvres Manufactory outside Paris.

Left: Jefferson mentioned the avenue of the dead in Arles, a street lined with hundreds of ancient stone coffins that he humorously called "les Champs Elysées".

Left: Jefferson said, "Here begins the country of olives," as he arrived in Provence. The street market in Arles proves that his observations are still correct.

Also, two visits that beautifully complemented each other were the visit to the private home of Napoleon’s secretary — a hotel still in private hands with much of the original Napoleonic interiors and furnishings. Then, visiting the Château Malmaison, Josephine’s delectable home furnished to the “hilt” in the best Napoleonic style.

On a personal touch, group member Joyce Bonin discovered that a French chamber music group she had provided lodging for when they played in Lafayette, Louisiana, were playing at St-Germain-des-Près, the beautiful, small royal chapel. She arranged for tickets for any of our group who wanted to go. We were the guests of the group and melted to the music of the oboe, the violins, the bass and the harpsichord in that exquisite setting.

Right: Marie Antoinette's beautiful "Bagatelle"

The South of France was one lovely day after another, with Nîmes and the Maison Carrée being the pinnacle — its quiet serenity captured us, just as it did Jefferson. Toulouse was a surprise to all of us. It is a very old city and a very cosmopolitan one at the same time. Our visit with Comtesse de Rostaulans, hearing of her work in historic restoration in France and the work of Vielle Maison, an organization dedicated to French preservation, struck a mutual cord among us.

Left: Comtesse de Rostaulans and our trip manager, Liz Pairman, outside the Comtesse's home, the Hôtel de Pierre in Toulouse, where Trust members relaxed over wine and good historic preservation conversation.

At the end we were tired, yes, but memories, information and sensations will reward us forever.

Right: Sauntering back to the motor coach for an illuminations tour of late night Paris are Ted Leisenring, Helen Scott Reed, Julie Leisenring, and our guest for the evening Nicola Miller, who was on a junior year stay in Paris working in the fashion industry and happens to be the daughter of Trust art director Veronica Miller, and Penny Hunt, Trust Director.