{"id":13283,"date":"2013-04-29T10:43:57","date_gmt":"2013-04-29T14:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nyhabitat.com\/blog\/?p=13283"},"modified":"2013-04-29T10:45:07","modified_gmt":"2013-04-29T14:45:07","slug":"interview-customer-jacques-veteran-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nyhabitat.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/29\/interview-customer-jacques-veteran-paris\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the People: Interview with Jacques B.: WWII Veteran, Professor & New York Habitat Customer in Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\"Picture\n\t
Mr. Jacques B. and his wife in Paris<\/div>\n<\/div>Welcome to the first article of a new series we\u2019re developing, featuring interviews with people that have a connection to New York Habitat. From owners of apartments to people renting apartments, these are all people with amazing stories who have a specific connection with one of the cities where we offer apartments.<\/p>\n

This first interview is with a man of French and Spanish heritage called Mr. Jacques B. Mr. Jacques B. grew up in Morocco, and used to visit Paris as a child in the 1930s. He returned to Paris when he served in the Free French Forces in the Second World War. Mr. Jacques B. now lives in the U.S. where he is a Professor in French literature, and he still visits Paris almost every year.<\/p>\n

Mr. Jacques B.\u2019s unique view of Paris in the 1930s, 1940s and in modern times makes his recommendations about Paris truly one of a kind.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Could you tell us something about your past in Paris and what it was like in the 1930s and 1940s?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI used to go to Paris as a child practically every year. My first memories of Paris go back to 1930- can you imagine? I was 7 years old in 1930. I\u2019m going to be 90 years old now. Some memories are quite vivid. I remember going up the Eiffel Tower as a child in 1930. And then, you know, everybody goes to the Eiffel Tower two or three times in a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\"Picture\n\t
The Paris Metro in the 1940s<\/div>\n<\/div>\u201cIn the 1940s Paris was a bit unkept. Everything was working, the subway was working, the buses were working, but it was somewhat beat-up. And the French people that we met as soldiers were very appreciative of what we did in liberating Paris. I recall a young lady told me \u2018Oh you remember the piece of soap you gave me last week? It was my first piece of fresh soap since 1940.\u2019 That was in 1944 at the Liberation of Paris.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did a French soldier of the Free Forces end up as a professor in the United States?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t\"Image\n\t
People gather at the Champs \u00c9lys\u00e9es to celebrate the Liberation of Paris in August 1944<\/div>\n<\/div>\u201cWell after the war I didn\u2019t like living in France or Europe. It was really not a very cheerful place to live during the period of reconstructions in 1945 and 1946. And, I don\u2019t know, the political trouble and so forth. But I came to the U.S. as an immigrant. I already had one brother who did his medical school in the U.S., and then I went to one of the best universities you can attend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0You went to Harvard, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYes. I did my doctorate there. Now I\u2019m a professor of French Literature. My publications are mostly on French Fairytale and Folklore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can you say you really feel like an American now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very much like an American, but when I\u2019m in Paris my personality changes. I feel young again, because I don\u2019t speak English in Paris except to my wife. But I speak French and they don\u2019t know I\u2019m an American. After all, it\u2019s my native language and I taught it for forty years. And besides, I\u2019m a linguist: I love languages. I love to speak English as well as I can, and French as clearly as I can. Although sometimes I forget grammar, or spelling in one language or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why do you keep returning to Paris?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy interest in going to Paris is mainly sentimental. The main idea is that I like going to Paris to see how much it has changed from first what it was during my childhood to how different it is from what I found in August-September 1944. Paris changed a lot after its liberation. So it\u2019s interesting for me to go to Paris for that reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the main pleasure for me and for my wife in going to Paris is not necessarily the museums, the familiar sites or things like that. It is simply living in Paris, because Paris has a certain special charm. And we don\u2019t rush through Paris: we look at the memorial plaques that tell you things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor instance, it tells you this is where Jefferson was living when he was in Paris, this is the caf\u00e9 where Ben Franklin went on the left bank. These things are important. What people, what most tourists miss from Paris, is what you can pick up just by walking along the streets of Paris. And what the history of Paris, the miseries of Paris during the German occupations, can tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are lots of plaques that tell you, for example, on this spot a French policeman was shot during the liberation of Paris. There are special plaques outside of Paris schools that tourists always miss. If you walk by a Paris school, which is easy to recognize by the French flag hanging outside, look to the walls at the entrance and they tell you what has happened there. The plaques here, they tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a lesson in history to go to Paris. But apart from that, the life in Paris is pleasant and relaxed. It is a misconception that the French in general are not pleasant to foreigners. On the contrary: if you make an effort to speak the language, they\u2019re very appreciative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can you tell us a little more about the cultural differences between Parisians and Americans?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a very good book [I can] recommend wholeheartedly to people coming to Paris. The title is 60 Million Frenchmen Can\u2019t Be Wrong<\/em>. It\u2019s in English, and it\u2019s very good. It tells you about French usages [and cultural differences]. For instance, [it tells] how foreigners often come to Paris with a calling card with their name and say this is my phone number this is my address, if you come to Dover call us!\u201d<\/p>\n

[While in Paris] \u201cyou can have a great friendship with a lot of French people coming to the same caf\u00e9, the same place, while you don\u2019t even know their name. And you know the French like to remain anonymous. I don\u2019t know why. Perhaps it\u2019s leftover from the occupation, you know, you don\u2019t want to leave a written record of who you are, because during the war that kind of information was more or less secret.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Paris, for instance, there\u2019re some people [we meet] in a little caf\u00e9 where we\u2019d go almost every time [we visit Paris]. We tell them: give us your address. So she, the owner of the caf\u00e9, went to a photocopy shop and she gave us a huge piece of paper with their address and telephone number, and their names- finally! [The names we\u2019d never learned before]. This is a very particular experience for the French. And that kind of experience is explained in the book 60 Million Frenchmen Can\u2019t Be Wrong<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

You mentioned that you like living in Paris as a local instead of as a tourist. Do you also feel more like a local when you\u2019re staying in an apartment in Paris as opposed to in a hotel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t\"Panoramic\n\t
View from the Parc de Belleville in Paris<\/div>\n<\/div>\u201cOh definitely. Because you see we can have our meals anytime we want and it\u2019s such a wonderful experience to go to the markets, especially the farmers markets in the streets or the flea markets, two or three times a week. You can buy wonderful French cheeses or chicken or stuff like that and you cook it at home. Not to say anything about the savings: if you have an apartment you could cook your own things [instead of going out to dinner, which is expensive].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA good tip is that if you rent an apartment, don\u2019t try to get an apartment in the most well known parts of Paris. For instance, try to avoid the Boulevard Saint-Germain or the 6th Arrondissement. Forget it. It\u2019s too standardized. The best part of Paris is the eccentric part. For instance, the wonderful part of Paris, dominating Paris, is called Belleville in the 19th Arrondissement. It\u2019s uphill and you have very nice places where you can find vacation apartments<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

On your next trip to Paris you\u2019re going to be staying in an apartment in the 13th Arrondissement<\/a>…<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Living room of a Paris furnished apartment<\/div>\n<\/div>\u201cYes. We like that it\u2019s a little bit out of the city center. The 13th Arrondissement is very family oriented. Very different from the Boulevard Saint-Germain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recommend, however, in central Paris the part that\u2019s not too crowded. It\u2019s the 2nd Arrondissement. The metro stop there is Bourse, the old Bourse. There it\u2019s close to the old French Public Library, the Bibliotheque Nationale, and this is where you find the ancestors of the American malls. The famous covered passages, for example the Passage de Panorama. It\u2019s also within walking distance from the Galeries Lafayette and Printemps<\/a> on the Boulevard des Italiens. The Printemps mall is very nice, very close to an American mall. Both the Galeries Lafayette and Printemps are worth visiting. In Galeries Lafayette in the main building, go to the top floor and there\u2019s a terrace where you can dominate all of Paris. It\u2019s worth visiting and you can take a photograph there! It\u2019s free to visit. We recommend that central part of Paris.\u201d<\/p>\n

You also stayed in a Le Marais apartment in Paris before?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere was one near Bastille in Rue de la Roquette<\/a> that was interesting. I chose this apartment because it was in a somewhat popular street near the Faubourg Saint Antoine, near Bastille, which is a nice area that we recommend. And it has small restaurants, small stores, which we like. And we like being able to walk to all the central locations in Paris. For us, Paris is walking. It\u2019s one of the best walking cities in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne other recommendation is very simple, three words: forget the metro. Don\u2019t use the metro: use only the bus! Because then you can see the streets. On the metro you\u2019re underground, you don\u2019t see a damn thing. When you take the bus in the first place you\u2019ll see the streets and in the second place you\u2019ll have to practice minimal French! Get a map of the bus system.\u201d<\/p>\n

You mentioned you don\u2019t visit a lot of tourist places in Paris. Why is this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t\"Image\n\t
The Mus\u00e9e des Arts et Metiers in Paris<\/div>\n<\/div>\u201cRarely. We are very selective in what we visit. There\u2019s a museum that we often visit and it\u2019s hardly ever mentioned in the guides. It\u2019s the Mus\u00e9e des Arts et Metiers, or in other words the Museum of Arts and Crafts. It\u2019s a fantastic museum; we recommend it very highly. There\u2019s a display that will show you the first computers till the most advanced modern computers. And the clocks: from the water clocks of the Middle Ages to the Atomic clocks of our century. It\u2019s a wonderful museum. There\u2019s also a very nice restaurant there, called A Toutes Vapeur, which means Vapor. In other words everything there is steamed. It\u2019s very healthy food.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne tourist thing I do recommend is to take a boat ride on the Seine River. You can go on a river cruise with the Bateaux Mouches, which is worth visiting!\u201d<\/p>\n

What time of year do you prefer to visit Paris?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the spring. Not in the winter. Spring, then summer is the best time. Of course things are more expensive then but that\u2019s okay. But whatever the season, there are about Fifty-Thousand US citizens who love Paris enough to make it their permanent residence!\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you think Paris is also more beautiful in spring?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t\"Picture\n\t
The castle of Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris<\/div>\n<\/div>\u201cOf course, yeah. The small parks are very well kept in Paris. Another point of Paris to recommend for people who go to Paris is the 11th Arrondissement, which includes the Bois de Vincennes, which is a bit outside of Paris. Everyone knows de Bois de Boulogne, but the Parc Vincennes is beautiful and there\u2019s a little lake that\u2019s worth visiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne last other tip: forget Versailles! Don\u2019t go there. You\u2019ll be in line for hours and you won\u2019t see a thing. The best suburb to visit is Saint-Germain. It\u2019s beautiful: there\u2019s a magnificent view of Paris, there\u2019s a couple of museums, and the streets are quiet and modernized, nice cafes and restaurants. And well that\u2019s one of the sentimental reasons for me to go to Paris because that\u2019s where I was a soldier during the war. There was a famous military station there where I stayed. We as soldiers had to commute on Sundays and time of leave from Saint-Germain to Paris, which is a very short train ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you visit Paris now, what do you think of the modern Paris?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care for it. I don\u2019t go to the new financial district. What I might visit next time is the new library, which is rather impressive. La Bibliotheque Nationale [the National Library of France]. You know there are two abbreviations that all French know: TGV, the Train a Grand Vitesse [the very fast train]; and TGB, the Tres Grande Bibliotheque [very large library]! We like the French railroad station: we\u2019ve taken the train from Geneve to Paris. It\u2019s a wonderful service. I wish the U.S. had as good a train service as the French have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you think you\u2019ll keep visiting Paris in the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSo long as my health holds, I will go.\u201d<\/p>\n

We would like to thank Mr. Jacques B. for his time and his wonderful recommendations.<\/p>\n

We also hope you\u2019ve enjoyed this interview. If you have anything to add about Paris through the years or if you have any questions for Mr. Jacques B., please let us know in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the first article of a new series we\u2019re developing, featuring interviews with people that have a connection to New York Habitat. From owners…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nyhabitat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13283"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nyhabitat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nyhabitat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyhabitat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyhabitat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13283"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyhabitat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13337,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyhabitat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13283\/revisions\/13337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nyhabitat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyhabitat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nyhabitat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}