The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

132 The Educational Screen Visual Education in Europe (VI) Paris W. M. Gregory Director Educational Museum, Cleveland Public Schools PARIS visualizes her art to the world in the Louvre; her religion in Notre Dame ; her military achievement in the Arc de Triomphe ; her streets in the famous Champs Elysees ; and her engineering skill in the Eiffel tower which dominates the landscape. Parisian styles attract the attention of the world. The French have an artistic sense of display that makes Paris a style center for women's clothing and all the fine accessories of dress. The finest shops are exclusive and, like some museums, the articles are not well labeled but are exceedingly well displayed. The streets of Paris are far from clean or well paved. The grand boulevards are in fine proportion and they were a great advance at the time of their construction. Today, the swarm of taxis make the boulevard traffic almost a menace. The streets of Paris have the picturesque street restaurants where the artistocrats or laborers dine in an atmosphere which is at times dusty and noisy but the French must be sociable. The Bois de Boulogne or the Le Bois is the favorite Parisian Park of 2,115 acres. It is a well kept forest, largely of oaks. Its winding roads and beautiful walks, with the lovely lakes are in pleasing contrast to the ornate parks and formal gardens in other sections of the city. This great park has a bird pavilion and a famous aquarium. Notre Dame Notre Dame is the religious center of Paris. Every carved stone m this venerable cathedral is a visual story that has lasted through the ages. The church itself is a story of architectural growth and religious development. The facade of Notre Dame is the oldest of its kind and pictures ecclesiastical history that impresses one vividly. During the Age of Reason it suffered many mutilations which are still to be seen. Notre Dame has pictured through the ages the religious spirit of the city. Les Archives Photographiques d'Art et d'Histoire will supply a complete collection of photographs of Notre Dame. The Seine The winding Seine is held in its course by walls and quays built of granite blocks. Its bridges are famous for their beauty and harmony, rather than size. The bridges afford vistas that are unsurpassed in any other city in the world. The He de La Cite' is the island in the Seine upon which Caesar found a settlement, and about which the city has grown. The Trocadero The Trocadero is an imposing building on the Seine which contains a great theatre, a museum of casts, a collection of Indo-China casts, and an ethnographical museum which is interesting for its groups of costumed figures in their homes. It has a large collection of French dolls dressed in the national costumes of the different provinces — all poorly labeled, dusty and without spirit. The vista from the Trocadero across the Seine to Eiffel Tower is unrivaled. Hotel Des Invalides This great institution was built to care for 7,000 old and wounded soldiers. Today, a few soldiers act as attendants and the place is an army museum and a Napoleonic shrine. Its displays of weapons and war materials give the impression that war has been an important business in France. The climax of the military spirit is the Dome dcs Invalides in which is the tomb of Napoleon. The interior has the form of a great cross ; beneath the dome, and at the center, is Napoleon's crypt. It is an open circular pit 36 feet in diameter and 20 feet deep. The sarcophagus is a massive block of red porphyry. In the faint bluish light one feels the past military power of the little general. It is a display that will keep Napoleon's achievements in the peoples' minds. Excellent photographs can be secured of all the Napoleonic displays and the War Museum exhibits. Such materials would be an excellent aid in the French classes and in the various history classes in high schools and college. Arc De Triomphe The most impressive monument in Paris is the Arc de Triomphe which is located on a hill at the focus of twelve great avenues. This is the world's largest arch built by Napoleon to proclaim the French military victories. This arch is 160 feet in height. Its sculptures are bold and striking. It must have required much local political cooperation to locate it and lay out the streets to focus upon it. The tomb of the unknown warrior of the World War is beneath the arch and it is marked by an eternal flame which is a shrine for the whole world. The Louvre It is the art treasure house of the world. The Louvre contains the finest works of Rubens, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Correggio, Titian, Murillo, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Corot, Millet and many other masters. The collection of sculptures, tapestry, jewels, furniture, ceramics, enamels and bronzes is world famed and copies