We're off to see the Wizard...

I had been putting off going to get my Sciences-Po student card for a week because I heard it was a pain. But Wednesday I finally gave in and decided to get it done with. They’re never real clear about exactly what forms you need, so I was a bit worried that I would have waited in line and then be missing something. That’s the other thing, the office is only open certain hours and they have hundreds of students trying to get their student cards. I went early before the office opened and I still ended up waiting almost an hour and a half. And what’s more, I was forced to sign up and pay for French social security even though I had proof of international health insurance. Evidently if you’re not from another EU country, you are legally obligated to be enrolled in French social security if you are directly enrolled in a French university. Stupid socialist government. Now I have like triple insurance coverage so I guess I don’t need to worry about getting sick or being hit by an insane taxi driver. So after waiting in line for forever, paying a bunch of money for coverage I don’t need, producing copies of all pertinent documents, and an official ID photo, I eventually walked out of the office with my official Sciences Po student card. I’m glad to finally have it because it’s very useful around the city. There are lots of places that give discounts to students, and with the Euro being as strong as it is, that can only help.

Saturday morning I got up and got ready as quickly as I could because it was Journées du Patrimoine. It’s like European Heritage weekend. It’s only once a year when all sorts of government buildings and historical places, etc. are open to the public, most for free. I didn’t realize what a big deal it is even for the French, so I had made a list of about 8 places that I wanted to go (mostly government places) and really thought I’d get to see them all. Number one on my list was the Palais d’Elysée which is the French equivalent of the White House. The differences being that the President doesn’t live there, he just works there, and that it doesn’t have quite the same recognition among the French as the White House does with Americans. Basically anyone off the street in the US can tell you the White House is at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., but when someone asked our French teacher in class where Elysée was, I had to point it out on a map cause she didn’t know. This is the only time during the year that it is open to the public and this year was the first time ever that people were allowed in to see the President’s office (like the Oval Office). I figured I’d have to wait in line for a while, but I had no idea just how long it would end up being.

I went in the morning because I heard that you had to go pretty early if you wanted to get in, and the line was already around the corner, down the street, around another corner, through a park, almost out to the Champs Elysée. I didn’t know how slow it was moving so I got in, although if I had known how long it would end up taking I’m not sure I would have made that same decision. I was glad that I had had the foresight to bring along the course catalogue since I needed to pick out classes for registration on Monday, as well as my new french copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and my iPod. I did not, however, bring a jacket because it was supposed to be up in the 70s and sunny. Evidently that forecast was not for the morning, because it was grey and chilly standing in line. I read course descriptions and highlighted the ones I was interested in for the first hour, and then alternated between reading and alternated between reading my book and people watching for the rest of the time. News crews and journalists came by filming the long lines for their stories about Journée du Patrimoine, and I think every gendarme (police officer) in the greater Paris region was parked along the streets. There were some young guys in line behind me and they provided me with some entertainment listening to their conversations. At one point one of them asked “so has anyone heard if Sarkozy has a mistress yet?” The other one answered that he didn’t think so yet, so far Sarkozy is monogamous, but it wouldn’t be hard since he had heard women are always throwing themselves at him and giving him their phone numbers. It struck me as odd how this is a perfectly normal conversation in France. The personal lives of French Presidents are not really secret, and it is common knowledge that most of them have relationships on the side. They thought it was ridiculous when Americans flipped out about the whole Monica Lewinski thing. If you express shock about someone having an affair, they stare at you blankly, shrug, and say “Mais, c’est normale.” Of course this is a country where Mitterand’s mistress and illegitimate daughter walked behind his casket at the official State funeral, so it’s obvious that their society is much more accepting of infidelity.

For some reason, standing in line for a chance to get into the presidential palace made me think of journeying to the Emerald City hoping to get to see the wizard, so I pretended I was Dorothy and that the three guys behind me were Scarecrow, Tinman, and Lion. Give me a break, I was in line for SIX HOURS. I have to say, it would have been a lot more fun with some dancing midgets and some flying monkeys.

The Palais de l’Elysée was built in 1718 for the Comte d’Evreux and has been the official residence of the president of the Republic since 1873. It was redecorated in the early 1800s by Napoleon’s sister Caroline and her husband who lived there for several years. Napoleon himself also resided there for a while, and it was here that he signed his abdication in 1815 after his defeat at Waterloo. After being elected president, Napoleon III stayed at Elysée, and the layout of the current palace dates to his renovation. During the Third Republic the palace became the official home of the French President, but it wasn’t until de Gaulle and the Fifth Republic that it actually became the “political heart of France.” That’s because from the 1800s- 1958 the president of France was basically an honorary position that had no real power. It was only under the new Constitution of the Fifth Republic, led by de Gaulle, that the President of the Republic became an important political actor. And it wasn’t until 1965 that the President was elected by direct universal suffrage.

So I got in line about 10 am and only 6 hours later I finally made it into the Presidential palace. Of course the sun came out and began to warm the day right about the time I was headed inside. We entered through the courtyard, where they had a few of the Presidential cars on display, and into the entry way called the Vestibule of Honor. There is a sculpture that Mitterand had installed in the 80s to commemorate the French revolution. The sculpture is 200 white flags carved from marble. I wonder if the French realize what it looks like to the rest of the world that the first thing you see when you walk into the presidential palace is 200 white flags? Ah well, maybe it’s just an expression of that famous French wit. Walking through Elysée was pretty neat. We saw the room where the President meets with his close advisors every morning, and the room where they have the weekly cabinet meetings, but by far the coolest part was the President’s formal office. It’s very ornate and decorated so fancy that it’s hard to imagine anyone being able to do serious work in there. That may be why there is another personal office for the President to use, although it was still pretty fancy. In every room there was at least one member of the Presidential Guard in full dress uniform. I’m pretty sure Walt Disney copied their uniform when he drew Prince Charming in Cinderella. All in all, it was pretty neat, and it is unlikely that I will again have that opportunity, so I’m glad I did it, even if it took an entire day. Now if only Sarkozy had been in the office...
bisous-
Lyndsey