Were I to proceed to tell you how much I
enjoy their architecture, sculpture, painting, music, I should want words.
It is in these arts they shine.
Thomas Jefferson on Parisian life
Come to Paris and join a
talented
faculty and an attentive staff
for six days of thought-provoking discussions, exciting tours, and great
fun examining the history and consequence of Thomas Jefferson’s five
year diplomatic posting to Paris.
The program will be based at the beautiful
Hotel
Ambassador, which stands nearly on top of the site of the “Hotel
Tetebout” (in today’s Ninth Arrondissement) where Jefferson, his daughter,
Martha, and his slave, James Hemings, spent most of their first year in
Paris. Our studies will focus on this very special period, 1784-1789,
in Jefferson’s life, an interlude that had a lasting impact on his
personal life, influenced the development of his political philosophy,
and affected the growth of democratic institutions in a new republic.
- During a program designed for instruction
and delight you will -
• join a talented faculty for sessions on
Parisian
architecture, Jefferson’s daily life in Paris and his activities
as a collector and a consumer, Jefferson’s involvement with
events leading up to the
French Revolution,
and much more. • visit the royal palace at Versailles
• take guided walking tours of Jefferson’s Paris
• explore Louis XVI’s country retreat at Marly
• enjoy evening bus and boat tours of Paris
• experience the
important country estate and
garden Le Désert de Retz
• dine, as Jefferson did, at Le Procope,
the oldest café in Paris
• and more . . .
By program’s end you will have developed a rich
understanding of how Thomas Jefferson’s five-year posting in Paris was
an education, an enrichment, and a prolonged sensual stimulation that he
relished at the time and fondly reflected upon, and drew upon, for the
rest of his life.
This seminar is designed for adults who are
interested in American and
French history and culture and who are seeking
intellectual
stimulation in an informal, collegial environment.
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PROGRAM
FEATURES
This program offers you the opportunity to join the program faculty for
six days of lectures, walking tours, trips, and lively discussions focused
on an important period in the intellectual, emotional, cultural, and political
development of Thomas Jefferson.
If you chose to stay on for an extra day, you will be invited to attend
a special one day program, offered in French by the French Friends of the
Smithsonian on Saturday, October 28, focusing on Jefferson and his Parisian
circle. Return
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PROGRAM
LOCATION
Check
the Paris Weather
The program will be based at the beautiful
Hotel
Ambassador. This late 20's style, very centrally located
hotel on boulevard Haussmann, near the
Opéra
de Paris Garnier, is a first class, four star historic hotel featuring
a truly Parisian atmosphere. Near the site where Jefferson lived
for a year, the Hotel Ambassador is where Charles Lindbergh was feted after
he made the first solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927. Our lecture
sessions will be held in the hotel.
Along with the well known traditional grands magasins (department
stores) Galeries Lafayette and Au Printemps, there are also a number of
early 19th century Passages/Galeries (arcades), including
the extensive Passage
des Panoramas, near the hotel. As the Eyewitness Travel Guide
to Paris says: "At the time of their construction, the Galeries represented
a new traffic-free area for commerce, workshops and apartments. They
fell into disuse but were dramitically revamped in the 1970s and now house
an eclectic mixture of small shops selling anything from designer jewelry
to rare books. They have high, vaulted roofs of iron and glass.
The Louvre Museum is
a 15-20 minutes walk south and the charming Montmartre area is a 10 minute
walk north (the view of Montmartre's monumental Sacré Coeur from
the corner of Rue Laffitte and Boulevard Haussmann, just east of the hotel,
is breathtaking).
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WHO
SHOULD ATTEND?
You, if you are seeking intellectual stimulation in an informal, collegial
environment and are interested in Thomas Jefferson and American and French
history and culture. Join us and discover that, as one past participant
wrote, "spending quality time with an extraordinary faculty in a beautiful
setting studying a stimulating topic is a transcendent experience, and
downright fun." Return
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THE
PROGRAM FACULTY INCLUDES
-
James Horn, Saunders Director
of the International Center for Jefferson Studies, Monticello, Thomas Jefferson
Memorial Foundation and author of numerous books and articles on colonial
Virginia. He is currently working on a study of Thomas
Jefferson: Revolution and Reform.
-
J. Murray Howard, University
of Virginia Curator and Architect for the Academical Village (the Jefferson-designed
heart of the University) and Lecturer in the U.Va. School of Architecture.
In 1994 the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects (AIA)
recognized the comprehensive restoration program he has directed for Thomas
Jefferson's historic University of Virginia buildings since the early 1980s
with its Historic Preservation Award. In 1995 the national AIA presented
him its 1995 Institute Honor Award. In 1996 he was named a Fellow
of the American Institute of Architects.
-
Lucia Stanton, Shannon
Senior Research Historian at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation,
Getting
Word Project Director, author of Slavery at Monticello and coeditor
of Jefferson’s Memorandum Books and Jefferson Abroad among
other works.
-
Susan Stein, Curator,
Monticello, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation and author of The Worlds
of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.
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PROGRAM FEE & REFUNDS
DATES FOR 2001 PARIS PROGRAM:
OCTOBER 21-26, 2000
The program fee includes lodging, program materials, a copy of Thomas
Jefferson’s Paris by Howard C. Rice, Jr., most meals, and program tours
and trips.
In the event withdrawal is necessary, there will be no refund but you may
substitute another person to attend the program in your place.
Airfares
to Paris can vary greatly depending on date of purchase and time of travel.
Wise comparison-shopping and working with a savy travel agent should lead
to the lowest possible fare. For assistance, contact your travel
agent, or our preferred travel agent, Peace
Frogs Travel, at 888-737-6472 or 804-977-1415. If you have any questions
or concerns, please contact us at 800-346-3882 or 804-982-5252 or by E-mail
at travelandlearn@virginia.edu.
To recover nonrefundable costs incurred if travel must be postponed on
short notice, we strongly encourage you to purchase travel cancellation
insurance as soon as you register (to cover pre-existing conditions).
Contact your travel or insurance agent, or
Peace
Frogs Travel, for details and options. Return
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