July 13 in Paris

Today was the first official rainy day in Paris.  Several times the skies cleared, but we were wet and wearing raincoats most of the day.

First stop on the agenda  was the Musee de Monnaies--sort of.  After studying the website, I could not determine if the museum was open while under  renovation or not.   Finally, we decided to trapse over there to find out.  No luck, it is closed.   However, I did take a picture of the brilliant man who was in charge of the French Mint or Monnaies.  The Marquis de Condorcet was the the "Inspecteur de Monnaies" while also being a famous mathematician and political philosopher.  Alice Jouve said that he and Thomas Jefferson were "soul mates".  They spent many hours discussing the future of government.  Jefferson included several of Condorcet's books in his library that later became the basis for our Library of Congress.

The goal for visiting the Monnaies was to find some copies of the medals commissioned by the United States to honor battles during the American Revolution, and heroes such as Horatio Gates, Anthony Wayne,  Lafayette, Franklin, and the Treaty of Paris.  None were available in the "boutique", but one of the clerks gave us some suggestions for finding old ones in several different locations.  I'm hoping for bon chance--good luck.


Another "Patriots" stop today was on the rue Jacob.  In this building was signed the Treaty of Paris where England officially recognized the independence of the former 13 colonies.  Although the room where this historic event took place is not open to the public, here is a picture of the plaque outside.

(By the way, in an interesting coincidence, the Marquis de Condorcet lived in this same building while a student)

The final stop for the day was at the Hotel Crillon.  We believed that this luxury hotel of today was first the location of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between the United States and France.  Although we could not find the plaque, we did enjoy walking through the beautiful building. After a discussion with the Concierge, we found a different and important plaque, but not the one we hoped for.

We had to get special permission and an escort to see this. I believe this commemorates the Paris Peace Conference at the conclusion of World War I and resulted in part in the creation of the League of Nations, predecessorr to the United Nations