Walking to the Library

Every year for Christmas K.J.'s parents give us some money to go shopping with, and after much contemplation of all the shelves at Barnes & Noble, I walked away with this book.  After all, we were about to be "Americans in Paris," and this book promised stories of adventure in a significant historical time period.  

I've been reading it aloud to K.J., and so far we've learned things that showcase the strengths of America in the past and also weaknesses and failures.  For instance, the American ambassador was the only one who stayed in Paris when it became clear the Nazis were coming in to take over the city.  All other diplomats, and the French government left the city and put Ambassador Bullitt in charge as mayor, and it was this American man who transferred the keeping of the city into the hands of the German army.  Who knew?!

On the side of cultural failures, we've learned some fascinating stories of black Americans who stayed in Paris after WWI, a place where they had more opportunity and freedom not to be judged by the color of their skin.  

It's a book filled with stories of Americans with vastly different backgrounds who found themselves in Nazi-occupied Paris, many of whom ended up involved in moving information around right under the Germans noses.  It also tells the story of two American institutions formed after WWI that played an important role during WWII as well, The American Hospital and The American Library of Paris.  When these places showed up in the story again and again, I of course wondered if they were still up and running, and indeed they are!  I thought our reading lives might be reduced to mainly books available on Kindle this year, but I am really happy to have access to a historical institution and thousands of books in English.

The picture below is not the library, just a hotel; I thought it might be confusing!  I didn't actually take a picture of the outside of the library.

The American Library of Paris began with donations from libraries in the U.S. with the aim to distribute books to U.S. armed forces serving in and after WWI.  On our first visit to the library the lady working in the children's section asked me how we heard about it.  When I explained she said that was not the usual answer she heard, and few people knew about their long and interesting history.  The women who kept the library open during WWII secretly lent books to Jews in the city who were banned by the Nazis from using French libraries.

On our first visit we took the Metro, but a couple of days later I found myself in need of a walk, and the kids had requested books that were waiting for pick-up, so I went all the way on foot.  I didn't think anything about walking two and a half miles, but I should have thought about not walking two and a half miles in boots I hadn't worn in a long time.  I got a huge blister on the back of one heel, but I also got some good books and a chance to take pictures along the way, so it's a draw.

I loved this perspective of the Eiffel Tower.  

Next time maybe I'll be like the smart Parisian women who put their tennishoes on with their hose.  My heels would be much happier.  Thanks for walking along with me to the library!