Griswolds in Paris

GRISWOLDS IN PARIS. CROSSING THE BRIDGE: PONT ALEXANDRE III

Fast on the heels of an ‘insignificant’ incident with a landmark of the Albion, the iconic Stonehenge, the journey of the Griswalds family goes ahead to Paris. Once making a switch between the 1974 Austin Maxi and Citroen DS 1972, the winners of the ‘Pig in a Poke Show’ are humming with energy to summit the heart of France. The very first shot over the capital of the National Lampoon’s European Vacation Paris, by all means, includes a high-flying panorama over the Eiffel Tower, once taken just about above the Bois de Boulogne forest in the direction of Jardins du Trocadéro (Trocadero gardens) and Champ de Mars (Field of Mars). Clark didactically voices that they are experiencing the rive gauche (left bank) of the Seine. At this point in the story, the red Citroen, laden with extensive luggage, moves under the famous Pont Alexandre III. The cornerstone was once laid by Nicholaus II, a son of the tsar ruler Alexander III, who had passed away two years before the ceremony and six years before the bridge opening, named after him.

Paris is world-famous for its bridges, yet even such high status among European cities does not exclude the fact that Pont Alexandre III is to be regarded as the most graceful in Paris. Four pedestals, 17 meters high, with bronze statues, stand on both sides of the accessway. All while entering Pont Alexandre III from the left bank, the red Citroën DS beside Renommée du Commerce (“Fame of Commerce”) and Renommée de l’Industrie (“Fame of Industry”). In one of the later scenes, the family would make a brief stop next to a souvenir shop on the further side of the Seine. ‘Pont Alexandre III has been historically appreciated by the cinematographers, and its most remarkable appearances of the last decade include a night promenade in ‘Midnight in Paris’ and a short scene with Emilia Clark in ‘Me Before You’.

GRISWOLDS AND THE CAMERA FOUNTAIN

On their initial way to a Parisian hotel, the Griswolds make a pit stop, and probably the only stop. The scene is filled with ‘Fontaine des Innocents’, one named after a medieval cemetery, at which the walls of the fountain had been located for centuries before some relocations, all nearby. The oldest preserved fountain with six centuries of history for good reason gave Clark an idea to take a shot of his family. The far background includes a glimpse of a magnificent Église Saint-Eustache (The Church of St. Eustache), a Gothic cathedral of the 17th century. With an encounter with a polite handful of French, the scene is accompanied by the other side of a cozy square, all along Rue Saint-Denis. At the moment, when the unveiled snatcher rushes from the owners of a video camera, one can see the crossroads of Saint-Denis and Rue Berger. In the thirty-five years since, the great majority of the signs have been filed as a history and a money changer, and a few boutiques now form the image of the area. In a later scene, we would see the Griswolds next to Etienne Marcel metro station, in fact, five minutes away from  ‘Fontaine des Innocents’.

NATIONAL LAMPOON AT THE PARIS HOTEL

Soon after a non-too-pleasant incident next to a fountain, the red 1972 Citroen DS finally comes to the residence accommodation. Clark, in a characteristically naive manner,  knocks down the luggage of the previous incomers and parks his cat next to a hotel. The street in the scene bears the name of Boulevard Haussmann, once named after Parisian architect, the godfather of the ambitious urban redevelopment of Paris in the mid-19th century. It stands to mention that the street was finalized eighty years after the initial development. In contrast to constrained conditions at ‘The Royal Imperial Windsor Arms Hotel’ in London, the living circumstances of the Griswald family seem to be far better. By the way, the surface gloss of the hotel does not preclude a comedian detail with a picturesque view from the window over the neighboring wall. Millennium Hotel Paris Opera, a hotel with 160 suites and a history since 1927, stands in a place depicted in a movie. In the course of the Paris sequence, the movie would lead to the reception area and a restaurant.

GRISWOLD FAMILY AT THE RESTAURANT

The Griswalds familia makes their way back to the streets of Paris, committed to a pursuit of getting inspired by French culture and culinary art. The cliche of French-born arrogance and scant regard towards US citizens now has new features. Clark, Helen, Rusty, and Audrey locate themselves within a street cafe with a panorama over the one and only Eiffel Tower. The busy crossing on the threshold of the VIII and XVI districts of Paris, with hand on heart, is hard to appreciate as cozy and relaxed. The neighboring ‘Alma-Marceau metro station’ was named after the nearby Pont de l’Alma bridge and Avenue Marceau. The bridge is sadly remembered due to the tragic casualty of the British princess Diana within a tunnel beneath. With all that, the location indeed grants a magnificent panorama over the Eiffel Tower, 800 meters away. The none-too-polite attitude of the French waiter is in some way twice ironic, as the area includes Avenue de New York and Avenue du President Wilson.

GRISWOLDS AT THE EIFFEL TOWER

It appears to Rusty that he now has to face the most humiliating version of the Paris walk, seeing that ‘French’ beret with his name to blend in with the locals. The scene renders a glimpse of the familial quartet tossing their heads. The famous ‘Champ de Mars’, a landscape park with Gargantua front lawns, is conventionally occupied by thousands of locals and tourists at once. The admiring glance at the tower is followed by an ascent to one of the high viewing points with a breathtaking panorama over Paris. The sequence gratefully puts the Griswald family atop the city without cinematic cross-cutting to remind the viewer of the reason why Paris still mesmerizes the world. The later scene with a dog brings delight to the existence of the water pools beneath the Eiffel Tower.

AT THE CROSSROAD

The previous misfortunes have no chance to disrupt Clark’s schedule and his design to take some walking with his family across Paris in a way he would later perform in Rome with a travel guide in hand and no one behind. Anyway, his choice of landmarks happened to be not too shabby. A new sequence is being opened by a motion picture close-up of the ‘METROPOLITAN’ sign, preserved until the present day. Etienne Marcel metro station was named after a French state official of the 14th century, who had once led the Paris branch of the nationwide peasants’ rebellion. The subway station and the main entrance exit (the one Griswolds use) were opened back in 1908. Clark takes up the position of a devoted cameraman of his family, yet without insight into the manual of Polaroid cameras, leaving the moment solely in memory and on the pavement. We could see Rue de Turbigo, a street named to honor the victory of the French army over the Austrians back in 1859. It is worth noting that an attentive traveler could find the already-seen ‘Fontaine des Innocents’ five minutes from the crossroads.

GRISWODS IN PARIS AND THE FRENCH SOUVENIR

A cheerful family left behind Etienne Marcel metro station and made their way up to the VIII district of Paris, next to another two streets named after American presidents. Avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Avenue du General Eisenhower.  In a narrow sense, Griswolds are found to be at the spot, they passed by a car the day before, next to Pont Alexandre III. With that, the non-French topographical nominations are yet to be found nearby. Clarke awkwardly disrupts the merchant’s merchandise at the souvenir shop at the crossing of Cours la Reine and Avenue Winston Churchill. Initially, the road connecting the Champs-Élysées with the ‘rive gauche’ (left bank) was named after the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, but was later renamed in honor of his father, after whom the majestic bridge had been unveiled. The avenue came into its modern name in 1966 to honor the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, who passed away a year before. In 1998, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II of England, on the other side of the intersection, a monument to Churchill was unveiled, which, therefore, had not yet existed during the travel day of the Griswolds in Paris. The souvenir shop itself was meant to be located next to a modern bus stop beside the grandiose ‘Grand Palais’; the exhibition center opened as far back in history as 1900.

RUSTY AND AUDREY

Along with two immersions of the Eiffel Tower, the story had no way to ignore another iconic, not to say required, Paris landmark: Notre-Dame de Paris. Overlooking the Cité island, the Griswalds family promenades along the quay of the Seine River, Quai de Montebello, named after the French general of the time of the Revolution. In this vein, Rusty picked up an offbeat location, historically chosen by the cameramen and cinematographers to capture the breath of his sister. Just a few hundred meters away, Jesse and Celine decided to board a riverboat on the Seine at ‘Before Sunset’, and Paul Bettany’s Sailas, dressed in a black monk robe with a hood, took a call on the heels of the ‘Pont de l’Archevêché’ in a debated ‘Da Vinci Code’. This very part of the Seine quay pleased the walking tastes of Owen Wilson’s Gil in ‘Midnight in Paris’, who made the most of the street cafe and  ‘Shakespeare and Co’ nearby.

GRISWOLDS AT LOUVRE

The Paris sequence of the movie culminated with a visit to the Louvre museum. With the spirit of the very first National Lampoon movie, Clark needs as much as fifteen minutes to grasp thousands of pieces of art. As thirty-five years passed, the Louvre welcomed its guests using two new entrances, one by means of a glass pyramid, a sight that had been given much attention in ‘The Da Vinci Code’.