Day: July 22, 2026

The day started an introduction to African American history in Paris on a city tour.  Some of the places we saw were performance venues and favorite haunts of people like Josephine Baker, Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, James Baldwin, and others.  African Americans have found acceptance in Paris that they did not find…

Our hotel is the boutique Hotel Les Jardins du Marais, centered in the Marais district, between Place des Vosges and Opéra Bastille.  Temple Square, found close by, was the center for the Knights Templar in the 13th and 14th centuries.  It is where a medieval fortress stood, which was demolished in the mid-19th century.  Standing there,…

After our breakfast, we watched a screening of the 2016 documentary Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light. The film explores the relationship between Paris and African American expatriates in the decades following World War I.  The film makers were there to answer our questions after watching.  It was very informative.   Then…

This morning we had a tour of French Gastronomy in the neighborhood next to the Champs-de-Mars, a park that stretches from the foot of the Eiffel Tower.  This was Paris’ 16th century market garden. We followed the Rue Cler Walk, stopping at 18 shops and stands.  We visited all sorts of food stands…

The morning of our “free” day, we spent at Sainte Chapelle. The Sainte-Chapelle was built in the middle of the 13th century by Louis IX to house the most prestigious relic of the Passion of Christ: the Crown of Thorns and a fragment of the True Cross. It is the epitome…

After lunch we opted to follow Hemingway’s Paris tour which focused on the Left Bank where most of the writers and artists congregated. Hemingway’s first apartment in Paris was located at 74 Rue du Cardinal Lemoine in the Latin Quarter. He and his first wife, Hadley, moved into this bare-bones, fourth-floor walk-up…

Before we headed to the Left Bank as a group, we had an interesting lecture by Jake Lamar, a Bronx transplant to Paris. He is the author of An African American Writer in Paris Today; as well as 6 novels, a play, a memoir, and many short stories, essays, and articles.  His take…

Our final excursion of the week was a cruise down the Seine. It was a beautiful day and we saw many of the same sights and some new ones from a different perspective. The American Church in Paris is the first American church established outside of the United States, tracing its roots back…