"...in 1980 [Paris] hadn't yet suffered its full monstrous overgrowth...." (p. 283)
This is a partial prediction like Carl Farness' very similar remark about New York. See Knowing The Future III.
Anderson immediately contrasts this hint of futurity with a welcome anachronism:
"The hotel where Cynthia was to make a reservation and meet him stood on the Left Bank, a charming, slightly dilapidated anachronism where croissants for breakfast were fresh-baked on the premises and the staff liked guests who were lovers..." (ibid.) (Scroll down.)
Anachronisms are appropriate for time travelers, as we have previously remarked.
10 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And I wondered just now if the Andersons themselves had ever stayed at a similarly "...charming, slightly dilapidated anachronism..." of a hotel during one of their visits to Paris.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
The visit to York in OPERATION LUNA is clearly based on experience.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, because we both know the Andersons had visited York, as I have also done!
Ad astra! Sean
Poul had visited Paris -- I'm not sure on the dates, but he was in Europe repeatedly from the 1950's on. He mentioned visiting Denmark as part of such tours, and seeing archaeological sites in France several times.
The "traditional" Paris so many people love is itself largely a product of the Second Empire, when Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann rebuilt the place and established its modern "look" (and the infrastructure). Paris was a very different, and largely medieval, city before the 1850's and 1860's.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I recall Anderson writing about how he had visited France (esp. in connection with writing THE KING OF YS) and Scandinavia, particularly Denmark and Norway.
One reason Napoleon III rebuilt Paris the way he had done was to make it easier to use police and military forces in times of civil disorder and upheaval. A more open city made it much easier to shuttle forces around from place to place.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: that’s a bit of an urban legend, started by people hostile to the rebuilding program during the 2nd Empire. Mainly Napoleon and Haussmann just wanted Paris to be more modern, efficient and beautiful. They succeeded, even though Haussmann was a man of pedestrian tastes — more as an ensemble than in terms of individual edifices.
Incidentally, at least half of the building was underground. Paris, from one of the most backward major cities in Western Europe, became the most advanced in terms of water and sewage provision, and Hassumann’s program left a lot of space for further developments in the tunnels — making it easy to provide electric power, telephones, etc. Same for glassworks, public transit, etc.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
In that case, I sit corrected! Napoleon III and Haussmean were mainly interested in rebuilding, modernizing, and beautifying Paris. I have to assume that what I read of Napoleon III's real reasons for this came from hostile sources.
I have a vague recollection that the well known catacombs of Paris came from Second Empire times, when the old cemeteries were emptied out and the remains of the dead reburied in them. But I might be wrong.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: no, for the most part the catacombs were quite old.
Haussmann's reforms stopped the practice of using urban graveyards, which implied removing previous remains.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Again, I sit corrected! Another thing to look up, the catacombs of Paris.
Ad astra! Sean
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