The Paris of Franklin and Jefferson

Even without simple luxuries like indoor plumbing or private jets (or transAtlantic flights of any nature), America's first celebrities knew how to live it up in the Old World as well as the New. My sudden compulsion to share stories on the founding fathers cavorting around my town springs from a walking tour I just coordinated this weekend for the MIT Club de France, for which I still serve on the Board of Directors and run our monthly pub nights, aka Muddy Seine, named in honor of a certain Muddy Charles back on the Cambridge campus. Although the tour was very poorly timed, falling on the afternoon following the Nuit Blanche, we had a good alumni turnout on Sunday afternoon to learn a little more about some of America's founders here in the city that helped launch their American dream.

Touring Paris with the MIT Club de France

I collected a series of fun factoids throughout the tour, and here are a few gems worth sharing:

• Franklin used to demonstrate how electricity worked by inviting friends over to his home in Paris to watch him electrecute chickens. Quite the party theme, huh?
• The first US embassy was right here in Paris and was the first place where US passports were ever printed.
• In 1778, France signed a treaty with the US right in Place de la Concorde, becoming the first country to formally recognize the US as an independent nation.
• Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams all spent plenty of time in Paris. Of the three, Franklin was most readily at home here. Jefferson ultimately fell in love with the city. Adams, however, was painfully direct and considered the French social games insincere and a waste of time. Needless to say, the man never fit in. He eventually landed himself the position of first US ambassador on the other side of the Channel where he felt more at home.
• Although Jefferson could read and write in seven languages, including French, he could never understand the spoken language.
• In the Jardin des Tuileries, the Tuileries Gardens just outside of the Louvre, Franklin's secretary Bancroft handed off messages to the British ambassador, for whom he worked as an anti-American spy. It seems Franklin may not have been totally out of the loop and may have enjoyed giving false information.
• Franklin was a strong believer in fresh air and loved keeping his windows open. This, however, was hardly in vogue: common belief at the time was that he would catch his death from the "draft." The man lived to 84 years old in the 1700's.
• Franklin and Voltaire were actually friends.
• Franklin, as many know, was quite the lady's man. He also liked to pick a fight with Adams, who was generally uptight.
• Café Procope, Paris's oldest café, was a popular hang-out for Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams. It's still in business, so why not swing by for a historical afternoon coffee?
• Jefferson was a very shy individual and a lavish spender on books and fine wine, purchasing 5000 books while in Paris. He eventually sold much of his book collection to the Library of Congress, but still died in debt ten times the value of the sale of his estate at Monticello.
• Jefferson stole French vines in hopes of turning Virginia into a wine country.
• Jefferson fell in love with Maria Cosway while in Paris and, despite being a man known to express little personal emotion in writing, composed her a love letter entitled The Dialogue Between My Head and My Heart. (You can read it if you follow that link.) Seriously, can you imagine getting a love letter as eloquent as one written by the author of the Declaration of Independence? Swoon.

I got a real kick out of learning about the foundation on which our love-hate relationship was formed. To wrap things up, I'll leave you with a spot-on quote our tour guide shared, taken from a 2003 BBC interview with Colin Powell:
"The United States and France have been married together as partners for 225 years and we've been in marriage counseling for the whole 225 years, and we'll probably continue to be in counseling."

In other words, France, I love you but you drive me crazy.