Bookish spots of Paris: Victor Hugo

Guess what? There are tons of bookish places in Paris related to Victor Hugo. In fact, I am sure there are many more than I had the opportunity to visit. After this last weekend in California with my husband's family (in which we watched the 25th anniversary Les Mis DVD 1.8 times, listened to the new CD recording 2.6 times, and quoted the songs 2,394 times) I have an even deeper love for Victor Hugo. The Disney version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame enchanted me in elementary school, I struggled through Les Miserables for the first time my sophomore year of high school, and I read The Hunchback of Notre Dame my first few weeks in Paris. I love this author. Here are just a few of the places paying homage to him.

This is a statue of Victor Hugo by Rodin. I loved Rodin's home and work and was very excited to see his tribute to Hugo.

I went to Victor Hugo's house while I was in Paris. None of these photographs are phenomenal because we weren't allowed to use flash, but I had to capture his writing desk. I also bought a book by Hugo in the museum shop - the only one I could afford (or hope to decipher in French) - a book of his poems, Les Contemplations. I planned to read one poem a day to keep up my French. This did not happen, but now that I'm thinking of it I want to try again at some point.

When I was in Paris I developed an obsession with chandeliers. So I took this picture of Victor Hugo's chandelier. Behold.

Hugo's house was full of art - pieces from his own collection (many of which were disturbing and featured Hell or Sodom and Gomorrah) and renditions of characters from his books. I took quite a few pictures but most of them didn't turn out very well. This is Esmerelda.

We of course also paid (many) visits to Notre Dame. Rather than favoring you with an awkwardly taken, squinty picture of a tiny me in front of Notre Dame, I thought I would just give you a few aspects of the cathedral other than the familiar structure. This is the big bell that Quasimodo loved and could feel even though he was deaf. Being so close to this huge bell was pretty awe-inspiring.

There were beautiful plaques as a tribute to Hugo throughout the cathedral. Once the city of Paris planned to tear down Notre Dame - it was decrepit and mostly abandoned. Hugo wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame to save the cathedral. I can't decipher the whole plaque (should have transcribed it when the memory was fresh, not two years later) but the gist of what it says is this: he defended very expressively describing (something illegible) the walls, the sound of the bells, something about the towers, etc.

This is the most photographed gargoyle of the cathedral. Here is my picture of it. Hooray!

My favorite part of Notre Dame wasn't lighting a candle or attending mass (an interesting experience for me because I am not Catholic!). It was climbing the towers and looking down on all of Paris. My friends and I didn't want to come down and did all kinds of crazy things like ballroom dancing with brooms on the roof. Of course, now I am much too mature to behave in that manner (right...).

This is Victor Hugo's place in the Pantheon. (And Alexandre Dumas' as well, incidentally). It was awe-inspiring to know that I was in the same place as Hugo's body - I haven't spent much time in cemeteries and to think that on the other side of the stone was what remained of this heroic author is still unbelievable to me. Although his body lies in the Pantheon, his soul is immortal in his writing.

Hop hop hop hop hop

Do you ever have those days where you are just absolutely, inexplicably exhausted? I am having one of those days. Probably because I stayed up til midnight watching Slumdog Millionaire with my sister... I am an early to bed, early to rise kind of girl usually. Which is why I am wearing a sweatshirt and blogging instead of making use of my free hour to study for my upcoming exams.

But anyway... It's time for the 2nd literary blog hop. :)
This week's question is:

What is the most difficult literary work you've ever read? What made it so difficult?

This is a difficult question for me to answer. I am not sure if I have just not read very many hard books, or if I am just prone to liking everything so I don't consider it "difficult," because to me "difficult" has a more negative connotation.

I would definitely say Les Miserables was one of the more difficult books I read for a few reasons. (1), it's length. (2), my age when I read it (I can't remember for sure but I think I was in middle school). And (3), the interminable chapters about Napoleon. I really feel as if I should go back and read the unabridged version again so that I can learn more about Napoleon, but part of me wonders if I would just do the exact same thing and shamelessly skim again.

But with that said, I loved the book. I would read it again, and probably will someday.

The most difficult book I never read is Tale of Two Cities. I do not even remember all the times I have tried to start that book, but I will relay just a few for you.

Encounter 1: I heard of it in a short story I read in American Girl magazine when I was 9 or 10 (did any of you read this magazine? It has such good childhood memories!). The book was described as "a bit difficult, but a lovely story" so I immediately assumed I should read it. I read about one page and then gave up.

Encounter 2: Remembering that I gave up when I was younger, in middle school I decided to try again. I checked it out from the library, along with several other books. When I was in middle school, my friends and I always met in the back corner of the library to hang out, so I was always noticing new books to read. I remember reading the first line and thinking, "This sounds really great. I should definitely try to read it again." But the other books (i.e. Tamora Pierce) were easier and I returned the book unread.

Encounter 3: I found a worn out copy in one of my family's sheds. (Note about my dad: He is a crazy outdoorsman and he has a new hobby every few months. This has led to many sheds full of many hobbies. Examples include making bows and killing bears with them, motorcycles, wood carving, etc. This variety of hobbies has also led my dad to be fairly well read. He reads books and then gives them away, or I find them in canoes or toolboxes, etc.). Anyway, I found this book in a tent or something and thought, I should definitely read this. If my dad read it, I can talk to him about it. But he gave it away or threw it away shortly thereafter, and I never got a hold of it.

Encounter 4: I thought for sure I would read it this time. I was going to France, so I decided I needed some things to read on the plane trip and in the parks (bien sur!!). I went to the classics bargain books section of the university bookstore and picked out The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Then Tale of Two Cities caught my eye and I thought, Why not? I'll try it again. I got through three pages.

Why is it I can't get through this book? Has anyone else had trouble with it? I was talking to my very intelligent friend Sam about it and he said, "Are you kidding me? That's the easy one!" Thanks, Samuel. I really hope someday to read this book. Maybe I'll be old enough for it in 20 years.