Visited the Pantheon today - the burial place of French favorites and heros. Many were generals from the Napoleonic wars who I would have called war criminals. Wandered through the Latin Quarter, then watched an Italian movie with French subtitles that I translated into English in my head.I live three blocks from Rue St Denis. The photo left. Built in the eighth century the street was one of the most important thoroughfares in Paris for centuries and at one time it even had free fountains that served milk and wine. When kings died their bodies were often transported on the road to their final resting places at Saint-Denis. Today the glory has gone. The street starts off lined with sex shops and blowzy middle aged prostitutes, then turns into the garment district and is finally lined with ethnic stores, restaurants and groceries.
