No. 4: Lady Liberty

Whenever I need a slice of home and reminder that the French and the Americans do actually have a history based in friendship, I grab Superman and Taz and make the short trek to the Pont de Grenelle. Following the stairs down to the allée des Cygnes we make our way onto the Île aux Cygnes (the Isle of the Swans). This artificial island on the Seine besides playing host to a charming tree-lined walking path, benches (a rarity), and doggie leash-free zone (even more rare), is also the home to one of the two miniature models of the Statue of Liberty in Paris. (The other, lately the target of vandals and even smaller, rests among a cluster of trees in the Jardin de Luxembourg.)

 The two “Mini-Mes” were the practice runs for Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi and Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel before they built the full scale Statue of Liberty shipped off to the USA in 1885, and offered as a reminder of our international friendship.

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