FRANCE - Best of Europe 2014 - page 266

• Behind Notre-Dame, cross the street and enter through the iron gate into the park at the
tip of the island. Look for the stairs and head down to reach the...
▲ Deportation Memorial (Mémorial de la Déportation)
This memorial to the 200,000 French victims of the Nazi concentration camps (1940-1945)
draws you into their experience. France was quickly overrun by Nazi Germany, and Paris
spent the war years under Nazi occupation. Jews and dissidents were rounded up and depor-
ted—many never returned.
Asyoudescendthesteps,thecityaroundyoudisappears.Surroundedbywalls,youhave
become a prisoner. Your only freedom is your view of the sky and the tiny glimpse of the
river below. Enter the dark, single-file chamber up ahead. Inside, the circular plaque in the
floor reads, “They went to the end of the earth and did not return.”
Thehallwaystretchinginfrontofyouislinedwith200,000lightedcrystals,oneforeach
French citizen who died. Flickering at the far end is the eternal flame of hope. The tomb of
theunknowndeporteeliesatyourfeet.Above,theinscriptionreads,“Dedicatedtotheliving
memory of the 200,000 French deportees shrouded by the night and the fog, exterminated in
the Nazi concentration camps.” The side rooms are filled with triangles—reminiscent of the
identification patches inmates were forced to wear—each bearing the name of a concentra-
tion camp. Above the exit as you leave is the message you'll find at many other Holocaust
sites: “Forgive, but never forget.”
Cost and Hours: Free, April-Sept Tue-Sun 10:00-19:00, Oct-March Tue-Sun
10:00-18:00, closed Mon year-round, may randomly close at other times; at the east tip of
the island named Ile de la Cité, behind Notre-Dame and near Ile St. Louis (Mo: Cité); tel. 06
14 67 54 98.
• Back on street level, look across the river (north) to the island called...
Ile St. Louis
(See “Ile St. Louis” map, here .)
If Ile de la Cité is a tugboat laden with the history of Paris, it's towing this classy little resid-
entialdinghy,ladenonlywithhigh-rentapartments,boutiques,characteristicrestaurants(see
here ), and famous ice cream shops.
Ile St. Louis wasn't developed until much later than Ile de la Cité (17th century). What
was a swampy mess is now harmonious Parisian architecture and one of Paris' most exclus-
ive neighborhoods. If you won't have time to return here for an evening stroll (see here ) ,
consider taking a brief detour across the pedestrian bridge, Pont St. Louis. It connects the
two islands, leading right to Rue St. Louis-en-l'Ile. This spine of the island is lined with
appealing shops and reasonably priced restaurants. A short stroll takes you to the famous