On a high-quality spring morning in Paris just lately, some buddies and I got down to discover
the home the place Thomas Jefferson dwelt from 1785-89 when he was Ambassador to
France. This was greater than a decade earlier than he grew to become President of the United
States, a time when the younger nation and its residents had been struggling to search out their
id. Who higher to ship than the 42-year previous Jefferson, a man of many elements, a
man whose studying and tradition even the French may respect?

Our curiosity on this historic web site was quickened by Eric S. Petersen, compiler
of the latest choice from Jefferson’s writings entitled Gentle and Liberty: Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness (Random Home, 2004). We had met him
and his spouse Nidrahara that very same day within the breakfast room of the Meridien Lodge in
Montparnasse they usually knowledgeable us that they deliberate to set out in quest of the
home.

I enquired what the tackle was. “The nook of the Champs Élysées and the
Rue de Berri,” responded Eric via a mouthful of omelette.

Our two teams departed independently. I for one totally anticipated to search out Eric
and his spouse fortunately ensconced in a Jefferson studying room on the finish of our journey.
I imagined one thing akin to the exquisitely preserved rooms at Monticello. Somebody
else speculated that the constructing may but serve the twin goal of housing the
American Embassy, during which case present safety measures may afford us no extra
than a passing look from avenue stage.

We alighted on the Metro station Étoile, actually beneath the Arc de Triomphe.
A big French flag was partially seen via the arches, swelling after which
retiring behind the stonework as if in response to an unseen hand.
The Avenue des Champs Élysees makes up one of many 13 prongs of the
“star” and we ambled down it seeking the Rue de Berri. Ten minutes later, the
well-known location hove in sight–but the constructing consisted solely of business shops.
A quick exploratory stroll down the Rue de Berri, some questions in faltering French
of a neighborhood restauranteur–all yielded naught. In the long run, one man directed us to the
American Embassy, some fifteen minutes away. It appeared that we had been vastly
mistaken within the tackle.

We had been confronted with a dilemma. Whom to believe–the native French distributors or
the American, Eric Petersen, who has learn every certainly one of Jefferson’s 20,000
letters and who was in a position to inform us this tackle from reminiscence, with out even a
second’s hesitation? We stood on the nook of the road, gazing up on the construction
above the fashionable shops, unwilling to imagine that Petersen’s reminiscence may very well be at
fault. The constructing was gently curved, with flooring to ceiling French doorways open on the
higher ranges, the white stonework bathed in solar on this explicit day. It “felt”
Jeffersonian.

After which we noticed it–a small bronze plaque, a lot weathered, some twenty
ft up. It learn merely, “La Maison de Jefferson”. So the good Jefferson did dwell right here!
We ventured additional down the Champs Elysees, on the lookout for a way of entry to the
higher storeys, and there we found a modest, white marble plaque positioned there
on April thirteenth, 1919, by the alumni of the College of Virginia who had fought in
World Battle I. The plaque was erected in commemoration of the College’s
centenary and it gave the dates of Jefferson’s residency in Paris.

The plaque itself was beside tall wrought iron entrance gates. An
unprepossessing signal declared that the Embassy of Malta was now in residence.
Undaunted, we pressed the buzzer and went in. Within the lobby of the constructing, we had been
thrilled to search out a big black and white print of Jefferson in his youthful Parisian
days. Nevertheless, the secretary on the reception desk did her finest to dissuade us from
persevering with additional, saying that the constructing was now composed solely of places of work.
Thankfully or sadly, there’s a form of boldness that comes with being
a vacationer and so we bypassed the receptionist and headed for the grand, red-carpeted
staircase. Her cries of protest receded into the background as we ascended. We felt
in some way that we had been on hallowed floor.

We turned the deal with of a door on the second flooring and it opened simply.
Surprisingly, this stage bore no hint of human habitation. We wandered via
room after sun-drenched room, our footsteps echoing via the empty areas. The
flooring was pitted, the ceiling crumbling, a couple of inches of moulding or a portion of paint
right here and there hinting at previous glories. All was quiet, inwardly infused with
Jefferson’s vibration, but outwardly derelict 대사관인증.

Was this the place he had sat and mused over the affairs of the world? Was this
the place he had given a lot reflection to the framework of the brand new structure of his
fledgling nation? Was this the place he had entertained friends or written letters residence,
lacking his daughters?

A patina of unhappiness swept over us as we contemplated the destiny of Jefferson’s
residence. It appeared virtually incomprehensible that within the 217 years since Jefferson lived
there no effort had been made to revive the constructing and dedicate it to his reminiscence.
Even the plaque put up by the scholars of the College of Virginia is now some 87
years old–and that, one can solely presume, is the latest gesture of recognition.
The constructing, in itself an historic bridge between France and America of supreme
significance, is now a humiliation, given over to industrial pursuits.

In a sombre temper, we trooped again to the lodge and later that night
recounted our adventures to Eric and Nidrahara. Throughout the course of the afternoon,
that they had lined the identical territory as us, however alas they searched in useless for some
affirmation that the constructing was certainly Jefferson’s. Once they heard of the sorry
state of the inside, it appeared to tear their hearts because it had ours.

However as Eric listened, there was a shiny gleam in his eye which gave us hope
that maybe all isn’t misplaced. It dropped at thoughts Jefferson’s personal revealing assertion:
“One man with braveness is a majority.”