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I arrived in Paris on June 2 and eventually my first destination,
the gracious home of the Founding President of the French Heritage
Society, Michele Le Menestral-Ulrich. A reception dinner
reacquainted me with Simone le Monnerone who is also highly involved
with organizing the fellowship. Also in attendance were three
former RMH recipients, architects and American Parisian
residents.
 The following day provided
additional information on the fellowship and a happy reunion with
Pascal Filatre, the RMH 2004 Fellow. A walking tour with him took me
from the Louvre to
Place Dauphine.
 Sabina Fabris was the 2002 French recipient,
and we met in the afternoon for a walk through the Marais district -
a maze of small intriguing alleys and streets. The early
afternoon saw the momentary festival of the French Olympics along
the Champs Elysees.
 The Fellowship officially began
with the monthly meeting of the Commission Superieur des Monuments
Historiques. Didier Repellin is the first architect host of the 2005
program. He is based in Lyon France, but travels at an impressive
pace throughout France Palais du Louvre and Italy in a well
choreographed process of monitoring his extensive projects. The
first visit was to Notre Dame de la Marais in Villefranche. The
restoration is underway on this classic gothic church.  Gare Bottreux is starting the last phase of a
three year project of adaptive reuse and restoration of a train
station that has become a combination of retail, restaurant and
office space.
The project team from AEC architects, including Didier Repellin,
Renzo Widiemer, and Jean Luc and I left for Rome. The restoration of
both the Villa Medici and the  Trinita dei Monti (top of the Escalier Francaise,
the grand stairs above the Piazza d’Espagna) has utilized technical
restoration abilities and conservation applications that are quite
impressive. Many are due to the specific needs of these
beautiful structures, and others can hopefully be applied to future
projects upon my return to Chicago.
 The Villa Medicis and the Eglisia St Nicholas both
provided fascinating discussions and demonstrations on wall or
plaster consolidation. The work at the interior of Eglisia St.
Nicholas demonstrated the abilities of fine conservation and a
patient approach to cleaning plasterwork.
 Initial impressions are that the hierarchical structure
of restoration in France is much more elaborate than what I have
experienced in the United States. However, on a technical
level of architects approaching a building for the combined original
intent and material, current condition, and future existence of the
building, there are strong similarities. The professional
conversations have been intriguing, my French abilities are
improving, and I look forward to the rest of the trip.
The second weekend of the trip has allowed a classical
architectural education in Rome. Beginning with the Roman
and Palladian forum, I have visited the medieval churches of St Clemente, and
Sta Maria en
Cosmedin.  The Villa Borghese provided a
wonderful Renaissance comparison to the Villa Medici and the Palazzo
Barberini. The Campidoglio is a favorite, and of course a
visit to the Pantheon provided a taste of La Dolce Vita -
an opportunity to sketch while drinking the perfect
cappuccino!
A bientot! Please write!
St
Clemente
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