A couple of quick questions. As Phileas and Passepartout head off in their first-class train carriage travelling from London to Paris, will Passepartout catch sight of the iconic Eiffel Tower in his beloved home town? Will the intrepid pair have enough time to stroll along the Champs Elysées?
"I Love Paris" is a song written by Cole Porter and published in 1953. It featured in the stage musical "Can-Can", along with “It’s All Right With Me” and “Allez-Vous-En.” The tune was not initially a major mainstream hit, with the most-popular Les Baxter version peaking at 14 on the Cash Box best-sellers chart. Have a listen to these two other recordings from 1953, one from the Broadway cast, and the other sung by Georgia Gibbs. Do they take you to Paris?
How did you go with the answers to those questions? Well, Passepartout could not have seen the Eiffel tower, because it was not yet built, in 1873! The assembly of the supports began on July 1, 1887 and the tower was completed twenty-two months later, ready for the Exposition Universelle of 1889.
Phileas Fogg's itinerary records the details of the train connection in Paris: "Reached Paris, Thursday, October 3rd, at 7.20 a.m." "Left Paris, Thursday, at 8.40 a.m."
Curiously, 80 minutes spent in Paris! And it was raining!
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