Scavenger Hunt : A Stitch in Time
Paris has many stories to tell. Some are embraced as the bright light of the city’s history, others are relegated to the passage of time.
This is one of those stories…
Staring Point :
At the point where ‘ile aux Juifs’ and ‘ile du Patriarche’ meet, sits a garden that commemorates a time long gone. At the entrance to the Garden a plague describes the dark events that happened here.
Long, long ago on a somber March day, two people are burnt at the stake for their actions. One of them was the head honcho of a multi-national conglomerate that became more powerful than the Pope; richer than most kings of the time; and a banking system, with large reserves, that financed many kings of France.
For this imperial power, he paid a price. He was captured, stripped of his title and power, and ultimately held captive in a prison tower. The name of his conglomerate tells you, not only what he did, but the site that serves as your second location.
Second Point :
The tower in which he was held captive stands no more.
But the void space of its existence still sits.
This place, a rectangular oddly enough called a ‘square’ is a ‘space’ where now-a-days Parisians enjoy the sun within the city.
The buildings that now enclose it are beautiful examples of Paris’ “Belle Epoque” gone by. But one wondrous example stands out even more. With its Morning Glory, she fills the place with a majestic air.
If you raise your face towards the sky, let the morning light shine on your back and look closely, you will find your way to the corner where majestic Dawn spends her time.
You will find her waiting…
She waits for the sunrise, at which time Dawn raises her veil towards the heavens. Her days are spent running away from the Twilight at her feet. Her nights are spent anticipating the days to come. She is caught in a strife between light & dark. When she is about to lose hope, the Guardian of the winds blows aside the darkness to reveal the Awesome splendor from heaven.
Descending from a cloud comes the Virgin & Child with the rays of light serving as a halo of their glory. Looking down from the all-encompassing Heaven, God sits at the end of the rainbow shining down his light of approval.
In all their majesty, the holy ones come to lift Dawn’s hope & reveal to her that the time has come…
What device was revealed to Dawn?
Third Point :
Now that you found the device, I want you to know that there are over 100 of these in Paris. So how can you pinpoint where the next device is located? Well here you will find Cronus of course. But also a clothed lady standing next to him holding a sword & a scale.
What she is doing there has something to do with this saying at her feet:
Obviously, she is not blindfolded. So she should be able to read it in Latin to know that it states.
Maybe that explains why it’s called “Judgment Day.”
Find where this device is located & this building tells you what happens here. It also gives you a clue & moves us to the next point.
Forth Point :
So now I bring you full circle. here you have reached the building where this king was surrounded by advisers around his Beds of Justice.
He rebuilt the palace & in his court, he was called “The Fair” – but not because of his ethics…
He expelled all Jews from France, pilfering all their belonging. He had a constant power struggle with the Roman papacy. He was deeply in debt to the multi-national conglomerate (mentioned in the first point) therefore, leading to his destruction of them! He killed its leaders (that you saw in the first point), disbanded all its members & stole all their money & gold.
Having plundered all that was the conglomerate’s keep, he defrauded the people…
He was pretty nasty, so there aren’t too many statues of this king in Paris. There was one of him as a knight in armor on a horse – but the people didn’t think it was a correct likelihood & destroyed it in 1772.
The only one still around shows him laying down on the job. He can no longer listen to the masses. To find him signals the end of his story & the story that ended the world’s first superpower.
Who is this king & where is his statue located and what organization did he destroy?
Enjoy the journey!