I was with some tour clients last week, and as we crossed from the Avenue George V and across the Place de l’Alma to drive along the Right Bank, one of the kids asks, “What’s that golden Hershey Kiss?” “Oh, that’s a replica of the Statue of Liberty Flame,” I reply, explaining how it was a gift from the International Herald Tribune to Paris for its 150th anniversary back in the 1980s. “It’s become a sort of memorial spot because Princess Diana’s car crashed in the tunnel beneath it.”
The girl’s grandfather then says, “Not that one, the big thing that looks like a gold dome across the other side of the bridge?” I turn around to see what they’re talking about, and suddenly remember talk of the new Russian Orthodox Cathedral being built there. It has been an enormous construction site for the past few years, but last month they placed the first of five golden onion-style domes — typical of Russian Orthodox churches — that will grace the final monument housing a bilingual school, church and cultural center. As it’s just a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower, it will be hard to miss this gilded addition to the Parisian skyline. And yes, before they added the cross it did indeed look like a giant golden Hershey Kiss.
