PARIS IN TIME

Dill is a Harvard historian but this commentary on the buildings and boulevards of Paris is definitely not highbrow. Dill tells you which are the oldest churches in the city--St. Germain-des-Pres; St. Denis, in an industrial suburb seldom visited by tourists; St. Chapelle, burr by the saintly Louis IX whose 13th century reign marked ""one of the great moments in Western Civilization"" -- and a handful of others. He provides obligatory capsule summaries of the reigns of the monarchs responsible for the Louvre, the Tuileries and the Luxembourg Palace. The grandiose building projects of Louis XIV, who employed both La Vau and the Italian baroque architect Bernini are given fairly full treatment though the massive plans for Versailles are beyond Dill's scope. Like any tourist guide, Dill points out the spots where the dramatic events of the French Revolution took place--even #396 Rue St. Honore, Robespierre's lodging. And coming to the 19th century there's the story of Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann and the military rationale behind those wide, wide boulevards. Very standard, conventional information and not nearly as stylishly presented as Michelin.