Seductive Journey: American Tourists in France from Jefferson to the Jazz Age

by Harvey Levenstein

For centuries, France has cast an extraordinary spell on travelers. Harvey Levenstein's Seductive Journey explains why so many Americans have visited it, and tells, in colorful detail, what they did when they got there. The result is a highly entertaining examination of the transformation of American attitudes toward French food, sex, and culture, as well as an absorbing exploration of changing notions of class, gender, race, and nationality.

Levenstein begins in 1786, when Thomas Jefferson instructed young upper-class American men to travel overseas for self-improvement rather than debauchery. Inspired by these sentiments, many men crossed the Atlantic to develop "taste" and refinement. However, the introduction of the transatlantic steamship in the mid-nineteenth century opened France to people further down the class ladder. As the upper class distanced themselves from the lower-class travelers, tourism in search of culture gave way to the tourism of "conspicuous leisure," sex, and sensuality. Cultural tourism became identified with social-climbing upper-middle-class women. In the 1920s, prohibition in America and a new middle class intent on "having fun" helped make drunken sprees in Paris more enticing than trudging through the Louvre. Bitter outbursts of French anti-Americanism failed to jolt the American ideal of a sensual, happy-go-lucky France, full of joie de vivre . It remained Americans' favorite overseas destination.

From Fragonard to foie gras , the delicious details of this story of how American visitors to France responded to changing notions of leisure and blazed the trail for modern mass tourism makes for delightful, thought-provoking reading.

"...a thoroughly readable and highly likable book."—Deirdre Blair, New York Times Book Review

Genres: History, Nonfiction

412 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fascinating book is packed with quotations from published sources and private diaries that segue gracefully into one another to illuminate the changing tastes of American tourists in France from the late eighteenth century until circa 1930. At the same time, it documents the shifting reactions of the French to their American visitors. Particularly intriguing to me were the descriptions of the differences between French and American cultures and lifestyles in the early nineteenth century, and the history of the on-going efforts of race-conscious Americans to undermine French acceptance of racial differences.

The only problem I found with the book was an occasional tediousness in format. It was rather as if the author lined up index cards with apt quotes on them and then added a few words to create paragraphs on each subject. But sometimes it would have been nice to have a subject treated in more depth or to know something about the author of a quotation. That said, there is so much good material here that it is well worth working through the slow parts.

[Farah Mendlesohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

just fascinating.

A really interesting study of changing ideologies of tourism from the 17th to the 20th century. One pleasure was constantly wanting to look up more info on many of the people mentioned.

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After I read this I went back to Susan Coolidge's What Katy Did Next, in which Katy goes to Europe. As it happens, Katy mostly skips Paris, but much of what Levenstein had to say about shifting cultures was spot on: Katy the puritan sees Europe through the eyes of history and culture, her cousin Lilly only as a place to buy fashionable clothes and flirt.

[Matthew Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written and fascinating account of American tourism in France. Not surprisingly, class and gender play a large part in the story, along with changing tastes. Over the period Levenstein considers those factors changed dramatically and so too did who the American tourists were, what motivated them, and what they actually did while in France. Highly recommended.

[Bonnie]

Lots of tantalizing details in here about Gilded Age tourism. Getting my own copy for reference.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very well researched and written look at how Amercian tourism to Paris has changed from the beginning of the 19th century up till the end of the 1920s. It charts changing methods of transportation, the rise of the middle class and its impact on tourism and how the tourists themselves have impacted the French. I feel like I've learnt quite a lot from this book and it shows how informative a book on modern history can be when written by a talented researcher.

[Cretha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book about Americans in France from the 1700s-1930s.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting work of cultural studies. American tourism to France changed dramatically from Jefferson to the Jazz Age. Only the really rich high society could afford to tour Europe in the days of Jefferson until the industrialization of America. Well connected families of relatively old money would spend months if not years touring France and Europe, spending a large part of their time in Paris. With the arrival of the nouveau riche as a result of 'capitalist' ventures the tourism changed from a socialization tourism dominated by males to one in which the mostly male tourists tried to gain a bit of culture. Later when it became feminized males dropped the cultural tourism and it turned to tourism for pleasure. The French were blind to skin color (and may still be) before World War I. They became greatly incensed with the American Expeditionary Force's treatment of African Americans and dark-skinned French people. When the tourist industry started to go along with Southern white tourist's attitudes the government stepped in to stop it as best they could.
The book is an interesting study of how tourists are viewed by others, and by their own countrymen.