Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Foucault pendulum & Paris.

The day before yesterday I visited the Medieval Museum (Musee de Cluny) and the Pantheon. Given it's France with its rich medieval history, I had expected more from the first. Regarding the second: make sure to climb the building (impressive views over Paris), and also make sure to visit the tombs where famous Frenchmen are buried: "Aux grands hommes la patrie reconnaisante".  Among those buried there are Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, and Jean Jaurès. The Pantheon also houses the Foucault pendulum -- a device to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. Created in 1851 it was the first proof of the rotation of the earth. Check out the Wikipedia page for an illustration.
Oh, and while in Paris, make sure to visit the Grande Mosquee de Paris. To be more precise, have (sweet) tea in the tea-house next door, smoke hookah and have some of their amazing pastries. A brilliant place in paris to read and work!
Tea and pastries!
The card you see in the picture above in the bottom left is my Carte Navigo. If you're in Paris for longer than a week and plan to use the metro a lot: get one. If I understood the lady at the desk correctly, though, you have to pretend not to be a tourist. :). Also, if possible, make sure to be in Paris during the "Fete de la musique". A great evening during which there is music at every street corner, and people are out and about: dancing, drinking, etc. I spent it at Montmatre and jumped at techno music right next to the Sacre Coeur cathedral. Fantastic!



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