We managed to get our tickets to Paris several months ago using air miles. We had to fly through Chicago to get there. Last week, some disgruntled airport control guy tried to burn down the control tower and managed to dismantle the Chicago's O'Hare flights for several days. Fortunately, by the time it was our turn to fly, all had been restored. The flight was delightfully uncomplicated, and we arrived and could idle before we caught our next flight to Paris. That flight was also painless. Geoff had suggested we take a taxi from De Gaulle airport to his house. Excellent plan. Getting the train from the airport to the city is a bit of a pain in the neck, and not necessarily cheaper. We arrived at Geoff's and managed to relax the rest of the day. Our time is obviously not the time that is operating here. We had a Vietnamese dinner. There's a Vietnamese restaurant a few doors away from Geoff's flat. We chatted then, more or less, slept.
Friday - 10/10
Charlie was to meet Harsha at the IPG (Institute de Global du Monde). After coffee and croissants at a nearby cafe, we left Geoff to work at home and walked to the IPG. Geoff's house is in the Marais District of Paris (right bank near the Pompidieu Center). The IPG is on the left bank near the Jadin des Plantes. A few photos of our walk
A view of Notre Dame from Ile St Louis (next island over from Ile du Cite where Notre Dame sits)
A look up river toward Tour Jacques
We waited for a bit for Harsha. Once he showed up I left Charlie and walked to the Cluny Museum. It's a wonderful, small, medieval museum famous for "The lady and the Unicorn" tapestries. There are also some interesting medieval arts, weaponry, and church artifacts.
There are six Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. One each for vision, taste, smell, touch, sound, and a peculiar last one for desire - the one seen above.
There were several panes of stained glass. This one of St. Martin really appealed to me.
After my museum trip I wandered back toward IPG and went into the Jardin des Plantes - a botanical garden. Lots of joggers and several interesting plants. There is a zoo as well, but I didn't really want to see it. After a bit more wandering I had a jambon-fromage (ham and cheese) on a baguette sandwich.
After lunch I decided to wander to see the Pantheon. During lunch I discovered that it had been built just before the French revolution, and was completed the year the revolution began. It ended up becoming a mausoleum. There are several interesting people buried in there - Monsieur and Madame Curie (she's the only woman in the place at the moment) - Voltaire - Rousseau - Victor Hugo to name a few. Most of the people in there were French heros of the revolution who's names don't mean a lot to me. Here's a view of the ceiling from the inside (the outside was being refurbished.)
The most interesting thing about the building was that it doesn't seem all that big from the outside. I had envisioned a small place. I was really surprised by how large it is on the inside. I couldn't help but think about Dr. Who's Tardis.
The view from the front of the place was also quite nice
I got back to Geoff's about 3. This lion/dragon piece of a fountain was the best view on the way home.
Charlie showed up with Harsha around 6 pm. Geoff and Charlie went out and found some Greek food for dinner. We ate take-out (very nice Greek take-out) at Geoff's.
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