After finishing up shopping and eating near Saint Germain; the Missus and I decided to just wander around a bit and ended up at the Pantheon.
Though we'd visited the area before, we decided to actually enter and check the place out. There was one thing I really wanted to see……in February of 1851, physicist Léon Foucault, assembled scientists at the Paris Observatory and using a simple pendulum and his newly derived sine law to prove the earth rotates. A month later; Napoleon III requested that he repeat the demonstration in the Pantheon in the central dome.
The Pantheon was originally built to be a church to dedicated to the Patron Saint of Paris; St Genevieve, who is said to have saved Paris from the armies of Attila the Hun in 1451. The church was completed in 1790, which coincided with the beginning of the French Revolution. In 1791, the National Assembly determined that the structure be turned into a mausoleum.
Internment can only be presented by the President and approved by parliamentary act.
On the day we visited there was a special exhibit of the works and career of Marie Curie.
Who was the first woman enshrined in the Pantheon in 1995, over 200 years after the first internment. I was especially interested since one of my Mom's favorite movies was Madame Curie.
We decided to check out the crypt and walk among the remains of France's "National Heroes".
We then walked back to the 7th and took a nice break (nap) at the apartment. It was dark when we awoke. We headed off to dinner…..we had enjoyed our meal at Arnaud Nicolas the previous evening so much that we booked a return visit.
You can read my previous post on Arnaud Nicolas….. Let me just say that it was just as delicious on this visit as well.
It's the charcuterie that's the star here. And the service was just as friendly and gracious as the night before.
Arnaud Nicolas
46 Avenue de la Bourdonnais
75007 Paris, France
Our train to Strasbourg wasn't leaving until the next day at 2pm; as is the norm when on vacation, we woke rather early. With no plans we decided to pack, then just start walking.
We ended up strolling down Rue du Commerce in the 15th Arrondissement. It was a less touristy and quite diverse section of the city.
We turned around near the Eglise Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Grenelle.
We walked back and found the Rue de Grenelle Market…..where we just wandered and browsed for a while.
And had a quick coffee and croissant at the corner shop.
Then headed back to the apartment….packed, then caught the metro to Gare l'est…….
Next up….Strasbourg!