Serious Sightseeing

Enough of this nonsense!  Better get into some serious sightseeing before I lose my audience!  

The main destination of our short stayover in Paris was the Musee Cluny - or the Musee du Moyen Age near the Sorbonne.   But on our way there, we bumped into a couple of unexpected "sights" - Le College des Bernardins, recently restored after seven centuries of obscurity.  We went in there to ask for directions to the Cluny and ended up literally gawking at the splendid nave we found ourselves in.  To read more about the locale, go to http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchlife/2008/09/where-culture-i.html

Vault detail

In our three trips to Paris, we never thought of going to the Pantheon, and this time, only stumbled upon it because I looked up a side street and wondered what was the huge dome yonder?  As it turned out, I found the main floor quite unremarkable, although Foucault's pendulum was interesting.  But the crypt was stunning!

Foucault's Pendulum at noon

This photo took me at least 20 minutes because I have to wait for the long corridor to clear!  but it gave me time to figure out the lighting...

Love these curves...

                   

And I'm not the only one who wanted to embrace circular shapes...
                                        

The curved front of the Faculty of Law across from the Pantheon

What struck me, from our very first day, was the abundance of "librairies" throughout the city.  There is literally a bookstore at every corner, and on the left bank, near the Sorbonne, it's not unusual to find two or three on one street!  There is free wi-fi throughout France - but print is still everywhere.   Remarkable!

And voila, even the homeless passes his time reading -