What a day! This was a star-studded day when it comes to tourist attractions. I started my day with a 6-7 mile run along the river Sein, past Notre Dame Cathedral, through the streets of Paris, past Musee d'Orsay, close to the Eiffel tower, back along the other side of the river, through the gardens and statues at the Louvre and back. Just another humdrum morning of jogging. We checked out of our hostel and left our luggage in storage.
We decided to start our day at Jardin Luxemburg, a very large garden, full of people reading books, statues, joggers, trees, and fountains. It was a pretty relaxing walk. We had a chance to watch a couple of young men play tennis. One had a very impressive topspin forehand.
From the garden, we made our way to the Pantheon. This gigantic building was once a church and now contains a crypt for many famous French heros. We were able to walk to the top (over 200 steps) and get a breathtaking view of Paris. In the Pantheon is a reinactment of Foucault's pendulum, which was used to demonstrate that the earth revolves by showing that the pendulum's motion stays the same while the earth rotates beneath it. This is a great location for a pendulum, as the ceiling of the highest dome is 67 meters high (200 feet or so). The architecture of the Pantheon is unbelievable!
We checked in to our new hostel (we couldn't find two consecutive nights in the same place) and took the Metro to the Louvre for the evening. Here we saw (of course) the Mona Lisa and countless other statues, paintings, and relics. This is the world's largest museum, and it would take many days to do it justice. It was nice to have Rick Steves' audio tour for parts of the museum to get some interpretive help. The number and quality of exhibits in the Louvre is overwhelming. Observing all of this does a few things to me. First, it makes me feel really ignorant. What did I learn in high school and college after all? Certainly nothing much about art. Secondly, it impresses me with the tremendous impact religion has had in the history of humankind. Mary is central to a huge percentage of the art in the Louvre. Quite an unusual emphasis for someone who in the Bible plays an important but unemphasized part.
We took the Metro home, searched for a supermarket (a very loosely used term in Europe), and crashed. We didn't really eat a meal today! We just snacked here and there and were so busy that we didn't really find time to sit for a meal. Tomorrow will be different! The hostels serve breakfast and this is turning out to be our big meal of the day!
Tomorrow ... our last day in Paris!!!
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