Paris in a Week Part 3: Kiwis on the Move!

Back to the Pantheon and failed attempt number two We all headed back to the Pantheon, and it was everyone's first time there, so we were quite impressed to see how gigantic it really is once you're inside. Warren tried to get free admission for being a relative, but the ladies at the admission booth didn't buy it at all and we all paid our way. The Pantheon used to be a church, and was then converted to a monument for the great thinkers of France. Emile Zola, Volatire, Madam and Monsieur Curie, and others are buried in the vaults below, including Grandpa. We strolled around above ground, looked through the Soufflot book at the library (only in French, though) and bought a postcard with Soufflot's painted image on it. One of the attractions to the monument is the Pendulum, a large brass ball which hangs from the cupola and swings back and forth eternally, powered by the Earth's rotation (that's as scientific as I'll get). Downstairs is the crypt and all of the historical info about the building and the changes of the Pantheon over the years. The Dome was closed for renovations after the big Paris Christmas storm, so we couldn't go up there.

Paris by foot and failed attempt number three For the rest of their stay in Paris, W&P covered a lot of the town-all by foot-and were only rained on twice (and hailed on twice as-that's a Parisian spring). Not big into the museums, they did manage to get into the Catacombs and all of the way up and down the Champs-Elysées. We saw French actor/director Vincent Landon filming up at Place de la Contrescarp, and ate escargot (snails) at a little French place off rue Montorgueil with fellow Tortoise traveller and Paris German expat, Henning. But W&P wanted the ultimate souvenir, and thus returned again to the Café Soufflot, with a plan to snatch a coffee mug. No can do--the very kind French waiter recognized them, and stood very close to their table the entire time. This waiter's been around.

So Penny and Warren are off to the French Alps and then Switzerland, full of French wine and cheese, soggy and cold from French weather, and definitely in better shape from all of their walking. Hopefully next time we meet up will be in sunny New Zealand!

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