Getting into the Swing of Things

The weather has been wonderful, a bit on the coolish side...very walkable.   Saturday had a 60% chance of rain, we hit the 40%.  Sunday was partly sunny, temps around 70...eat your heart out, AZ.

We had our moules et frites last night.  I wasn't in the mood for taking photos; see last year's blog for pics.  We just wanted to chill out.  Because it was Saturday night, there was a line for tables but it's a big place & we were seated quickly.

We did the Arts et Metiers museum on free museum Sunday.  I would characterize it as a museum of the history of scientific development.   Anyone with a science background would enjoy it, I did.  Trying to photograph the exhibits is a nightmare.  Everything is in glass cases & with the lighting & windows, reflections obscure alot.

I would give you a link to their website but it is truly lousy, doesn't tell you anything.  Click on the little British flag for the English version & maybe 5% converts to English.

Having lived them, I particularly enjoyed the innovations from the mid to the end of the 20th century.  Perhaps a sign of one's advancing years is when things you enjoyed as a kid show up in museums.

Does anyone remember Polaroids?  (See what I mean by reflections?)

OTOH, if you think digital readouts are new, here's an 18th century version.

Here is an early American farm tractor steam powered 1878, made by Taylor.

Those windows are reflections from behind me.

















The Foucault (pronounced "foo' koh") Pendulum exhibit has changed.  An entire room was devoted to the earlier pendulum display.  The arc was 30 - 40 feet so it was easy to see the change in a short time.  Now it's on a wimpy little table.







We went to the display the first thing, then again just before we left.  But I forgot to take a "before" photo so I could take "after" from the same location.  We could just barely see that the plane of the pendulum swing had rotated due to the earth's rotation.

For more on the how & why, click HERE for an overly complete explanation.  The first few paragraphs will do.
 

Here's the display of the early PC's

In Bozeman, Montana there is a fabulous museum on the history of the PC.  Why Bozeman?  Cuz the PC hobbyist/collecter who created & runs it lives there.

There is a miniature rendering of the Statue of Liberty outside the museum...it pops up all over Paris.  The French are very proud of their gift to us. 

Afterwards, we strolled over to Place de la Republic which is receiving a grand makeover, progress since last year but still not finished.  They did sandblast the statue so the base is now a sparkling white.















Notice the similarity?  Apparently the French prefer their really grand statues to be ladies in robes holding something high in their right hand.  Susanne said the Republic lady seemed to be holding a marijuana plant.

I'm always restaurant shopping, checking out the menus.  Just south of Republic is a cous cous place & a Tibetan restaurant, we'll have to try both.  Susanne asked "What's Tibetan food?"  Having never experienced it, all I could muster was that it is served extensively in Tibet.

We had a light lunch at Republic, then strolled back to the apartment.  Walking from Arts et Metiers (also the name of the Metro stop) to Bastille seems way too far til you take the time to do it.  Dinner was at a pizza joint nearby, not nearly as good as Tony's which BTW is still closed.  There's a cheerful sign saying they're closed for renovations but after a year, they ain't coming back.  I'll take a pic next time we're near there.

Before I close, another "kindness of the French" story.  Sparing you the details, I need a one page Word file printed.  For years & years, there were internet cafes sprinkled about, even last year.  Now they seem to be scarce. In the olden days web/email access meant spending hundreds to thousands for a computer which many couldn't afford so they rented computer time at the cafes as did travelers.   I would speculate that the low cost of laptops & the spread of smart phones provided this capability very cheaply.  But I digress.

We stopped at our nearest pharmacy & purchased 10 euros of OTC items.  As we left, Susanne suggested we ask them if they knew where a cafe was.  This we did & the response from the owner was "I'll print it for you."   He motioned for me to come behind the counter, insert my thumb drive & proceed.  Except, that PC didn't have a word processor.  Not to worry, he took me to another PC in the back room.  It had everything, OpenOffice & a printer.  The doc loaded but he/we couldn't get it to print.  Meanwhile, he had to dash out to wait on customers.  I was ready to let it go, I was too much of a bother, he had a business to run.  He was determined...there was yet another PC upstairs.  He took the thumb drive, disappeared for a few minutes, then returned.....voila!  thumb drive & one printed sheet in hand!  Many more 'merci beaucoups'.