A Glass Lion in a Church of Reason

Tuesday, 3rd June was a great day in Paris. We first went to the Musée des Arts et Metiers, which was, currently free, putting it ahead of most museums we’ve visited so far, and uncrowded, putting it significantly ahead of the Louvre which was a zoo.

This museum includes a great range of items, some choice examples of which are shown below. (-And it's in an ex-Abbey church, an added bonus!)


One top one was a life-size model of a lion being attacked by a snake, and with a fly on its flank, all made as a demonstration of the possibilities of spun glass. Some company placement!

Sundials? For weaklings. What we want is a sundial which fires a miniature cannon at the correct hour. Telling the time...

This little item is a mechanical marionette which played for Marie Antoinette. She may have had a rebuild or two, but she's still got her head.


And there were several very old aircraft. This is Adler's steam powered aircraft - it flew, briefly, and crashed. The engine is a work of art...


The unimpressive looking item in the middle is Galileo's telescope. Proof positive it's not the tools, but the user that counts...

Unbeatable, and mentioned by Greg from his last visit (and well spotted Sean, have a warm fuzzy feeling) is Bleriot's original aircraft that he flew the Channel with. Getting up on the gantry was a wobbly vertiginous experience, not enjoyed by many (I hated it more than any flight I've been on) but then, looking at this aircraft that Louis got lost midway in a cloud, gave me a sense of proportion about it all. Brave man, and a bit of a hero. And he had a leg in plaster!


We then went onto the Musée d'Orsay: the Louvre's collection from 1848(ish) to the early 20th century, so it's got 'the good stuff' [according to James! - Ed.] and is light on: a) Jesus & his mum (JDK TM) and has smaller b) crowds and is c) in an old railway station - score.



Oxford's Sheldonian is surrounded by statues known by some as 'the history of beards'. This appeared to be a French version...

A stunning model of the Paris Opera. We couldn't find the coin slot to get the fat lady to sing, but otherwise it was perfect...


Art class was never like this when I was studying...


[... Oh, except for the kids not paying attention in the back - Ed.]

And then some random Paris moments to wrap up. London's Tube iconography is hard to beat, but the Metro's about there, I think.

What, why?

DINNER!
[Cop an eyeful of those Tarts! Snarf, Snarf, smmmfff. - B]


And dinner window shopping...



We managed to have dinner with our friends Eileen and Greg from Toronto, and the waiter kindly took a picture on Eileen's camera (pic stolen from her...) - of himself - then of us!


And a final flag foto from me...


Cheers,
James (with added bits by Bev)