Or "Don't stand just there at noon."Thinking back on last year's big trip, one of the stand outs was the Musée des Arts et Metiers (previous posts here and here) and this is one of the items from the first gallery of instruments.
I don't recall what it is, but I reckon it's pretty ace. I mean - with one of these in the [stately home] garden you should be able to pull off a top notch locked-room mystery, no problem, and shoot the Pope while proving the curvature of the earth. Your only problem was going to be coming up with something better and teaching the butler to load it while keeping clear of the barrel.
I'd like to thank Greg for making sure we didn't miss this. With the Pitt Rivers Museum, it's one of the great 'secret museums' of the world.
James
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Hehe - you're welcome - it was one of the highlights of our last stay in Paris ... well, at least it was for me- Eileen on the other hand, maybe not so much.
As for what that is: elementary, really - sunlight is focused through the magnifying glass onto a fuse, and tiny cannonballs are then launched - it's a late 18th C. "Garden Cannon" - used to keep cats out of your Fleur de Lys-styled boxwoods!
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