Many Facets of Paris' Attractions

Bicycle rides, open top bus tours are really nice ways to enjoy major cities. We covered a lot of attractions on the bike in London and on the bus in Paris. With the Paris visit pass that we bought, it came with a package where for one certain day, you could get on and off the open rooftop buses at specific stops.

The weather was great and best of all, there was no obstruction between you and the buildings. No glass panes that stops the breeze and no unsightly objects on the screens. We took the bus tour around Notre Dame, through the Latin quarters and towards Montparnasse Tower, which was our destination anyway, if we were to take the subway. We went pass the hotel Les Invalides, however we went forward and did not stop at this spot.

The Pantheon, built with inspiration from her sister in Rome, is now a burial place for various famous French. Victor Hugo's tomb is in the crypt of this building. This is sometimes referred to as the people's temple.

Inside the Pantheon, the columns and domes were decorated with sculptures and paintings, each with their own stories to tell. From the dome, hangs a steel cable holding a steel ball, forming a pendulum which was used to show time. This is called the Foucault pendulum, named after the French physicist who performed this experiment. The pendulum, being free hanging, swings on a certain plane, even as the Earth turns. Each hour was then represented with 11degrees. We compared the time when we entered and the time we left, nearly one hour, and this was presented correctly on the scale shown.

The modern art museum in London, Tate Modern was free to public. I quote the tour guide on the river cruise, 'If you have been there before and had seen modern art, you will know why it is free' ^.^
However that was not the case for the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris. We were not a fan of modern art, but still, the architecture was amazing. It looked like an incomplete structure with exposed pipes and ventilation and support structures. There were many people just sitting on the slope before the center, admiring this bizarre building, which by itself is considered art. Modern art.