Hazy, somewhat overcast today so slept in a little and decided to give my legs a rest and take in a museum instead of traipsing aimlessly around the city -- of course, you can imagine how well that plan went. Back onto the Metro (slowly realizing that Paris is a city defined by the Metro and walking -- very few bicycles on the streets -- the way they drive around here, I can't fault people for that choice -- and given how many people live here, there are relatively few cars -- probably because there's next to no parking except on the streets -- so people either walk or take the Metro to get anywhere) and off to the fascinating Musee des Artes and Metiers (Museum of Arts and Measures) -- think you need to have an element of Nerdite in your genes to appreciate it!
There are signs here for almost everything so figured it's be a piece of cake to find this place -- not much else of interest in that neighborhood to compete for signage. Got to the right stop (which just happened to have a boulangerie at the exit -- of course, had to grab a quick croissant and coffee), and promptly headed in the wrong direction -- had a fifty-fifty chance of going the right way but had to walk a block and a half to find a building with a number on it (unforuntately it was 27 instead of the desired 60) so reversed course and three blocks later came to where number 60 should've been only to find the entire block was taken up by a modern building housing the wholesale operations for a large clothing manufacturer. So what's guy to do -- I just kept going -- figuring if I walked around the area enough I'd eventually find it -- makes sense, right?
A few blocks later I turned down the rue St Dennis -- figuring maybe it's somewhere down that street -- and found myself on a narrow street lined with small women's clothing stores -- I thought, very avant gard fashion styles displayed in the windows -- a little risque -- but, hey, this is Paris. After about a block and a half, I started noticing quite a few young and not so young women standing on the sidewalks smoking -- and were they dressed up -- almost like they were going clubbing, only it was 10:00 in the morning, and short, short black skirts, nylons with garter belts showing and low cut blouses seemed a bit out of place -- then it dawned on me, they weren't girls working in the shops taking a smoke break, they were "working" girls in the true sense. Took another right turn down an alley that led to where I didn't care as long as it was somewhere out of the area. In retrospect, it ocurred to me that while I was as presentable as any of the men walking on that street, no one even said "Bonjour" -- didn't know whether to be pleased or insulted!
Ten minutes later I found my way to the musee -- of course it was the employee's entrance and the main entrance was another two blocks away -- but I made it -- and it was worth it!! Turns out the building had a sign but you had to be inside a walled courtyard to see it and from the outside, it looked like a church or nunnery, not a museum. Founded in 1794, it showcases scientific advancement from the 12th century to present with over 2400 inventions on display including things like Lavoisier's laboratory (famous chemist), Leyden bottles (electricity), Foucault's pendant (proved the earth is spinning), Galilee's telescopes and a bunch of things invented by guys I vaguely remember reading about in textbooks many years ago. If you think of a scientific instrument, they have one there that's original. Entire sections on early measuring techniques/tools, early clocks, scales, weaving machines, early uses of levers/wedges/pulleys, stamping machines, glass making, etc... -- like I said it's a geek's paradise! Airplanes, cars, bicycles, trains, ships, cranes, calculators, lightbulbs, communication devices, cameras, moving picture machines, magic boxes, radiation detectors, etc.... Three hours and a bit more walking than I had planned on, but it was worth it!
Hot chocolate in France is supposedly a big deal so decided to try one in the museum's cafe -- rich, thick, chocolatey -- went down real easily -- could quickly become very habit-forming! Will have to do a taste comparison at other places in the neighborhood!
Planning on running out in a bit to do some grocery shopping -- breakfast here, as a meal is really different than in the States. Eggs for a morning meal is apparently not real common -- and don't even ask to have them scrambled or in an omelet unless you want to be given a blank stare. Most Parisians seem to stick with a small baguette with or without butter and a three sip expresso to get their day going. Lunch is often a big meal and then a much smaller meal at dinner time rounds out the day. Plus, ham is all over the place here while beef of any kind is scarce -- don't even mention turkey (they have no clue) -- and you can maybe get Italian cold cuts in an Italian deli or restaurant. Salmon is big for breakfast and ground fish seems to be unusually popular any time of day.
French fries go by a number of different names depending upon how "fancy" the restaurant is trying to be -- and "country potatoes are an unknown -- maybe I'll find them when I get out in the country! Hot dogs are big in the neighborhood I'm in now whereas they were not to be foiund anywhere in the hotel neighborhood. The French are serious about their food when they want to be -- closest thing to fast food are panni's and kebobs in little hole-in-the-wall places -- they have McDonald's and Starbucks in the tourist areas (they seem to be popular with some locals) but don't bother looking for them anywhere else -- they don't exist! I've also never seen so many pizza places outside of New York or Chicago -- need to try one in the near future.
Have a load of photos that I can't seem to upload -- will try to work on that this evening! They're way more interesting tha my written ramblings.
