On Tuesday morning, Mr. Traveler and I woke up around 8:30, and the house was empty. We hadn’t even heard Cousin C, A, and Baby L leave for their trip. We both showered, packed up our stuff, and planned out the stops for the day.
The first stop was the Musée des Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Industry). Cousin C and A had previously mentioned that they enjoyed this museum, so we decided to give it a try. We had bought a 4-day museum pass, which applied to many of the sites we visited, so it didn’t cost any more to visit a few extra places (in fact, in my opinion, it just added value to the purchase we had already made).
Initially, we walked right past the museum and all the way around the Conservatoire in which it is located. When we eventually found it, we were hoping to find a place to check out coats and bags, but we weren’t able to locate one. I got pretty tired of carrying my backpack around and had to sit and rest on the benches a few times, but Mr. Traveler seemed to gain energy as we went.
 |
| Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers |
The museum provided a historical overview of different technological advances, from bicycles to sewing machines, gears to looms, and car engines to robots.
One of my favorite parts of the museum was the exhibit on looms. It was interesting to see how the cards, working similar to those in an early computer, “told” the loom what designs to create.
 |
| Loom |
I also liked the room in the old church.
 |
| Foucault's Pendulum and the Old Church |
While I thought many of the exhibits were interesting, there was just too much information (with most of the explanations in French) for me to absorb all the details. Mr. Traveler, however, was excited about something in nearly every room we visited, from car engines to mathematical discoveries, to unique musical instruments.
We thought about having lunch in the museum’s café, but it was completely full and seemed to serve rather elaborate dishes. It also smelled strongly of fish, so we decided to grab something near our next stop, the Musée National d'Art Moderne.
Even though we’d already seen a lot of art, we put this stop on our agenda because of the descriptions of the unique building in which it was held. The Centre Georges Pompidou. Commissioned by then President of France, Georges Pompidou, the Centre is created to be ultra-modern, with the color-coded pipes on the outside of the building.
 |
| Centre Georges Pompidou |
We picked up lunch near the Pompidou Center and sat on the concrete. We we tried to eat our sandwiches before the pigeons got to them (or us). Luckily we were successful in this endeavor, but we were soon to realize we’d made a pretty obvious error in planning. A had advised as that each of the museums closes for one day during the week. Some close on Sunday, some on Monday, and some on another day. Of course, we soon found out that the modern art museum is closed on Tuesdays, and we weren’t able to see inside the building, except by peeking through the windows.
I wasn’t ready to head to the train station just yet, though, so I suggested that we stop instead at the Musée d'art et d'histoire du Judaïsme. Cousin C and A told us they hadn’t visited it but that friends had highly recommended it. The museum was only a few blocks away.
When we got to the museum, we first had to go through a metal detector to get into a courtyard.
 |
| Statue of Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the Courtyard |
Inside the museum itself, no pictures were allowed. We grabbed some audio guides, which were free with our Museum Pass, and we made our way through the many rooms of the museum. The museum provided a comprehensive history of Judaism, not only in France, but around the world. Objects from different periods in Jewish history painted a picture of what life was like for Jews throughout the years. The museum obviously addressed the many periods of hardship in the Jewish community. However, I liked how it also provided many examples of how Judaism has thrived throughout the years and provided examples of strong Jewish role models and tradition. I really enjoyed this museum, but felt that there was too much information to absorb in a single visit, especially since so much of the information was brand new to me.
When we finished the museum, we still had a few minutes before it was time to head to the train station. We walked down the street and I forced Mr. Traveler into a McCafé (he actually agreed quickly, but was pretty skeptical), since he had never seen one. He admitted afterward that it was better than he expected.
Finally, it was time to catch our train. We took the Metro to Gare du Nord (the north station) and wandered around the Relay bookstore before it was time to board the train.
 |
| Clock at the Train Station |
We made our way back to Utrecht (once again on a Valentine’s train), stopping in Rotterdam for dinner at Restaurant Engels. When we left Utrecht Centraal, it was like the walking from the entire week finally caught up to us. We couldn’t take another step, and we hailed a cab.
Thinking back on how little we planned for our trip, I’m amazed at how much we found to do and see during our Five Days in Paris. (It’s also no wonder that it took almost a week for me to feel back to normal after all of the walking and information overload.)
If you missed the first 5 installments of our Paris trip, see:
No comments:
Post a Comment