They are like buses …

Foucalt’s pendulums, that is. You wait for one for ages and then along come two at once! Having seen the one in the Musée des arts et métiers earlier I was visiting the Pantheon the next day and the copy that Napoleon III ordered be constructed is hanging from the dome there. Much bigger than the original (as the dome is higher) the Pantheon version also has more interest, with a speaker explaining the purpose and operation of the installation to the audience. It is also protected by a railing and space …

The Pantheon itself is a huge building, the repository of some notable Frenchmen (and a couple of women) mostly writers and philosophers. It was originally built as a church dedicated to Ste. Geneviève and to house the reliquary châsse containing her relics but, after many changes, now functions as a secular mausoleum. The walls are decorated with huge artworks, and several large statues and sculptures are at key places within the building. It is a key building within French history and yet I was not impressed with it, other than the sheer size.

I found the nearby Church of Saint Etienne to be more interesting and welcoming, and far less crowded too. Personal taste, I suppose, but the fact that such a church usually has an organ is also an attractor.