The Pantheon
Trip Start
Jul 23, 2008
1
16
27
Trip End
Aug 14, 2008
Paris,
France
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
We happened upon a bookstore that sells books in English, called the Abbey. It's owned by some Canadians. I had heard of it before, and I have to say it's well worth visiting. It reminds me of something you might see in a village in a Harry Potter book or something. The building its in is beautiful and old, richly carved. The store is tiny, but filled from floor to ceiling with books about anything and everything you could imagine.
DD and I had already run out of reading material, so we were quite happy to look around and find something new to read. The books in the travel/France area I was looking in were precariously stacked in shelves above the stairwell leading downstairs which was also crammed with books. So I had to lean over the precipice of steps to pull out any books I wanted to look at
The Abbey Book Store (Canadian)
. DH and DD had gone towards the back. After I found what I wanted, I headed back to find them. There was only enough room for one person to walk through the aisle at a time. It was heaven for anyone who loves books, hell for anyone with claustrophobia. Despite the craziness of piles of books, the shopkeeper was able to grab a book in seconds that DH had not been able to find in the States! He also had signed copies of "Merde Happens" by Stephen Clarke, so we had to get one of those. That place is a gem.
DD wants to go to the Sorbonne (aka Universite de Paris) so she wanted to see it, naturally. So we headed over there. There's a nice little plaza, with a cool water feature and bistros where we stopped later in the day for a refreshment break. We were serenaded by a not-so-great singer with an unreliable sound system.
Our journey also took us to the Pantheon. DH and I had walked by it on one of our previous trips. It had been late at night. Now, though, we all went inside and got to see its grandeur. We took in the paintings, tapestries, and sculptures. I especially liked the one that says, "Live free or die" in French of course.
We went down into the crypt where many famous people were put to rest. There was also a special exhibition about Zola who eventually found his way to the Pantheon after a scandal during his life. There were only a couple of women, most notably for me: Madame Curie, but Voltaire is there and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and so many others.
We walked around some more, at a nice leisurely pace. We found the street with Berthillon ice cream (supposed to be the best in Paris). The main place was closed, but several places sell it along the same street. So we got some and enjoyed it as we continued our way down the boulevard.
It was another nice day in lovely Paris.
