How We Are Spending Our Kids' Inheritance: Friday, July 12

Our full day in Paris started with a walk to the Pantheon. As we walked in front of the Hôtel de Ville, we saw several people making a huge display made of roses in support of Paris hosting the Gay Olympics in 2018:

I did not know that there were Gay Olympics. Maybe there's some rally or something going on for it, because we saw more gay men than I've ever seen before in city tonight. The gay bars were packed.

Okay - back to our tour. In December, 2007, we were in Paris with our children and my parents; stayed just across from the Pantheon, but we never went in. What a loss! It's a fantastic place, built on the site of a basilica built by King Clovis in 507 A.D. The present-day building was the brain child of Louis XV. It was completed in 1790. There are several historical figures buried there, including Pierre and Marie Curie (Marie was Polish, which I did not know); Victor Hugo; Emile Zola; Alexandre Dumas; Jean Jacques Rousseau; and Voltaire, who had perhaps the coolest tomb.

One part of the ceiling

(Having read a lot of Voltaire for my degree, and then teaching about him and having students read Candide, I was in awe. - Dan)

After the Pantheon, we roamed the Latin Quarter, looking for the Arènes de Lutèce, which is the ruins of a Roman amphitheater. You would not think it would be hard to find, but in Paris, just about everything is hard to find... even a decent-sized garage.

From there, we were practically starving, because we hasn't earn for maybe three hours, so we hit the metro to have lunch at La Cadole, a place discovered by our friend, Will Thompson, and his partner who were just here. It was trés delicieuse. Dan had ravioli in a ridiculous cream sauce and lapin, which is rabbit.

I had a sautéed goat cheese and a fish filet that was so flaky, I had to eat it like an American (with my fork in my right hand). That, no doubt, gave us away as foreigners. (Nothing else, of course, did. Not the camera. Not the tennis shoes. Not the accents. - Dan)

Fortified with a wonderful meal, we headed to the Grand Palais, which was closed. However, we got some great views of the Tour Eiffel:

In addition, we got to see a load of gendarmes, who apparently we beginning their patrols in anticipation of Bastille Day. The Champs Élysées had the barricades already set up and the flags flying. It was an impressive sight, but given the throngs of people who flooded Paris today, I am glad that we are leaving.

On our way back, we walked and walked and got about two map millimeters toward our destination, so we opted to take the metro. Good call, Vicki and Dan! We had been out for almost eight hours, and if we had kept walking, I think that we would have been out for another eight. When we got to the hot room, I cranked the air conditioning and Dan went to the Pompidou Center. I don't have much patience for modern art, and after seeing his photos, I'm glad that I passed that up.

Dan - I cannot believe Vicki would pass up the chance to see such masterworks as these:

This is made of panty hose material - and each one has about a pound of spice. Smells good...