Our first full day in Paris and after a filling breakfast in a café across the street from our hotel, we headed over to the Musée de Arts et Métiers (the Museum of Arts and Crafts).
Ah yes, a museum dedicated to science and engineering nerds.
Outside the museum is a statue of Zénobe Gramme, the father
of the dynamo. A dynamo is an electrical generator that
creates direct current. Dynamos
were the first practical electrical generators capable of delivering power for
industry, and the foundation upon which many other later electric-power
conversion devices were based.
Inside the museum were model displays of various types of
technology and engineering. For example…
Spiral staircases:
A device to raise an obelisk:
An excavating machine:
Bridges:
Lady Liberty’s head being constructed:
A flying machine:
And, of course, a dynamo:
Among its collection is an original version of the Foucault
pendulum. Due to the height of the pendulum, it wasn’t possible to take a good
picture of it.
After leaving the museum, we walked around a bit, ending up
at the Louvre Museum. We had entry tickets for later in the trip but took the
opportunity to see the museum lit up at dusk.
Eventually we sought out a restaurant for dinner and then
turned in for the night. Long day tomorrow as we were making the trip to Versailles.
Bonsoir.
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