Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Day 3---Paris

July 8, 2014
As we start before today’s journey, I didn’t expect it is also a tired day. However, I have the best experience in Paris so far. The mission of today is going 5 different districts to visit the two star hotels and ask the price per night of a double room; visit butcher shops and food store to list the price of a dozen eggs, a liter of whole milk, and p/kg of rib-eye steak; and take pictures of the most prominent architectural object, the most prominent commercial business, the most prominent tourist attraction, and a two star hotel in each districts. It made me feel like it would be more interesting for me to experience the whole Paris.
When we in the 5th district, we found the Panthéon. The inscription above the entrance reads AUX GRANDS HOMMES LA PATRIE RECONNAISSANTE ("To the great men, the grateful homeland"). By burying its great men in the Panthéon, the Nation acknowledges the honor it received from them. As such, interment here is severely restricted and is allowed only by a parliamentary act for "National Heroes". Its, architect, Jacques-Germain Soufflot, had the intention of combining the lightness and brightness of the gothic cathedral with classical principles. Soufflot died before his work was achieved, and his plans were not entirely followed. The transparency he had planned for his masterpiece was not attained. Nevertheless, it is one of the most important architectural achievements of its time and the first great neoclassical monument. I can’t tell you how greatness it is through the words and pictures, because the only way to feel the greatness is coming to watch it.