Well, the weather was still on the gloomy side, but not unpleasant. I decided it was the perfect hiking weather, so I took off for the Jardin du Luxembourg…

Now, having just re-read The Da Vinci Code, I decided to crack open my Fodor's Guide to The Da Vinci Code (yes, there is one and, yes, I bought it). I had decided to check out the "pagan sundial" that's supposed to exist in the Church of St Sulpice, but it soon became an obsession to find all the little 5-inch brass discs I could spot that mark the original Paris Meridian Line that was out-voted as Prime Meridian in the 19th Century in favor of Greenwich. There are well over 100 of these discs, but I decided to just look for the ones beginning in the Luxembourg Gardens and walking north through the Palais Royal.

I have to say, there are sure a lot more folks jogging and skating and bicycling than there ever were when I lived here! A lot less smoking, too, to my relief. It took a while to find the first 3 in the gardens, then I went to St Sulpice and saw the "gonome" which is not on the Paris Meridian (nor on the site of a former pagan temple) as Dan Brown indicated, though it is a north-south Rose Line. The sundial cuts diagonally about two-thirds across the transcept and was installed to accurately measure the equinoxes and solstices in order to predict the date Easter should be celebrated (the Sunday nearest the first full moon after the vernal equinox – who knew?). It was this device that first allowed astronomers to figure out that the earth is slowing its rotation by just over 45 seconds every century! Otherwise, the church was pretty dim inside and rather ugly on the outside.

Instead of continuing north, I took a large detour to the east, wandering through the 6e (found more cow statues!) until I got to Boulevard St Michel where I bought a sandwich and strolled over to the little park in front of my favorite little church ever – St Julien-le-Pauvre. It's not only the oldest église in Paris, but it has incredible acoustics. I highly recommend attending a concert there if you can swing it. Right next to it is the famous English bookstore Shakespeare & Company, another fave.

From the park, I hit the gauche side of the Seine continuing east and descending the quai steps to the Ports of Montebello and de la Tournelle. These are right across from Notre Dame… and, if you're a Highlander TV series fan, it's where Duncan's barge is moored in the latter seasons when he's in Paris. (Whereas the Shakespeare & Company bookshop was ostensibly Watcher Central.)

I then walked back and crossed the bridge to Notre Dame and was assailed by bagpipe music (!) before ducking down into the Crypte Archéologique where old Roman ruins had been excavated. Then, it was off to the Palais Royal to resume my search for the Arago discs. I found several going north, slanting through the southern corner of the building, then retraced my steps – after a chocolat Bailey's at the Café Le Nemours, one of the oldest in Paris – and began picking up discs going south from the Palais through the entrance and Cour Carrée of the Louvre. There are supposedly 3 more discs inside the Denon wing of the museum, but it had already closed by the time I got there. I'll have to verify their existence on my return trip.

All Arago-ed out, I decided to take the metro to the Champs Elysees to catch the movie Chromophobia. I took the metro at the Carrousel du Louvre… where several more cow statues were displayed. I finally asked the woman in the art supply store there (they were selling little paper maché cows you could decorate yourself!) what the deal was with the cows and she handed me a map with there locations all over the city. According to one placard, the must be at least 159 of them, but they might not all be on display. I only saw 3 of the 5 at the Carrousel, so perhaps they have some of them more hidden?

At the Champs Elysées, the movie had just started so I decided to head back to the hotel after grabbing more Vietnamese take-out. I immediately crashed, having clocked almost 20,000 steps. This means, of course, that I'll NEVER get properly on France time. Sigh.

Tomorrow, I head to Cognac by fast train and meet up with Ellen. Internet access is dicey, so it may be a while before I can post again. In the meantime, amusez-vous bien!