55, bd. JOURDAN

One thing that I truly love about Paris, is the fact that one can walk around the city — get completely lost and turn around and 1) always find a Metro stop that can take you right back home 2) always run into either a boulangerie or a café and 3) surely find an amazing cultural or historical sight lurking just beyond the surface!

In this case no. 3 happened to me as I was strolling through the 5ème. I had gotten lost in getting off of the Luxembourg stop of the RER in a backstreet that I’d only really explored when looking for cheap Chinese and Lebanese fare. Yet, suddenly I found myself on Rue Pierre and Marie Curie, and before I knew it I was staring at the original research facility of the famed Franco-Polish scientist herself! The Curie Museum and Institute.

The place was open all day, there was hardly a soul in there — save for some die-hard fans such as myself. AND they had restored not only her original office, but also the lab where she conducted her first experiments. Now I though that seeing her tomb at the Panthèon (which turned out being just a couple of blocks away) was cool, but this was beyond great. Haha, I know I’m sounding like a nerd now — but truly, if you’re passionate about anything (food, or art, or underground ossuaries) Paris will find a way of surprising you.

I walked out of the building feeling overjoyed, with a Marie & Pierre Cuirie poster in hand, and this great photo taken in the garden behind the Curie Institute. I’m debating making it a Facebook profile picture … but maybe I could also just cherish it forever.

3 years ago Comments (View)