In which we take advantage of the Journeés du Patrimoine (Part 4)

After lunch, we headed over to the Sorbonne, arguably the oldest university in Europe. (Oxford is the other candidate.) We saw academic robes and a gigantic and beautiful auditorium. Then I sat in the courtyard with Cherry, who insisted on removing her shoes and socks, while Blaise and the big kids went to see another wing of the building. I'm frequently amazed at just how compactly massive buildings are in Paris. We stopped near some nearby fountains to look at the outside of the chapel for the Sorbonne (it's closed for renovations right now) and to eat some cookies.

Next, we walked to the Bibliotheque Sainte-Genevieve, which was beautiful. Cherry was beginning to be a bit cranky by now, so I spent less time in the library itself than did Blaise, Sapphire, and Ezio. The big kids found bookmarks upstairs, which upset Cherry, until we discovered that they had the same bookmarks downstairs. Then she tried to bargain with me.
"Cherry, you may pick 2 bookmarks."
"But Sapphire has 3 bookmarks."
"Sapphire needs more bookmarks because she uses them in her books."
"I can use them in my books."
"But you only read one book at a time."
"It's OK Mommy. I can read 3 or 4 books at a time."
We compromised on 3 bookmarks for Cherry, which gave her something to chew on for the rest of the day.

Afterwards, we went across the street to the Pantheon, which is normally 8 euros. It is definitely not worth 8 euros, unless you are desperate for something to spend money on in Paris, or you really like looking at naked people fighting in battle. All three kids commented on that one.

We were hoping to go through a school afterward, but the line to get in was absolutely enormous, and not moving at all, so we passed. Instead, we went to what used to be the École Polytechnique, which was not particularly impressive. Now it's just another government building, and if there were vestiges of former beauty in the building we certainly weren't given the opportunity to see them.

We headed for the RER station via the Jardin des Plantes and took the train home.