In which we go to the Cité des Sciences

Sapphire, Ezio, and Cherry all thought that it would be fun to go to the Cité des Sciences at some point during the break, and Thursday seemed like a good day to go. First, though, I went to the doctor, who assured me that there was nothing wrong with me, but referred me for an abdominal ultrasound because he didn't want to make the people in the bureaucracy angry. (Also, because though I don't have a tendency toward hypochondria, having a doctor tell me that I probably have a ticking time bomb in my stomach that's likely to rupture at any moment is not particularly good for my mental health.) I have that coming up on Tuesday morning while the kids are in school.

So, after I got back from the doctor and packed a lunch and tossed some clothes in the washing machine and started the dishwasher, we set out. Our original plan was to go to the Cité des Enfants, and maybe to the submarine (which we haven't been to yet), and then to see how much time there was left. Unfortunately, when we got there it appeared that everyone else in the Paris metro area had had the same idea. The only open spaces for the Cité des Enfants were for the 5:00 session (too late) and the submarine reservations were completely sold out. Furthermore, both the automatic ticket machines and the ticket desks had what looked to be 30+ minute lines, and I'm just not that patient, so we went downstairs and found a bench to eat our lunches on, then headed back upstairs to the science museum (which we have passes for, and which doesn't require reservations).

There is a new exhibit there on food which Sapphire and I were excited about getting to see (Cherry and Ezio less so), but we discovered once we got up there that it was another exhibit that required a reservation (to ease overcrowding) and since I was not about to wait in the ticket lines, we decided to skip it. Instead, we went across the hallway to an exhibit called jeux et lumière, or games and light, which I had somehow never noticed before. We spent over an hour breaking light up with prisms of various shapes, using lenses and mirrors to display pictures on screens, and multiplying ourselves with mirrors.

After that we headed for an exhibit showing how protective clothing (for athletes, motorcyclists, astronauts, etc) is designed and made. Cherry was very excited because there were motorcycles for her to look at, and videos of crashes to watch. Sometimes I'm not sure about this kid.

Next, we headed over to the mathematics section, because Sapphire and Ezio wanted to go in the big spinning room that is used to demonstrate the Coriolis effect. We parked the stroller outside (Cherry had insisted that she needed one when we dropped our things off at the coat check) and waited in line for our turn on the ride. Once we were inside, and the attendant had delivered the safety lecture, they started the room spinning. We spent our 5 minutes or so inside watching what happened when we threw balls (provided) or tried to walk in a straight line. By the time we left Sapphire had figured out how to adjust for the effect and was hitting the targets with her throws.

Before we left, the kids wanted to watch a 3D movie, so we headed down to the theatre. We managed to snag the last 4 seats for the showing, and watched a film on the Apollo landing. I wonder if I was the only one who found it ironic that the astronauts in the film were wearing suits with American flags on them and speaking French. (And yes, I realize that we're in France and all that.)

On the way out we played for a little while at the jardin des vents et des dunes, which came very highly recommended. We, unfortunately, were not particularly impressed, so I think we probably won't be going back. It's the sort of playground where it's fairly easy for a small group to block access to a large part of the playground, thereby making it not much fun for anyone else.