I love these signs. They are in front of buildings and monuments all over France and explain what you’re seeing. (I takes photos of these signs to remind me where I was and what I was doing—another advantage of having a digital camera—snapping photos of all sorts of things and there’s absolutely no reason to print or develop them.) It helps, of course, that I can read French and/or have the resources to translate the information when I need to remind myself of the site weeks later!This one was in front of the police
headquarters (on the Ile de la Cite between Notre-Dame and the Palais de Justice) which was the site of an insurrection of Parisians against the German occupation who attacked on 8/15/1944. Over the next days, the courage and actions of the men and women of the Resistance made it easier for the American Infantry to liberate the capital of France on 8/25/1944. The plaque on the building commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Resistance as awarded by President Francoise Mitterrand. It is the work of French sculpture Armand Pierre Fernandez (known as Arman).
The other sign is explaining the Priory of the Saint-Martin-des-Champs church that was reorganized under the protection of King Henri I in the 11th century. It was reconstructed between the 12th and 13th centuries and Pierre de Montreuil, the architect of Sainte-Chapelle, was involved. In 1798, Abbot Gregoire founded the National Conservatory of the Arts and Metiers, a public scientific, cultural, and professional institution, among France’s top higher education establishments. There’s also a museum for all types of trades and crafts installed in this building. The church eventually was annexed to the museum and a library.The museum, which I didn’t visit unfortunately (it was very close to my apartment and I walked by it weekly), includes some 80,000 objects and documents focusing on technology and inventions from the 16th century to the present. 
The original bob from Foucault’s pendulum (2/2/07 post) is here as well as airplanes hanging from the chapel’s ceiling and a third model of our Statue of Liberty—other models are on the Ile des Cygnes (3/30/07 post) and in the Luxembourg Gardens (2/19/07 post).
The original bob from Foucault’s pendulum (2/2/07 post) is here as well as airplanes hanging from the chapel’s ceiling and a third model of our Statue of Liberty—other models are on the Ile des Cygnes (3/30/07 post) and in the Luxembourg Gardens (2/19/07 post).
