Quartier Latin

Across the Seine River from the Ile de la Cité is the Latin Quarter, which as you can imagine is full of energy.... And tourists.

We strolled our way through and ended up at the Panthéon, originally a cathedral inspired by Greek architecture and dedicated to St-Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. The monument was deconsecrated in 1791 during the Revolution and declared the national Pantheon. In the 19th century the revolving powers that be changed it back to a church, then back to a pantheon. Since 1885 when Victor Hugo was buried there it has remained the final resting place for France's most revered figures (eg. Voltaire, Marie Curie). It is also the site where Léon Foucault introduced the pendulum to demonstrate the theory that the world turns.

Tomorrow's journeys include a visit to Paris' underground sewer system, the Catacombs, Champs élysées and the Arc de triomphe.