Paris Postcard: Love, and the Metric System
My recounting of a recent trip to Paris could bore a reader (though not me) to tears: no art exhibitions, lots of cold rain, a stroll through a single (but favorite) park. I do have one great love story—which you are free to scroll by if you’re not a romantic and/or you fear that someone is always out to steal your phone—in which case, skip directly to an interesting find on the streets of Paris about the metric system.
On our only non-rainy day in the city, my husband and I along with thousands of others flocked to the incomparably beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg. Snapping a few photos, I headed with purpose toward the statue of Saint Genevieve, patron saint of Paris, to get a picture for my French group. Sitting in what would have been the shot, a young man offered to move, along with his girlfriend, out of camera range. I told him he was handsome enough to remain. We chatted for the briefest of moments, I took a few pictures of Saint Genevieve, and we went on our way.
About 15 minutes later in a different section of the park, I heard running footsteps behind me. It was the young man. Sweet and hopeful, he asked if I might forward a copy of the photo to him. I said of course and we perused and chose the best of the four available. During my several attempts to email the photo, he announced that he had decided to propose marriage to his partner (she knew) and that is why they wanted a copy of the picture—to capture the moment just before the proposal. Had I only known, I’d have done a better job of framing them in the photo . . .
On to the metric system. En route from the gardens to dinner, we almost passed by a marker on the recessed wall of a building on rue Vaugirard, featuring a golden line one meter long. Credit to my husband for his discerning eye.
The signage read as follows, translated from the French:
“The National Convention, in order to generalize the use of the metric system, had sixteen marble standard meters placed in the most frequented places in Paris.
These meters were installed between February 1796 and December 1797. This one is one of the last two remaining in Paris and the only one still on its original site.”
And more from Atlas Obscura:
“The “mètre étalon” is a small shelf of marble installed beneath the arcade at 36, rue Vaugirard, right across from the Senate at the Palais du Luxembourg. It’s one of 16 that were installed after, on March 26, 1791, the Académie des Sciences defined the meter for the first time. The only other to survive is at 13, de la Place Vendôme, although unlike the Vaugirard meter it’s been moved from its original location.”
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word..