Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 10
Walking the Line: the Arago Memorial
It is 8 km across Paris along the Paris Meridian. It can readily be walked in a day or
strolled in a couple of days. Here all the characteristic kinds of neighborhoods of the
city are sampled ( Fig. 39 ). The following catalogue lists the locations from south to
north of the Arago medallions, according to Benoit Rives on the website of the Paris
Observatory, and the number in parentheses is the number of medallions at each site.
The number listed is more than a dozen less than the 135 quoted as the number installed
and a few of the medallions are located in places to which access is now denied.
I did my field work in 2004 and found that the positions of some of the medal-
lions were obscured by road works and might or might not be uncovered or replaced
when the road works are finished. Some I could not find at all, although their loca-
tions were clear, because they may have been covered by asphalt; some had been
prised off their mounts, perhaps by vandals. The extant number of medallions is
considerably less than 135.
This catalogue uses serial numbers to identify the medallions in the pictures and
descriptions that follow and to map the route if the meridian is walked from south
to north. The meridian line is marked on the commonly used pocket street directory
of Paris called Guide Indicateur des Rues de Paris avec les stations du Métropolitain
les plus proches, par Arrondissement et Communes de Banlieue published by
A. Leconte and is the line dividing columns M and N on the maps. Features along
the walk are described on the following pages.
Take the RER train to the station at Cité Universitaire. Cross the Bvd
Jourdan into the campus.
14th Arrondissement
1-10.
Cité Universitaire, on a line between the Cambodian pavilion and the Canadian
pavilion, and passing by the Victor Lyon Foundation (10 medallions)
Cross Bvd Jourdan into the Parc Montsouris, using the entrance by the
RER station.
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