The Pantheon

Athens is not the only one with a Partheon, Paris too has one, although its purpose is a little bizare to me.

Firstly the building itself is amazing. It stands out from the many buildings around it and is a fabulous piece of architecture. I was there just after Christmas so there where still like a thousand Christmas trees with ribbions in them on the outside of the entrance. Inside the huge walls are home to frescos which tell stories important to the hearts of Parisians and all French people really.

As with many of the other buildings in Paris (and France) it has its history in the roots of Christianity, which is unsurprising really as it started its life out as a church in honour of the Saint of Paris St Genevieve and still retains some of her relics. Her story is one that is told as part of the frescos. Today the building has been declassified as a church and handed to the French people to be used as a mausoleum where some of the most important people in French history lay.

So basically there is two levels. The ground level where the frescos are, and to walk around this area is amazing as it realies solely on natural light and in winter is quite cold I can assure. Then there is downstairs where all the dead people are. It is so freaky! Iwalked around there a little bit but was kind of put off by the fact that I was seeing dead people and not in a sixth sense way, which to think about it would have also been bizare. Some of the people of note "resting" here include Emile Zole, Marie Curie and Victor Hugo.

The buildings surrownding the Pantheon are used by the University of Paris. So there is this great youthful vibe with the streets and buildings spewing out hot mess twenty something Parisian students who all have complex and messy lives and continously dress in black, I practically self identified as all of them.