{"id":69956,"date":"2013-11-27T14:52:09","date_gmt":"2013-11-27T03:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/?p=69956"},"modified":"2013-11-28T11:40:50","modified_gmt":"2013-11-28T00:40:50","slug":"institute-astrophysics-observatory-afpif","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/2013\/11\/27\/institute-astrophysics-observatory-afpif\/","title":{"rendered":"Have you ever been curious enough to visit this building in Paris?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Alliance<\/a>I\u2019ve often wondered why Paris is one of the world\u2019s most visited cities and why it holds such a fascination for tourists \u2013 a fascination I\u2019ve continued to share even while living here.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aside from the obvious assets that make Paris a European capital comparable to London, Rome or Madrid, I think the city has a certain je ne sais quoi<\/i> that makes you never tired of discovering more. Paris always has surprises in store.<\/p>\n

Cliquez ici<\/a> pour lire cet article en fran\u00e7ais.<\/span><\/address>\n

The Observatory, a historic French site<\/span><\/h3>\n

This was definitely the case on Wednesday 6 November when I took part in a trip jointly organised by the Alliance fran\u00e7aise Paris \u00cele-de-France and the Paris Institute of Astrophysics (PIA), two establishments on either side of the Boulevard Raspail in the 6th arrondissement.<\/p>\n

\"Observatoire_Paris_20030404\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had always been aware of the Observatory\u2019s dome near Place Denfert-Rochereau and I knew its history but I had never been curious enough to visit.<\/p>\n

It dates from 1667 and was built to honour Louis XIV, the Sun King. Intended to be a workplace for astronomers, it has remained so ever since, as well as being a major scientific heritage site.<\/p>\n

Today, the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research is responsible for the Observatory. Among the numerous outreach activities on offer, it runs two tours: \u2018Science and History\u2019 or \u2018Architecture and Astronomy\u2019.<\/p>\n

Visiting the PIA<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Alliance<\/a>So there I was at the meeting point at the Alliance fran\u00e7aise on the big day itself.<\/p>\n

While I met the students (a group of 25 was expected, with over 15 different nationalities) and the organisers, I was surprised and amazed to learn of the delights in store. Two lectures were planned – \u2018Discovering the Invisible Universe\u2019 with Andr\u00e9 F\u00fczfa and \u2018Euclid\u2019s space mission: in search of dark energy\u2019 with Yannick Mellier – as well as cocktails, a tour of the Observatory, a treasure hunt and finally stargazing at 10pm.<\/p>\n

I also learnt from the students\u2019 French teacher that the trip had been rigorously prepared in partnership with the Institute \u2013 there had been video presentations and study of astronomy terminology beforehand. At this stage we\u2019re no longer talking about a simple tour; this is five-star treatment, a VIP day, total immersion!<\/p>\n

However, this excellent trip was to reveal yet more surprises.<\/p>\n

\"Alliance<\/a><\/p>\n

La directrice de l’Alliance fran\u00e7aise Paris \u00cele-de-France, Pascale de Schuyter Hualpa<\/a><\/address>\n

Our arrival outside the PIA confirmed that this was a high-quality, important event. The two lecturers from the Euclid consortium along with Pascale de Schuyter Hualpa<\/a> – directrice of the AFPIF, and the trip organisers, were there to welcome us and warmly shook everyone\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

Humour, literature and an unexpected guest<\/span><\/h3>\n

Later I watched attentive French language students ask pertinent questions despite the highly complex language used by the scientists. The scientists mixed humour (\u201cIf you were asleep, it\u2019s time to wake up now\u201d), literary references to \u2018The Little Prince\u2019 and metaphorical language (dark matter research was described as a police investigation).<\/p>\n

\"Alliance<\/a><\/p>\n

I also heard the German student beside me ask about the difference between dark matter and dark energy. \u201cGood question,\u201d was the reply of the professor, as I gazed, dumbfounded. Dumfounded, and soon to be amazed\u2026<\/p>\n

Just before the second lecture, the most famous astrophysicist in France,\u00a0French-Canadian Hubert Reeves, made his way modestly onto the stage, waved and came to sit with us.<\/p>\n

I hurriedly suggested three female Chinese students whom I\u2019d met earlier Google his name on their smartphones. The news spread, and our students had difficulty holding back little giggles of nervous admiration. It was a moving and magical moment.<\/p>\n

And the evening had only just started. I wasn\u2019t able to stay for the stargazing, but no matter; I left with the impression of having experienced something extraordinary \u2013 my head in the clouds and among the stars.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Have you ever gone off the beaten track to visit the AIP in Paris?<\/strong> Share your experiences in the comments box below!<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n
Translated by Kate Wilkins<\/a>.<\/span><\/address>\n
Image credits:<\/span>
\n 1. Visite de l’IAP<\/a>, AFPIF via Facebook.<\/span>
\n 2. L’observatoire<\/a>, via Wikipedia.<\/span>
\n 3, 4 & 5.\u00a0\u00a9Jacqueline Dubois Pasquier.<\/span><\/address>\n
Proud\u00a0Partner<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Alliance fran\u00e7aise Paris\u00a0\u00cele-de-France<\/a>\u00a0(AFPIF)<\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Visit of the Paris Institute of Astrophysics and the Paris Observatory with the Alliance Fran\u00e7aise de Paris Ile-de-France.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":927,"featured_media":70113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[1096,1089],"tags":[172,213,220,237,240,253,281,312,366],"class_list":["post-69956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-french-focus","category-vie-francaise","tag-culture","tag-france","tag-french","tag-french-history","tag-french-life","tag-french-thread","tag-in-english","tag-learning","tag-paris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theproject.com.au\/myfrenchlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}