Piscine Activities

Day 12: Thursday 9th Jan

The Les Halles area in Paris was traditionally a market place which was demolished in 1971 and replaced by a shopping complex.  This was run down so is currently undergoing a major building project in which a large canopy will be put over the underground shopping complex.  Within this complex is the closest swimming pool.  We had an interesting time there first of all remembering to keep right rather than left.  The change rooms were interesting with no areas for private showers out of view of the pool.  While we were there there was a large aerobics class in which bikes were placed in the pool and pedalled.  With about 20 swimmers in each 50M lane it was very busy but we managed a reasonable swim

In the afternoon Maureen went shopping and I visited the Hotel Pimtemps on Rue de I’Isle to get some photos for my father in law Mike Dinn who stayed there in 1958.

The Supper at Emmaus

I continued down the Boulevard Housemann and reached the Musee Andre Jacquemart.  This is a stately home bequeathed to the city by a couple who collected art work during the 19^th century.  The collections include a number of paintings by Antoon Van Dyke, Rembrandt and Donnetello .  There was also an exhibition on of late 19^th – early 20^th century English Victorian romantic painting.    One painting that I was interested in was the Christ at Emmaus by Rembrandt who produced a number of paintings on the theme of Emmaus. The use of subtle use of light and shadow to show Jesus’s divinity are masterly and acclaimed by critics.