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A Special Exupery Day around the Panthéon Neighborhood in Paris, France
Even with the
sudden sad rain pour in Paris,
the striking building in the Latin Quarter made a good impression to everyone
around. Located in the 5th arrondissement on the Montagne
Sainte-Geneviève, while walking towards the Panthéon, you can notice
that it’s quite unique compared to the rest of its nearby areas. The lightness
and brightness of the Gothic cathedral makes it actually guise like an ancient
historical place that you’ll generally find in Rome, instead of Paris.
While walking
towards this famous “Temple of the
Nation”, I remember that all I could think of is a BAD idea of buying
another entrance ticket, only to stay here for a few short hours – was not a
huge fan of it, maybe because it was raining, or maybe because I had one too
many museums that day... but good thing that it was one of those days when I
did not decide to skip on seeing this place. GOOD idea. Pantheon Paris is such a welcome surprise!
If you are a
follower of Antoine De San Exupery, you
have to visit the Pantheon. No this isn’t a post about this famous Antoine
Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger,comte de Saint-Exupéry, author of the book The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince), but it’s
sort of a highlight, because inside the Pantheon, Paris, you’ll find a national
homage to Antoine de Saint Exupéry.
Amongst the
burials and impressive architecture, I was rather surprised to see how the
French people gave tribute to their literary icon, a massive painting pops out
quite distinctively amongst the rest equally amazing masterpieces. The halls around the area were rather noisy
with the clicks and flicks of our cameras. Good thing that the other
visitors in the area were also participating in this camera concert we were
doing! As how Antoine would say, “what is
essential is invisible to the naked eye”, and here we are taking photos of
everything we thought was essential!
The Pantheon in Paris, and its surrounding areas is one
of the few places that I believe you need to spend at least a whole day to enjoy.
Much like the Louvre Museum, it’s packed with
so many monumental and neoclassical architectural wonders, it makes you want
to live in the past and see how it looked like before. The collections of art,
sculptures, tombs, and historical artifacts are so abundant, I couldn’t quite
grasp the fact that well-known French figures like Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, Alexandre Dumas, and the likes are there,
in their crypt form. You can enjoy so much history and fine views of the
Parisian city from the colonnade of the Pantheon’s dome.
Entrance Fees
€9 / €7
(concessions)
€3 extra to
access the upper parts of the Panthéon (April-October)
Reservations for group tours in French on weekday mornings
e-mail: reservations.pantheon@monuments-nationaux.fr
Free admission
First Sunday
of the month from 1 November to 31 March. Free for those under 26 from
countries within the European Union, as well as primary and secondary teachers.
Free for disabled visitors and an accompanying person, as well as job seekers
and those receiving French state benefits.
Opening times
Open every day. From 1 April
to 30 September: 10am-6:30pm. From 1
October to 31 March: 10am-6pm.
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