It looked like it might rain today, so I went back to the Covered Passages to do a little indoor drawing. I got there a bit too early though (I didn't realize they locked the gates during the off-hours), so I walked around the neighborhood. I stumbled on the Marche Montorgueill - another street market in the 2nd arrondissement. It, too, didn't look very lively so this probably wasn't their big market day.
In the afternoon, I went to the Marie and Pierre Curie Museum, the scientists who discovered radium. I knew Marie died from radiation poisoning (people didn't realize the harmful effects of radiation at the time), but I didn't realize Pierre died much earlier from a street accident (being run over by a horse-drawn cart). The museum talked a lot about the Curie Institute being a leader in cancer treatment and research (even back in the 20's and 30's). We tend to think of cancer as somewhat recent. None of their papers (including Marie's cookbook) can be on display, because they are highly radioactive. They keep them stored in lead-lined cases.
On the way home, I walked past the Pantheon and the Sorbonne. Marie Curie was the first woman to be buried in the Pantheon and she was the first female professor at the Sorbonne.
Well today marks the end of another decade. I can't think of a prettier place to be to mark its passing.
