Pardon moi, mes amis! Didn't mean to take such a long time to make a post. These past couple of days have been a whirlwind. Let me recount them briefly
Saturday 19-06
Michelle, Robyn, and I went shopping. I found a neat running shoe store, Boutique Marathon, and got some reasonably priced baskets. We covered a lot of ground and I think it's safe to say we were all satisfied. Interesting things, at Châtelet – Les Halles it seems they have an ode to Modern Physics, and a Royal avec fromage is delicious.
Sunday 20-06
Went out with everyone to Luxembourg and got some neat postcards I plan to fill out in French and send to some folks back in the states.
Monday 21-20
50 ans du LASER! The festivities commenced at the Louvre with some of the pioneers of Laser science and technology rounded up by Bianca, John Nees, Pat, and myself for guided tours of the museum. Pat and I attended the Delacroix tour and it was awesome. Let me just say Le Louvre is the bee's knees, it's exquisite, and I want to live there. Delacroix's artwork was extremely interesting, very political, avant-garde as our guide said, and requires a lot more contemplation than I previously thought. He went into a lot of detail that I will spare you here but if you want to know more I'd be more than happy to discuss it. After the tour we gathered to hear a talk by Costas Fotakis director of IESL among other organizations. He and his crew are best known for their work in artifact and artwork preservation through the use of lasers. He brought up many different methods including THz TDRS as a tool for acquiring information of the artwork and he also discussed laser cleaning through the use of ultrashort pulses and ablation. I am glad Patrick got to ask him a question.
Later that evening a group of us went to Notre Dame to celebrate Fête de la Musique. People were playing music and dancing all along the Seine River. We walked around while enjoying some delicious sorbet. Before heading back home we followed the sound of cheering only to see in the distance naked people dancing in a large fountain. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
Tuesday 22-20
The 50th Anniversary of the Laser continued on at Ecole du Louvre. The day was spent listening to many important speakers the first of which was Charles Townes. At 95 years of age, the creator of the MASER, who paved the way for the laser and all of the science that have gushed out of such a tool, was sharp, funny, and above all else truly wise. His talk was an encouraging one, telling us all to share what we know and keep an open mind. Kathleen Maiman, wife of the late LASER inventor Ted Maiman, talked on behalf of her husband. She kind of reiterated something touched by Townes and a couple of other Nobel Laureates, which was: people, even experts, will tell you you're nuts and that it can't be done. Well we know where that got Charles Townes and Ted Maiman. The following talks were interesting covering topics like laser manipulation of atoms, seeing in 4D, and attosecond pulses to name a few.
Wednesday 23-20
50 ans du laser was celebrated at Ecole Polytechnique as well. There were presentations, posters, and interactive demonstrations for high school students. Nobel Laureates and revered Physicists and Engineers took the stage and gave more technical talks about their work. I know that there was a lot of filming going on. I definitely hope to find some of the recordings online and share them with you all.
Fun filled five days, no? It's back to work for me!
I want a postcard. I could also use some shoes too, haha.
ReplyDelete