Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher.
Louis Braille invented a way for people with blindness to read. Braille was based on a tactile military code called night writing that was developed by Charles Barbier. Napoleon wanted a way for his soldiers to communicate silently at night and without any light so Barbier used raised dots for the men to feel. Because of new technology for sight-impaired people to read and write, Braille usage has declined considerably.

Em has always loved science and talks about wanting to possibly be a marine biologist some day (she loves animals and the ocean.) She read all about Madam Curie and the contributions she made to science. Incidentally, Marie Curie is the first and only woman (so far) to be honored with interment in the Pantheon based on her own merits. She was also the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. ‘You go girl!’
Fun factoid about the documentation she left behind: “because of their levels of radioactivity, her papers from the 1890s are considered too dangerous to handle. Even her cookbook is highly radioactive. Her papers are kept in lead-lined boxes, and those who wish to consult them must wear protective clothing.” Wow!

Walking through Paris- there is a park, a pond or a place to picnic around every corner.

The replica of the Statue of Liberty is in the Garden of Luxembourg in Paris. It was inaugurated in 1889, facing west towards her sister in New York Harbor. The kids all wanted to hold something up. Emerson has a water bottle, Maddux has an apple and Lennon has a stick.

Emerson took these photos!

The Thinker was originally named “The Poet.” The sculpture was part of a commission by Auguste Rodin. He based his theme of sculptures on The Divine Comedy of Dante. Each of the statues in the piece represented one of the main characters in the epic poem. Some people believe The Thinker was originally intended to be Dante at the Gates of Hell, thinking about his poem.
I was wondering why he is naked and why a lot of statues are nudies. Apparently, Michelangelo made a lot of his art nude to symbolize heroic figures. (?) Rodin wanted to follow in that tradition. Others feel that since Dante is fully clothed throughout his poem- that The Thinker is not a representation of him.
Rodin’s objective was to represent intellect as well as poetry. We are not as cultured as most since all the kids and I kept thinking of was Will Ferrell’s depiction of a nude model on Saturday Night Live. He said he could do two poses for the class and offered to do The Thinker or The Stinker. Everyone in the class chose The Thinker!