The Parisian Meridian

Those of you who have yet to read the Da Vinci Code, shame on you. Shame! This monument is somewhat related to the book, especially the last couple of pages. As I've mentioned before, once thought was taken to standardize the longitude lines, the Parisians were quick to claim the center of Paris as 0°s longitude. It wasn't until 1884 when America's most famous president, Chester A. Arthur, called the International Meridian Conference, where 25 countries including France got together and decided that the line should go through the observatory in Greenwich, England, rather than the observatory in Paris, France. This really cheesed off the French who kept on using their own Prime Meridian until 1911. Anyway, this picture was taken at the Paris Observatory. The monument marks the original Prime Meridian. Allegedly there are a bunch of Prime Meridian tile markers making a straight line from this monument throught the Louvre and up to the Basilica of the Sacre Coeur. I looked for hours through the huge park around the observatory and found nothing. I'll find one someday I'm sure of it. It is my sacred quest. It was hot though, and I really just wanted to go home.