Tour Saint-Jacques

If you wanted to go on a pilgrimage from Paris to Santiago de Compostella, you would start your journey at the foot of the Saint-Jacques Tower. The Saint's statue stands at the top of the tower and he's probably amazed he's still there in spite of what happened to the neighborhood!

This belfry used to be part of the Saint-Jacques church built in the early 1500's. Most of the church was demolished during the French Revolution, however an architect managed to get the tower spared. One of his arguments was that its height (approx. 53 meters = 175 feet) could be useful.

This man was probably aware that back in the 1600's, Blaise Pascal (mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher and theologian among other things...) had used the tower to make experiments on gravity. Since it's now been restored, it is possible to visit the tower, climb some 300 steps to the top and do some more experiments! At the bottom, you will be greeted by the statue of Blaise Pascal still brainstorming on new ideas...