Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie

Sunday was a chilly but gorgeous day here in Paris and once again we decided to make the most of it. On our short list of things to see and do was a return to the Parc de la Villette, in the northeastern corner of Paris, and visit the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, the Parisian version of the Museum of Science and Industry. (photo: Cité des Sciences ground floor.

We had walked through the building last September and were awed by the architecture of this enormous interior space, built on the site of the old city slaughterhouse. Anyway, we said we really should return to check the museum out and so we did.

Leaving the apartment late morning we walked over to Gare d’Austerlitz and caught the no. 5 metro to Stalingrad (not the city of course) where we changed to the no. 7 and then a few stops later we got off at Porte de la Villette, right next to the museum. Altogether about a half hour train ride.

Th Parc de la Villette in fact comprises a variety of collection of closed and open air spaces, which does indeed make the trip, either by canal boat or by metro worth the visit. On the south side of the Canal d l’Ourcq is the Cité de la Musique, the city’s music academy, a large expanse of gardens, with a variety of cafes and restaurants and numerous entertainment venues such as theaters and an open-air cabaret. On the northern side of the canal is the Cité des Sciences, our objective this afternoon.


We entered the cavernous glass and steel hall, partially surrounded by water, and roughly four times the size of the Pompidou Centre. It’s a short walk from the metro to the entrance and once inside you will find easily the information booth right at the center of the building. We picked up a map in English – believe me you will need this – and then went over and bought our tickets.

The pricing of the tickets we found confusing – but then we’re from out of town. Anyway the young cashier, who was all smiles since, as she proudly informed us, this was her last day, very kindly helped us choose the ticket that was right for us. We wanted to see the Argonaute, the French submarine, the main exhibition hall, Explora it is called, and the planetarium, the last required us to choose a time (we picked 2 p.m.). Total cost for two people was 28 €.


We walked out the entrance opposite to the one we came in staring us directly in the face was the huge and truly awesome Géode, a floating bubble of reflecting steel as the Rough Guide describes it, a very apt turn of phrase I might add. The Géode holds a screen for the Omnimax 180-degree movies, once the largest movie screen on the world, but that honor passed to the screen at La Defense, west of Paris. To our left was the Argonaute, a 1957 diesel submarine, tucked very neatly into the front extension of the museum.


We walked around one side of the Géode and entered the submarine, after a somewhat convoluted series of stairs, turnstiles and the like and of course after picking up an audio guide. As we walked through the door, in effect a hole cut in the side of the hull, we found ourselves in s space not much bigger than one of our closets, and we have pretty small closets. At one time home to 44 men – probably very short men – the display was nonetheless remarkable. The audio guide, free by the way, was quite helpful and made the short and claustrophobic experience worthwhile.

After we exited we had some time to kill before our planetarium show so we found our way to one of the several cafes and restaurants in the museum and sat down and had a sandwich, observing the throngs of humanity ebbing and flowing every which way, families, large and small seemed to be everywhere, I suppose because there are a half dozen different things available in the museum specifically for kids. Tres cool.

Finishing our sandwiches (a bit pricey but quite tasty) we headed up to the top level of Explora where we found the planetarium. Upon entering for our scheduled show, we found ourselves in a small movie theater bathed in a soft blue light, with the seats arranged in a gentle horseshoe shape, with an equally gentle sweep upwards towards the rear. We found a couple of seats about two-thirds up and sat down in seats that reclined almost all the way to the rear, rather like a long-haul First Class airline seat, allowing one to effectively look just at the ceiling.

Neither one of us had ever been to a planetarium show before that we could recall (the short-sightedness of our youth I suppose) and when the lights went down and the sky above us filled with stars and started to move it was absolutely, and unequivocally fantastic! For the next 23 minutes or so we listened to a program in French that explained, first, where the north star was showing why it is such an important navigational tool (it appeared that the sky revolved around it), and then pointed out several galaxies and constellations. This too was neatly done by first showing the galaxy as it might appear far off in space and then magnifying it for a closer look. The effects were mesmerizing and worth the price of admission alone. As for the spoken part of the program, as I said it was in French and while we could understand quite a bit of what was said, we were plainly enthralled.

After exiting the planetarium we walked over to the present temporary exhibition, "Are we alone in the Universe?," a fascinating collection of exhibits feature science, science fiction and lots of movie references, (particularly B movies).


We then spent the next couple of hours wandering through the various “themes” of the museum where you can tackle plenty of hands-on experiments: Les Sons (sounds) we thought a bit confusing, but we really enjoyed Jeux de Lumière (light and color) experiments. The Images area was pretty cool allowing one to play with changing Mona Lisa’s smile using a computer for example, and the small section on perspective was very imaginative. The Mathematique and Roches et Volcanoes sections were closed for remodeling and we stayed clear of the whole DNA section. (photo: hey this place is fun!)

We walked down one level to the automobiles area, where oddly enough there is a French Mirage fighter jet on display, and looked over the rather substantial display on how safety and crash tests are done (pretty impressive). From that level one has a spectacular view of the huge satellite map of Paris, where it seemed as if everyone was trying to find their home

Was it worth the trip? Yes, if for no other reason than the submarine and the planetarium alone. But the Explora part of the museum needs to be given a great deal more attention than we gave it that’s for sure, and to do it justice plan on the entire day just in the Cité des Sciences. In fact your museum ticket allows you to reenter Explora up to four times throughout the day, allowing one to leave, walk around, check other things out at the Parc and return for more hands-on stuff.

Wish you had been there,

Steve