L'Institut du Monde Arabe

Here are some pictures from L'Institut du Monde Arabe, which includes a library, a museum, a bookstore, and a really great shop. The building is very famous, and it was designed by Jean Nouvel, the same architect who designed the Musee du quai Branly. I like this building quite a bit, but I was intrigued to find that many of the lighting effects and other features of the building also made me a bit dizzy. So it is not just the quai Branly, but Nouvel.

The museum is small, but fascinating. It featured not only art, but also astrolabes. I still don't understand them, but this is what my dictionary tells me: "astrolabe |ˈastrəˌlāb| noun chiefly historical an instrument formerly used to make astronomical measurements, typically of the altitudes of celestial bodies, and in navigation for calculating latitude, before the development of the sextant. In its basic form (known from classical times), it consists of a disk with the edge marked in degrees and a pivoted pointer." They were beautiful and intricate was what I could understand. As were many of the items in the special exhibit on horses and the Arab world, such as jewel-encrusted jade rings for archers!

Views of the building:






Views of Paris from the terrace:








One of the windows from the inside:



Tuareg jewelry from the shop:





The cafe inside the shop:




My pastry and green tea with mint (the a la menthe):