Odd Things #3

We never know what we might discover during our walks in Paris.

Recently, while strolling through the garden of the nearby Palais Royal, we spotted something we had missed during earlier strolls.  Check out the hard-to-miss cannon pictured below.    

Actually, the cannon is is easy to miss.  It is quite small, le petit canon du Palais Royal ("the small cannon of the Palais Royal"). 

Here's the story behind the little cannon.  According to Monuments-Nationaux.fr, "For about two centuries, from 1550 to 1750, only sundials indicated the true time, that is to say, the hour of the sun.  The hours of watches and clocks that were beginning to develop were different from those of the sun, because they could only indicate a regular time, the average time.

It was therefore necessary to regulate one's watch from a sundial or a meridian which indicated the "true midday".

One of the most consulted meridians in Paris in the eighteenth century, was the rue des Bons Enfants, a street that had direct access to the gardens of the Palais Royal.

The meridian cannon of the Palais-Royal was designed in 1786 by Sieur Rousseau, a watchmaker in the Beaujolais Gallery.  The bronze cannon -- installed on the meridian line of Paris -- thundered at noon, thanks to a magnifying glass that caused the firing of the wick on sunny days.

Regarded as the best in Paris, the little gun attracted a large audience of citizens who came to adjust their watches.

The little gun had to be silent under the law of 1911 which imposed Greenwich time on France, that is to say, the hour of the "average time" of Paris.

The small gun was stolen in 1998. A replica was reinstalled in the garden at its original place in 2002."

To see the cannon in action, click here.

Thanks for learning about the petit canon with us.

P.S.  During a visit to the Louvre, we spotted a similar small cannon.  Check it out.

P.S.  During a visit to the Musée des Arts et Métiers, we spotted still another sundial cannon.  Check it out.