TGV has landed!

I blipped the courtyard of the Musée des Art et Métiers in Paris (not far from the République) this afternoon, showing the front section of the latest generation of the high speed train à grande vitesse (TGV), which went into service in June 2007.

The Museum of Arts et Métiers displays the history of western science, technology and industry in marvelous, magisterial fashion, with hundreds of original instruments and equipment as well as multitudes of superb models. Interactive terminals and displays are everywhere, and most labels include basic English translations (not to be taken for granted in France).

As I've noted before, Paris has a superb array of museums of every imaginable sort.

The Museum is showing a modest exhibition on the evolution of French trains from their beginnings in the 1830s to the latest developments of the TGV. For the first time the SNCF (the national railway) is building a TGV line from one province to another--until now, all the lines have radiated out from Paris, thus maintaining its predominance as a transportation hub.