Spring break - for an engineering student

http://www.arts-et-metiers.net/musee/visitor-information is a wonderland for gearheads. Near the Eiffel is a large-scale model Eiffel used in designing the metal frame for the Statue of Liberty. La musee d'Orsay and the Pompidou are major architectural examples of non-conformist strategies (the former was a railway station; the latter looks like it wants to be an oil refinery.) Latest addition to that list is Frank Gehry's new Luis Vuitton art museum on the far west side, destined to be considered one of his masterworks no matter what's inside. The St-Martin canal is unusual for its tiny locks in the centre of residential neighbourhoods, not to mention that about a third of the route is in a tunnel. Its northern terminus at the La Villette basin is near the modern science museum Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie. The sewer museum is intriguing for early technology and not as malodorous as might be imagined.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replicas_of_the_Statue_of_Liberty ("replica" is probably not the right word for working models.)

https://ca.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrBTvnNtl1WsvMAKmrrFAx.;_ylu=X3oDMTEzcDA3c2ttBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQ0FDMDAxXzEEc2VjA3Nj?p=Pompidou&fr=yfp-t-917-s

https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/The-Centre-Pompidou

http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/visit/welcome.html

http://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/en.html

http://en.pariscanal.com/

http://www.cite-sciences.fr/en/home/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Sewer_Museum

The route by train from Beaune to Venice passes through Switzerland, but not anywhere near Luzern. Which specific bridges does she wish to see? it may be possible to work out a route that works, and includes a portion of the Glacier Express (Brig to St. Moritz), although that would be a significant detour. The Landwasser Viaduct is on that section if that is on the list.

What about the Millau viaduct for something new and spectacular? Or even the Pont du Gard for something really old?

Yes, the Millau is on her list. So many great responses!! Y'all are the best! Many thanks

Only problem is that the Millau Viaduct is way and away out of the way. Only reasonable way to go across is by car, only reasonable way to reach it is by car, it is very expensive, and not only not even in the next county it is nearly in the next country and France is as big as Texas.

The Landwasser Viaduct as mentioned above is a jaw dropping bit of engineering and a real doozie of a ride.

You didn't note your daughter's engineering discipline. I.E. Civil, Military, Mechanical, Electrical etc. Your parenthetical list implies that her study is Civil.

If you skip Switzerland that would leave out touring the CERN Large Hedron supercollider:
http://home.cern/students-educators

If your daughter's interest includes energy, touring the German country side is an eye opener in terms of the proliferation of wind and solar power. And Denmark is an interesting transportation engineering study with the proliferation of bikes as an alternative to motorized travel.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/29/3685555/germany-sets-new-renewable-energy-record/
http://denmark.dk/en/green-living/bicycle-culture/

If bridges are her thing, the Thames River Bus boat ride crosses below a multitude of bridges between London Eye/Westminster/Big Ben and Greenwich (Prime Meridian):
http://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/getting-around-london/riverboat

An then there are the cathedrals that defy gravity that seem to cover Europe (Think Ken Follett: "Pillars of the Earth").
http://www.ingenia.org.uk/Ingenia/Articles/138

More about cathedral as structures. Not all cathedral architects were good engineers:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/building-gothic-cathedrals.html

Building the Great Cathedrals

...a dazzling architectural journey inside those majestic marvels of
Gothic architecture, the great cathedrals of Chartres, Beauvais and
other European cities. Carved from 100 million pounds of stone, some
cathedrals now teeter on the brink of catastrophic collapse. To save
them, a team of engineers, architects, art historians, and computer
scientists searches the naves, bays, and bell-towers for clues. NOVA
investigates the architectural secrets that the cathedral builders
used to erect their towering, glass-filled walls and reveals the
hidden formulas drawn from the Bible that drove medieval builders ever
upward.

If you scroll down on the PBS link that Edgar provided , on the left there is a link to another NOVA program entitled " The Great Cathedral Mystery " , about the construction of the dome of Santa Maria Del Fiore in Florence . If nothing else whets a desire to visit the home of the Rennaissance , this certainly will . We recently returned from Europe a few weeks ago , and were able to visit Amiens and Beauvais enroute back to Paris -- Breathtaking !

Pumpkin 5,

As much as I hate to say it, I think

Switzerland needs to be left for another

time.

You have not allowed enough time

In Paris. Keep in mind your first day

You may have jet lag. You also need

To get to your lodging and get settled.

This may be a better option.

Paris 4 nights.

TGV- BEAUNE. 3 hrs 21 min.

Use SCNF voyages

Beaune. 1 night

Beaune-Lyon part Dieu. 1 he 44min.

Fly. Easyjet. ( train takes 8 hrs.)

Lyon (LYS-VCE). 1 hr. 15 min.

Venice. 3 nights.

That 1:15 flying time from Lyon to Venice expands to around 4-5 hours when you add in the time for getting to the airport 2 hours ahead of the flight, and the travel time from VCE into Venice itself (an hour plus waiting time for the Alilaguna; similar for the bus+vaporetto combination). Then add the time for the train from Beaune to Lyon, and the train through Switzerland, with a stop on the way to see something memorable, does not look so bad.

Yes, something to be said about skipping Switzerland. Many engineering wonders leave little to be seen. Swiss engineering is famous for tunneling but tunnels are not very interesting experiences. Good engineering is often work that is taken for granted.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/alptransit_engineers-meet-challenge-of-gotthard-tunnel/40792690

Due to open in 2016, the Gotthard base tunnel is not just a hole
through a mountain. For ten years hundreds of workers braved tropical
temperatures underground and the threat of water in the rock to build
the longest railway tunnel in the world.

Travelling at 250 km/h you will hardly notice them, and if all goes
well, they will never be used by railway passengers: Yet the emergency
exits in the 57-kilometre tunnel are a little marvel of engineering.
“We had to design doors that can be opened by a child and that at the
same time will stop the spread of fire and smoke. They have to work
even if there is no electricity, and stand up to the wave of pressure,
equal to ten tons, caused by trains going by,” explains Peter Schuster
of the engineering firm Ernst Basler+Partner....

“We had to consider various aspects: geological conditions,
geographical criteria like the height of the rock covering overhead,
which can be up to 2,300 metres thick, and the need to build access
tunnels to the work sites.”

They also had to be concerned about dams, something that might not
seem to have much to do with an underground tunnel. “We had to avoid
the reservoirs on the Gotthard, to limit any chance of water seeping
in,” says Henke.

Yes, something to be said about skipping Switzerland. Many engineering wonders leave little to be seen. Swiss engineering is famous for tunneling not tunnels are not very interesting experiences. Good engineering is often work that is taken for granted.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/alptransit_engineers-meet-challenge-of-gotthard-tunnel/40792690

Due to open in 2016, the Gotthard base tunnel is not just a hole
through a mountain. For ten years hundreds of workers braved tropical
temperatures underground and the threat of water in the rock to build
the longest railway tunnel in the world.

Travelling at 250 km/h you will hardly notice them, and if all goes
well, they will never be used by railway passengers: Yet the emergency
exits in the 57-kilometre tunnel are a little marvel of engineering.
“We had to design doors that can be opened by a child and that at the
same time will stop the spread of fire and smoke. They have to work
even if there is no electricity, and stand up to the wave of pressure,
equal to ten tons, caused by trains going by,” explains Peter Schuster
of the engineering firm Ernst Basler+Partner....

“We had to consider various aspects: geological conditions,
geographical criteria like the height of the rock covering overhead,
which can be up to 2,300 metres thick, and the need to build access
tunnels to the work sites.”

They also had to be concerned about dams, something that might not
seem to have much to do with an underground tunnel. “We had to avoid
the reservoirs on the Gotthard, to limit any chance of water seeping
in,” says Henke.

Both good suggestions. I think leaving out switzerland and train to venice is a good idea
Thanks!

Actual train time Beaune-Venice is

10 hrs. 44 min. With 3 changes.

Train to Lyon, plus flight is half that

time. It may also be less expensive

Than the train. You would need to

Make sure you have enough time

To make connections.

I think for a gear-head, there is no better place than the Zeppelin museum in Friedrichshafen. How, in the days before 3D CAD, they could have designed the intersection of those stringers in 3D space is mind boggling. But most non-engineering types would never understand what the challenge was.