Indications of being a geek

On an afternoon in Paris, wondering what to do, you look at a map of the metro looking for inspiration, you see La Défense and think

"Oh, I can go and see that three-dimensional projection of a four-dimensional hypercube!"

followed by some sort of justification along the lines of

"That would be cool!"

I have to admit, I was genuinely excited. As it was I had more reason to be so than just my mathematical geekery - it is a rather impressive structure. I'd known it was big (La Grande Arche de la Défense being a bit of a give away I suppose) but I wasn't quite prepared for quite how colossal it was. There's something rather breathtaking about huge, yet very simple, structures.

All of this was marginally before I then got swept away by being impressed by Parisian city planning (it only goes from bad to worse), as I turn round to find L'Arc de Triomphe lined up exactly, with the Champs Élysées running along the line between the two arches. It's been pointed out to me that my amazement would have been lessened if I'd went to the length of research that involves looking at a map, but as I commented on Sunday, looking at a map lessens the excitement that can come from these sort of things...