What is the "Pavillon de Breteuil" in Sévres ?

Every French man and women has schooldays souvenirs of the Pavillon de Breteuil in the Parc de Saint Cloud in Sèvres, near Parisand of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesure.

The Bureau International des Poids et Mesures is located in France, but it is an independent, international organisation.

The mission of the BIPM is to achieve worldwide uniformity of measures and establish traceability to the international system of units.

It operates under the authority of the Mètre Convention, a diplomatic treaty between 54 states. The BIPM operates with the support of a number of consultative committees, whose members include the national metrology laboratories of the signatory states, and of its laboratory activities. The BIPM conducts research into metrology. It organises or takes part in international comparisons between national measurement standards and performs calibrations for the member states.

Interested readers can visit the BIPM web site at www.bipm.org.