  The French Academy units of time and length - the second and the meter - are
traditionally considered independent from each other. However, it is a matter
of fact that a meter simple pendulum beats virtually the second in each
oscillation, a `surprising' coincidence that has no physical reason. We shortly
review the steps that led to the choice of the meter as the ten millionth part
of the quadrant of the meridian, and rise the suspicion that, indeed, the
length of the seconds pendulum was in fact the starting point in establishing
the actual length of the meter.
