Journees du Patrimoine

 This past weekend saw a beloved annual tradition in France, the Journees du Patrimoine, or Heritage Days.  (I should mention that I still have not figured out how to add accents to my posts in Blogger.  I will try to figure that out soon, but for now words like "journees" are unfortunately devoid of their appropriate accents.). Many French cultural, educational, historic, and governmental institutions have special events and openings ("overtures exceptionelles") during this weekend.  Last time we lived in Paris, we didn't learn about the Journees du Patrimoine until it was too late--it always happens on the third weekend in September, right after La Rentree.  So this time we were prepared.  We checked websites ahead of time to see which sites we might be interested in and what hours they would be open and events they would be offering.  We planned our itinerary for both days, with high priority on seeing the Senat.  

We were particularly interested in the Senat for a variety of reasons.  First, our previous apartment was literally a stone's throw from the Senat, and we would see or pass by multiple times every day.  And we have a view of it from our window in our current apartment.  Second, it is an impressive building dating back to Marie de Medici, having been built by her as her palace a bit removed from the main center of Paris.  Finally, it is only open during the Journees du Patrimoine, so we knew this would be our only chance to see it. 

It did not disappoint.  Here are just a few of the many (many) photos I took during our hour-and-a-half tour through many rooms of the Palais du Luxembourg (Senat building) and the Petit Luxembourg (residence of the Senat president) next door.  The first photo was taken in a large reception hall in the Senat building, and that is followed by a number of photos of interesting architectural and design details.  They give you a flavor of the opulence and luxury.  It is interesting to think that this is the building in which the French Senate does it business all of the time.

The image one above the books is of the same remarkably grand reception room from the first photo, reminiscent of Versailles' Hall of Mirrors, and right below that is a photo of some books from the Senat's library.  I'm not sure that you will be able to zoom in, but we were pleased to see books there by several of our colleagues, including Paul Samuelson, Olivier Blanchard, Abhijit Banerjee, and Esther Duflo.  

Finally, I took a few photos of a temporary structure that had been erected in a courtyard to hold offices of many of the senators.  They wrapped the temporary structure in cloth with photographs of an old building (the Palais du Luxembourg?), which produced a pretty interesting and amusing effect.  The fabric-wrapped building is the white one on the right. 

I will have many more things to say about the places we visited during Journees du Patrimoine.  I will leave those comments (and photos) for later post.