Is La Samaritaine closed?
 

Hey everyone...has anyone been to Paris recently and can confirm whether La Samaritaine is closed or not? I've seen some old posts both here and on TripAdvisor saying they've been closed for quite awhile for safety reasons but wasn't sure if they've reopened since. It's one of the places I visit within my first couple of hours in Paris just to take in the view from the rooftop!

Any ideas for other accessible city views near Notre Dame or the Latin Quarter would be welcome!

Thanks~

Christina

Last I heard/read, La Samaritaine has been sold, the department store is no longer in operation, and may be turned into luxury condos.

Views are fabulous from the towers of Notre Dame, Ceil de Paris atop the Tour Montparnasse, the steps at Sacre Coeur, the rooftop terrace cafe at Galleries Lafayette, and, of course, the spectacular views from many of the bridges and all along any of the river cruises.

There are some ideas in this:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34785883

Wow. If La Samaritaine has sold, who's going to provide all the free maps of Paris?

The only problem with the view from the towers of Notre Dame is you can't see a view of Notre Dame from there. LOL

It hasnt been sold. LVHM still owns it. Who knows whats going on with it but i would be surprised if it reopened in its original format. It's just sitting there for the time being.

You can see the opposite side of Notre Dame from the terasse of the Institute du Monde Arabe. You can go up to the terrace freely.

In any case, you can forget Samaritaine until further notice -- it is planned to be closed for six years, and a lot can happen in six years.

And you can get your maps from Galeries. Last I read and fairly recently, it apparently was a real safety problem that has closed it. The gorgeous ceiling--hope it is saved.

Samaritaine sits on such a large, prime piece of real estate in central Paris, I am highly skeptical it will re-open as a department store. There are many more profitable ways to use that chunk of land. Would not be surprised if its future incarnation is mixed use--could easily see it converted into an upscale "Samaritaine Village" of shops, offices, restaurants, and condos.

It will be some sort of shopping center, if not a department store, because the Paris municipal council instantly zoned the building exclusively for retail commercial activity, to prevent conversion to a hotel or offices, as soon as rumors started flying.

Right, and we all know that once the French make a decision or pass a law, they NEVER change their minds.

True but to Paris' credit, how many cities in the US can you think of that would have passed a maximum height restriction something like a hundred years ago and never wavered on it?

LVMH already tried the upscale-store concept after it bought the property, ruining the department store's reputation as a BHV-style store (a bit like an improved version of the old Sears stores). As this new concept failed, it was coincidentally discovered that the building wasn't up to today's fire codes, and so it was closed. For some reason, the modifications required to bring it up to code are supposedly expected to take years and years. Who knows what might happen during that time? The one thing that we probably <i>won't</i> see is a return to the famous Samaritaine of old.

Yes, the instant closure was extremely suspicious, as other parts of the Samaritaine had already been converted into Sephora and Etam stores, and they are considered to be totally safe apparently, even though all of the buildings are similar in age and style. What they said precisely was that due to the big open spaces in the middle, the whole place will collapse in less than an hour if a major fire breaks out. Fine, but in that case, what about Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, which have the same open spaces?

Hi

It looked pretty closed when I walked past it a couple of days ago :-( And getting up in the tower at Notre Dame also takes a bit of time. We went there one morning and the line was pretty long and they were only letting in 20 people every 10 minutes or so.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

The BHV, not long away from the Samaritaine also has a rooftop terrace, though the access isn't very easy to find.

Clairobscur, what is the BHV?

Bazar de l'H&ocirc;tel de Ville (BHV) 52/64, rue de Rivoli - 75004 Paris

www.bhv.fr

WK

Gard - there does not seem to be a link to your Paris trip. It says, &quot;Coming soon&quot;

Actually the building where the Sephora was etc was gutted. Only the exteriour walls were left standing during the renovation. But I do agree. Its probably not unsafe. Was just an easy way for LVHM to shuffle around employees without dealing with months of picketing and strikes.

where the Sephora IS i mean.

robjame: yes, there is no link for the Paris trip yet. I just came back on Saturday and I have not made a trip report yet. But my wife and I went there a few years back too and here is the link: http://gardkarlsen.com/paris.htm

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

&quot;True but to Paris' credit, how many cities in the US can you think of that would have passed a maximum height restriction something like a hundred years ago and never wavered on it?&quot;

Answer: Washington, DC (my hometown). No building in the District or the immediate suburbs (including the ever growing Arlington, VA) may build a structure higher than the Washington Monument, in order to ensure that this tribute to the Father of our Country will always be the city's most prominent feature. Of course, it's important to remember that Washington, DC, was laid out by none other than Pierre L'Enfant, who patterned the city after the capital of the nation who helped us win our independence. This explains why the layout of the streets (vertical, horizontal, and diagonal meeting at picturesque squares and roundabouts), as well as much of the architecture, reminds one of Paris! Vive Lafayette! Vive Washington! Vive La France! Vive Les Etats Unis!

By the way, if you're ever visiting the Washington area and want to see a little piece of French history, go to the completely restored Estates at Mount Vernon (GW's old stomping grounds!). There, on display, is one of the keys to the Bastille, given to Washington by his friend the Marquis de Lafayette, after the French Revolution. A little tidbit for you...

DaveBrad:

i believe that the regulation is that no building may be higher than the top of the Capitol Dome, not the Washington Monument.

Now, for those people who are REALLY in the know in this city the REAL law is that no building can be any higher than the Cairo.

I live in Washington DC and actually, it isn't true that it has a height restriction that hasn't changed in 100 years, and the Wash Monument doesn't have anything to do with it. It does have height restrictions on buildings but it varies a lot by the zoning standard for the location and street, and they've adjusted them at various times throughout the years. They raised them on Penn. Ave. at one time, I know that, which is why some buildings there are taller than they used to be (some of those big new office/apt buildings). The restrictions are related to public use and general aesthetics and city planning, which is nice, and very tall skyscrapers are not allowed, but it doesn't have anything to do with the Wash Monument. It was the Capitol building at one time when that law was first passed, I think, but has changed a lot since then.

Okay, I stand corrected...JEEZ! But, there IS a key to the Bastille at Mount Vernon...I've seen that! ;-)

Thanks for setting me straight again, Christina! D

LVMH did buy it and tried to make it into an upscale department store (shutting down its bricolage section) which made BHV more powerful in that section. It was closed down because it was a fire hazard.

They are now restoring it so it's up to standard. I think it's going to stay a department store.

There is a small section open to answer enquiries and the lady behind the desk said it's close for a couple more years.

By the way, the staff are being paid almost full wages for the year and half after from closing date.

The height restriction for buildings in Paris I think was passed by Andre Malraux in 1968.

On the topic of height restriction, the Paris building regulations provide that structures should not be taller than 37 metres. There were lapses in this policy in the 60's and 70's, and it can be seen especially in the outer arrondissement where rather plain-looking blocks of flats (apartment buildings) reach higher elevations than the classic Haussmann-era five (European) floors, which, in my opinion, damages the cityscape.

There is a present controversy at the City Hall about the desirability of allowing tall residential buildings in selected locations inside Paris. I am not against. Strangely, the Greens are opposed, as in my eyes, tall residential structures using limited space are more environment-friendly than suburban sprawl, single-family housing and the subsequent long commutes it generates.

A new, 300-metre office tower (the height of the Eiffel Tower) is planned for the business district of La D&eacute;fense, just outside the city, designed by an US architect whose name I forgot.