Journees du patrimonie 2017
 

Hi everyone,

We'll be in Paris for the journees du patrimonie on 16 September. I'm trying to decide which exceptional openings to try to attend. So far I've narrowed it down to Le Senat at Jardin du Luxembourg (open 930am-1730). We'll head there first thing as I imagine the lines can be huge. We were lucky to visit Hotel de Ville (open 1230pm-1800) in 2015, but on a private French-only tour so we had no idea what was being said. I want to go back to Hotel de Ville but husband thought we should try for another place. Would love your recommendations as there are so many places from which to choose.

Thank you. NOLA

One place to avoid is the Elysée presidential palace which always has the longest queue -- at least 3 hours, followed by Matignon, the office and residence of the Prime Minister.

What was nice about Hôtel de Ville on journees du patrimonie was there were signs that told you a little about whay we were seeing. We arrived at 8:45 for the 9:30 tour, so the crowds weren't terrible as we walked through.

Then we hopped over to the Palais Royale. Line wasn't too bad. Enjoyable walk through.

On that day we also visited Albert Kahn Musee et Jardins (after Marmottan Museum...not included in the festivities), however I heard they might be under renovation now (check if interested).

<B>http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/chapter-six-journees-du-patrimoine/</B>

On the following day we got an early start with Palais Luxembourg (enjoyed that immensely) and the gardens, of course.

<B>http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/chapter-six-journees-du-patrimoine-part-deux/</B>

I hope to go back for another weekend sometime and see more places. Have fun.

((H))

I just wrote down Hotel de Matignon! But definitely don't want 3 hour queues. So we will avoid it and the Elysee palace.

Hotel de Toulouse Banque de France and Hotel de Bourvallais Ministere de la Justice both look interesting.

@maitaitom, your post was why I worked so hard to get a tour of the Hotel de Ville in 2015. It was worth every effort! Your report is also why we're, finally, going to L'Ange 20, on our last night in Paris. We're also going to Le Bacchus in Beaune. See, someone is paying attention :)

"See, someone is paying attention..."

Ok, now I feel pressure!

((H))

LOL. You seem to travel to places we either have been to and love, like France, or want to go to, like Scotland, and your reports are fantastic!

As to the original question, I think we'll aim for the Hotel de Toulouse Banque de France in the afternoon and hope the queues are not too long.

T-13 until we're in France! :)

I did this in the early afternoon when others were lunching. The lines weren't too long and there was "rest space" in the courtyard. A pleasant outing even for one like me who does not particularly care for splendor.

As long as you're in the area you might try the library on rue de Richelieu, Bibliotheque Nationale de France if it's on the list this year. The reading room is spectacular.

I'm excited by the possibility of seeing places usually closed to the public. I wish we were going to be in Paris both days.

Looks like the Bibliotheque Nationale is only open for the journees du patrimonie on Sunday. But thanks for the reminder because if we're in the vicinity during the week (and we should be), I definitely want to go in.

As I said, I'm not for splendor. I've been following this for 20 years now and have certainly seen a lot. Perhaps the most favorite of all was the afternoon at the Republican Guard on Henry IV, Arsenal.

Maybe not for you . . .but worth a mention

You might want to know the real word if you are going to refer to his event, which is patrimoine, NOT patrimonie. Patrimonie isn't a French word.

The Bibliotheque Nationale is open all the time, you don't need this event to go there. I would go to some place you can't normally go. I might go to the Observatoire.

No, the Bibliotheque(s) is not open all the time. There are many branches all of which which have different hours. The Richelieu branch to which I was referring is unfortunately, still closed for renovations.

I visited it in January when it was open for a weekend after the completion of some of the renovations: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com...library-france

Last year I was hoping that they would open the underground Montsouris reservoir which had been one of the jewels of the previous year's <i>journées du patrimoine</i> but it was unfortunately not on the agenda.

On my wish list was the newly redone Art Deco masterpiece of Henri Sauvage, the Piscine des Amiraux. I suppose I could just go look at it, but I'd feel more comfortable doing this on a "designated" day.

FWIW, we toured Matignon two years ago on one of the Journees du Patrimoine with a not hideous wait. And it would have been far shorter if Manuel Valls were not entertaining Prince Albert of Monaco, so they stopped the line until the two of them came out into the courtyard. Prince Albert left and Valls worked the rope line--guess he still thought he had a chance of becoming president and so did a little glad-handing. But overall the line was nowhere near three hours, and for part of the time we enjoyed the show in the courtyard in honor of Albert--all kinds of military and other splendor. We did get there about a half-hour before they started admitting people, which may have helped.

It was interesting to go through Matignon--some of the rooms were splendid. I'm glad we did it. And down the rue de Varenne you can visit the Ministry for Government Relations, a much more modest hotel particulier for which there was no line at all (and just about nobody inside, either).

In the afternoon we toured the Senate building at the Luxembourg Gardens. We waited maybe a half hour or forty-five minutes. The interior is fascinating in an over-the-top way--nothing succeeds like excess.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I'm hoping we can see more than one sight in the afternoon. There's so much splendor and so little time!

If we were there on Sunday, #1 on the list would be the Biblioteque. I absolutely love libraries. I dream of getting into the stacks at the British Library. Your pics, Kerouac, are fabulous.