In which we take advantage of the Journeés du Patrimoine (Part 1)

We had an extremely busy weekend, so the blog about it will probably be split into 3 or 4 posts.

In the United States, many important governmental buildings are generally open to the public. You may need tickets and reservations and a willingness to stand in a long line in order to get in, but they're generally open. So, for instance, if you want to visit the Mint or the Congress or any number of other things during your visit to Washington, you can do so.

In France, this isn't true. While you're welcome to look at the outside of these buildings, you can't go in unless you have a legitimate reason, a meeting or something like that. There are, however, two days a year when these buildings are open to the public. They're called the Journées du Patrimoine, and in addition, many schools, churches, libraries, and museums are open and free. This year, the Journées du Patrimoine were the 19th and 20th of September, and Blaise spent many hours over the previous week putting together an itinerary for us.

Saturday morning after breakfast I quickly made a picnic lunch while the kids frantically tidied the house a bit. By 9:45 we were out the door on the way to the train station. Cherry whined the whole way that her legs were tired and she needed to be in the Ergo, which I had made the mistake of letting her see me put into the backpack. Unfortunately, that would set her mood for the entire day. Once we were in the city, we headed to the Palais Royale, which houses the council of state, the constitutional council, and the department of culture. There was quite a long line to get in, so we queued, and waited for the line to move. An hour later, we had made it through the metal detectors and x-ray machines, and I had dropped the backpack at the coat check. (I'm always amazed at how few people bother to check their stuff. If you don't have to carry it, why would you bother?)

We started out in a large, opulently decorated room which is used for meetings, evidently. Then we went into a series of offices for the minister of culture and his more highly ranked underlings. It was a bit incongruous to see beautifully ornamented baroque era walls and ceilings juxtaposed with very modern desks, complete with computers, fax machines, and lots of brightly colored notebooks. From there we went through a series of very beautiful courtrooms. Then along a balcony and into the meeting rooms of the constitutional council. (More juxtaposition of the very old and ornate with the very modern and stripped down.) Finally, we headed down a last staircase, found a bathroom for Cherry, and headed out. I walked back around to the front of the building and picked up my backpack from the coat check. (Fortunately I didn't have to wait in line again.) Then, since everyone was hungry, we walked into Le Jardin du Palais Royale and found a bench to sit on and eat our lunch.