Les Journées Européennes du Patrimoine: Banque de France

Last weekend, the European Union celebrated the 36th annual Les Journées Européennes du Patrimoine ("European Heritage Days").  The event celebrates historic buildings, monuments and sites throughout Europe by giving the public free access to buildings that are normally inaccessible or normally require an entry fee.  

The event originated in 1984 in France and has since spread to all 50 European countries that have adopted the European Cultural Convention.  It is estimated that there are now 30 million visitors and 70,000 events each year.  

According to the Council of Europe, "European Heritage Days can be considered an essential instrument for fostering a tangible experience of European culture and history in addition to raising the awareness of the public about the many values of our common heritage and the continuous need for its protection." 

This year, Les Journées Européennes du Patrimoine occurred on September 21 and 22.  On those days, we visited several locations in Paris, including the Banque de France.

The headquarters of the Banque de France is located in Paris not far from where we live.  The bank is complex of buildings including both historic and modern buildings.  The bank is normally not open to the public.  The bank is well-guarded because it houses a gold depository and also has presses for printing Euro.  However, the bank opened its doors on European Heritage Days and we toured the complex.

The tour included displays about the history of the French Franc and the Euro, counterfeiting and   gold in the depository.  Unfortunately, the vault was not open and no free samples were given to visitors.

The greatest treasure in the Banque de France is a room in one of the historic buildings, La Galerie dorée.

What makes the gallery so lovely are its gilded architecture and the original artwork still adorning the ceiling.  Below are photos of each half of the gallery. 

We learned about the gallery's history, including the fact that one of its owners was the legitimated son of King Louis XIV and his mistress Madame de Montespan.  Lucky bastard!

The centerpiece of the fresco on the ceiling is mythological scene by François Perrier.  

The painting depicts the Sun god Apollo, who represents Louis XIV, the Sun King.

During our tour of  La Galerie dorée, we were serenaded by flute and bassoon.  

We enjoyed our visit to the Banque de France and La Galerie dorée.  It reminded us of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.  

Thanks for joining us.

P.S.  During our tour, we spotted a painting of a familiar figure.  Check it out.

Techno Parade

Yesterday, we attended the start of the Techno Parade, an annual event featuring bass-thumping Techno music.  

There were thousands of attendees, mostly young.  They danced in the street to the deafening music.  

The parade, the 21st edition, included ten trucks pulling trailers with DJ's and large speakers pumping out the music. 

The parade started next to the Louvre, moved along the Right Bank, crossed over to the Left Bank and ended in the Place d'Italie. 

The parade included political messages, such as protecting the environment and remembering victims of police brutality.  

Below are some photos of the rolling dance clubs.  

The parade started along the Seine next to the Louvre.  You can see the Louvre in the background.

To get a feel what it was like to attend in person, click in the video below.

Yesterday, we stopped by another event celebrating the World Day of the Deaf, to raise awareness of deaf culture and sign language.  The event was located on the other side of the Louvre.  The timing and location seemed ironic.   

Thanks for visiting the Techno Parade with us.

Museums in Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou #6

We recently returned to the Pompidou to see a temporary exhibition of the bizarre paintings of Francis Bacon (1909-1992).  (Not to be confused with the English philospher Francis Bacon (1561-1626), who was an ancestor of the artist.)

The exhibition focused on paintings from the last part of Bacon's life.  The imagery in his paintings is raw, disturbing and surreal.  You can see for yourself.  

 

George Dyer by Francis Bacon (1973) 

Self-Portrait by Francis Bacon (1973)

Lucien Freud by Francis Bacon (1973)

Some of Bacon's paintings reminded us of Pablo Picasso's abstract portraits and figurative paintings.  In fact, Picasso inspired Bacon, who said "Picasso is the reason why I paint.  He is the father figure, who gave me the wish to paint."

 

In case you are wondering what Bacon looks like, below is his photograph.  

You can learn more about Francis Bacon by clicking here.  

Thanks for visiting the Pompidou with us.  

Discovering Paris

Today, while wandering through side streets in the Marais section of Paris, we made a discovery.  

We discovered the oldest house in Paris on the Rue de Montmorency, the Maison de Nicolas Flamel.  

 (pictured below). 

As we passed by, the house caught our attention because its facade looks very, very old, in contrast to the other buildings on the street.    

The house was built in 1407 and its facade was restored in 1900 to its original appearance.  It still appears today as it did 600 years ago.  

On the facade are various emblems carved in stone, along with a carved inscription in old French: 

Nous homes et femes laboureurs demourans ou porche de ceste maison 

qui fut faite en l'an de grâce mil quatre cens et sept 

somes tenus chascun en droit soy dire tous les jours une paternostre et un ave maria 

en priant Dieu que sa grâce face pardon aus povres pescheurs trespasses Amen

Roughly translated, the inscription reads:  

We, men and women, workers living in the porches of this house 

that was made in the year of grace one thousand four hundred and seven 

are, each of us, required by law to say every day one Our Father and one Hail Mary 

while praying to God that his grace brings forgiveness to the poor deceased sinners Amen

Nicolas Flamel was a wealthy merchant and built the house to honor his deceased wife Pernelle.  The ground floor housed a tavern and shops, while the upper floors housed the poor, who could stay there if they recited the prayers mentioned in the inscription.  (Flamel lived in another house that no longer exists.)  

Discovering the Maison de Nicolas Flamel and its interesting history was a happy accident.

Autumn in Paris #2

During a recent walk in the Tuileries garden, we discovered some more beautiful flowers.

In fact, the flowers were specially chosen using the color pallette of a famous painting.

Throughout 2019, the Louvre museum has been celebrating both the 30th anniversary of the Pyramid's completion and the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci.  Part of the celebration is the creation of lovely flower beds based on da Vinci's paintings hanging in the Louvre, like the Mona Lisa.   

Below are more photos of the Mona Lisa flower beds.  If you look closely, you can see the colors of the flowers mirror colors in the painting.  

Thanks for viewing a flowery version of the Mona Lisa with us.

Odd Things #4

Here is another odd thing related to timekeeping in Paris.

In one of the main squares of Paris, the Place de la Concorde, you can find an Eqyptian obelisk (pictured below).

The obelisk is from the Temple of Luxor.  After being shipped from Egypt to France, it was erected in the Place de la Concorde in 1836.  It stands about 75 feet tall and is more than 3,000 years old.

Depending on which story you believe, the obelisk was a gift, the obelisk was traded for a clock (that has never worked), or the obelisk was misappropriated.  Egypt wants the obelisk returned.  France says non.  (Of course, the French always say non.)

Here is the odd thing about the obelisk.  Early in the 1900's, a French scientist proposed using the obelisk as a sundial.  At the end of the 1900's, that proposal became a reality.  To celebrate the millennium, the City of Paris marked the pavement around the obelisk to signify hours of the day.  On a sunny day, the shadow cast by the obelisk moves clockwise around the square.    

  

The numbers have faded since 1999, but you can still find them.  Below, Marie-Chantal stands in the obelisk's shadow at the marker for "XIII", or 1:00 p.m.  

"XIII" represents 1:00 o'clock in the afternoon.

Of course, using a sundial to tell the exact local time is not a simple exercise.  Various adjustments are necessary, including the addition of an hour to account for le temps de l'heure d'été ("daylight saving time").  

Still, using an ancient obelisk to tell the time is very cool.  

Sundials were frequently used throughout France in past centuries.  How many sundials can still be found in France?

Answer:  About 10,000.  Who knew?