Tunnels and Palaces
Living in France is expensive. Where does all that tax money go? Well, one thing I enjoyed were the Journées du Patrimoine held this past weekend, September 17-18, when French patrimony is open and free to the public. Patrimony can be printing presses, architecture, porcelain factories, bridges, even a makeup 'institute'--Lancôme's. Some were open just this once a year, such as the Elysées Palace where the president lives.
Another exceptional opening was the astronomical Obervatory in the 14th arrondissement; this is the origin of France's meridien, which was their cartographic standard before succumbing to Greenwich. Too bad they don't use the observatory anymore now that Paris suffers from too much light pollution. And in any case we didn't make it up to the coupole, since line-forming was only accepted between 13h and 16h!
Other patrimony attracted less people, although I felt they were even more exceptional. For example, M and I's personal favorite would be the Regard de la Lanterne at the crossing of rue Compans and rue Belleville in the 19th. A regard is a 'room' where water collects and can be sorted and relayed to fountains in other parts of Paris. This particular regard is named after the lantern-shaped cupola in 'pierre de taille', a stone used in many old Paris buildings, that crowns it. With origins in the 12th century and in use until the 19th, this regard's classical lines stand in contrast to the neighboring high-rise apartments. I told M that I felt we were in the banlieues.
This regard is at the head of the aqueduct of Belleville, which was one of the most important first aqueducts. In the 1980s, the volunteer-based ANSEP (Association Sources du Nord Etudes et Protection) cleaned out the regard that had fallen into disuse and then renovated it. It is now a working regard that collects rainwater. Underneath the northern part of Paris is clay, so the rain does not enter the earth and becomes runoff. (Note to future catacombs-exploring self, under the southern part of Paris is gympsum.)
When M and I visited, one of the three rain chutes was dripping water into the well. We were lucky since it has been dry this past summer. The well was lit up from below, in the water, which gave everything a magical halo cast. We followed the water as it was relayed elsewhere. The height of its tunnel became progessively lower, as we went from pierre de taille ceiling to just packed dirt--I even touched a wispy roots pulling down. Of course, the tunnel eventually became so small as to be difficult to enter, so ANSEP lit up a path between candles leading into the darkness. It was obviously a work of love.
More patrimony to come...
Living in France is expensive. Where does all that tax money go? Well, one thing I enjoyed were the Journées du Patrimoine held this past weekend, September 17-18, when French patrimony is open and free to the public. Patrimony can be printing presses, architecture, porcelain factories, bridges, even a makeup 'institute'--Lancôme's. Some were open just this once a year, such as the Elysées Palace where the president lives.
Another exceptional opening was the astronomical Obervatory in the 14th arrondissement; this is the origin of France's meridien, which was their cartographic standard before succumbing to Greenwich. Too bad they don't use the observatory anymore now that Paris suffers from too much light pollution. And in any case we didn't make it up to the coupole, since line-forming was only accepted between 13h and 16h!
Other patrimony attracted less people, although I felt they were even more exceptional. For example, M and I's personal favorite would be the Regard de la Lanterne at the crossing of rue Compans and rue Belleville in the 19th. A regard is a 'room' where water collects and can be sorted and relayed to fountains in other parts of Paris. This particular regard is named after the lantern-shaped cupola in 'pierre de taille', a stone used in many old Paris buildings, that crowns it. With origins in the 12th century and in use until the 19th, this regard's classical lines stand in contrast to the neighboring high-rise apartments. I told M that I felt we were in the banlieues.
This regard is at the head of the aqueduct of Belleville, which was one of the most important first aqueducts. In the 1980s, the volunteer-based ANSEP (Association Sources du Nord Etudes et Protection) cleaned out the regard that had fallen into disuse and then renovated it. It is now a working regard that collects rainwater. Underneath the northern part of Paris is clay, so the rain does not enter the earth and becomes runoff. (Note to future catacombs-exploring self, under the southern part of Paris is gympsum.)
When M and I visited, one of the three rain chutes was dripping water into the well. We were lucky since it has been dry this past summer. The well was lit up from below, in the water, which gave everything a magical halo cast. We followed the water as it was relayed elsewhere. The height of its tunnel became progessively lower, as we went from pierre de taille ceiling to just packed dirt--I even touched a wispy roots pulling down. Of course, the tunnel eventually became so small as to be difficult to enter, so ANSEP lit up a path between candles leading into the darkness. It was obviously a work of love.
More patrimony to come...
posted by Open Mouth at 3:26 AM
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