Le weekend ... and Journées Européennes du Patrimoine

It's Saturday, the sky is blue, and Paris is out for the weekend.

The Journées du Patrimoine occurs one weekend of the year and is a kind of national celebration day when monuments, municipal buildings and spaces not normally accessible to the public are open for visits.  Sometimes you need to book in advance as numbers are limited, and there may be a small cost ... these are usually booked out well in advance ... and others are free - you just need to take your chances with queues.

We started the day at Hôpital Laennec, formerly a Hospice des Incurables founded in 1634 (on a space frequently used for duels!)  The hospital was named after René Théophile Hyacinthe Laennec, a French physician who invented the stethoscope in 1816.

The hospital was sold in 1990 to finance the construction of a new hospital, the Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou, and all services at Laennec were moved to Georges-Pompidou in 2000.  The building that was formerly Hôpital Laennec was eventually acquired and continues to be restored by the Kering group and the House of Balenciaga as their head offices.

As well as having the opportunity to wander inside the buildings, there were some art works on display from the private collection of François-Henri Pinault (the billionaire président-directeur général behind Kering & Balenciaga), including some by Damien Hirst, whose work we have seen in Venice in Pinault's galleries there - Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana.  In one hall there was also a series of screens showing videos of Balenciaga collections from the 1960s - videos that have only just been found and restored.

The visit within the building was to limited areas and strictly along guided paths ... but at one point I walked down a hall where the carpet was so soft I just wanted to take off my shoes!  When we visit these beautiful buildings I often think how lucky you would feel to be heading off to work there every day!

We headed off to Jardin du Luxembourg and happened across the Église St Joseph des Carmes on the way - also open for Journées du Patrimoine.  This particular church is now within the campus of the Catholic Institute's University, and well loved.  Its history records the massacre of 110 priests and 2 laymen in September 1792 (during the Revolution), some of whose bones are held in the crypt we visited today.  Also in the crypt is the tomb of Frederic Ozanam, who, at age 20, founded the Conferences Saint-Vincent de Paul and was beatified in 1997.  Such history!  I love those winding stone stairways, so narrow and low, as you descend into the crypt ... although somewhat eerie to see shelves of skulls and bones, identified on the stone memorials recording the names, dates and service to the church.

Back to the sunshine and on to the Jardin du Luxembourg.  Picked up supplies at a boulangerie and lunched at the Jardin, seated on those oh-so-Parisian green chairs!  Samedi à Paris!