On a September Sunday, we stumbled into an unexpected pleasure: Heritage Days in Paris.
Since the 1980s, France has set aside Jours de Patrimoine, or Heritage Days, to give the public a peek behind the curtain of normally inaccessible government offices and other institutions.
It’s spread widely across Europe, and now includes many non-government sites as well, including such diverse venues as department stores, factories, embassies, and this year, even the Crazy Horse Saloon. And, a vintage Paris bus from the 1920s.
Our Heritage Days visits were more mundane, and totally accidental—but they gave us a little sense of how popular and how much fun they can be. We were leaving the Musee Rodin, on our way to dinner, when a gentleman with an umbrella invited us to enter the courtyard we were glancing into (above).
It turned out to be the Hotel Clermont, the 300-year-old mansion that is now the headquarters of the government’s official spokesperson, who is also the President’s liaison with the National Assembly.
We joined dozens of other visitors, mostly local, as we followed ‘Suite de la Visite’ through the elaborate rooms. When you work in an 18th century building, the surroundings match! We hadn’t planned to be there, but it turned out fun.
Enough fun so that as we left, we decided to check out what the crowd up the street was headed for. It turned out to be the equally old and equally elaborate palace of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
Inside the courtyard, we found a small market, featuring wines and cheeses and fruits and vegetables of France, organized and staffed by students from the schools of agriculture.
Of course, the obligatory showing off also of the elaborate interiors, and the dining and conference rooms and office of M. le Ministre.
One of my favorites: visitors examining photographs and exhibits of modern agriculture set up below a giant mural of 18th-century farming.
Behind the main building, there’s an extensive quiet garden; the visitor below seemed more interested in it than in the fancy trappings.
When we got there ourselves, we could see why…
But is, after all, the ministry of agriculture and food, so there’s also a sizable vegetable garden as well, with lovely colors and very tempting vegetables.
And animals. The black pigs below are a relatively new breed for France. The rabbit is a variety called Papillon, or butterfly. And the geese, which were spotted as we entered, proved camera-shy.
There was even a home for bees and bugs…
Each year’s Heritage Days has a different list; if you happen to be in Paris, or in France on your next trip, check it out. We wish we had done more!
