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Architecture now – aargh! or wow! ?

& a neighborhood that changes while keeping what counts
The Pompidou Center, example of architecture that is admired and opposed.

 

Many visitors, like many Parisians, criticize the city's major construction of the late 20th century.

 

The Eiffel Tower met with the same opposition. 

 

 

 

  • At the end of a general tour we may visit Opéra Bastille, because the inside is revolutionary, and the neighborhood vibrant

 

After the (excellent) official guide conducts the tour, we explore a neighborhood Dickens immortalized in "A Tale of Two Cities", by setting ferocious Madame Defarge, who knits while the guillotine falls, and her wineshop in what was then a slum. We explore an area that still evokes the 18th century.

 

Yet this is where a graphic novel sets a story about yuppies, because the new Opéra has made "Bastille" trendy. We can introduce you to its cafés, restaurants and dance halls.

     

     

    • A neighborhood of craftspeople and artists

     

    Woodworkers have concentrated here since the Middle Ages and artists since the 1980's. We discover studios of interest.  

     

     

    "Opéra Bastille", by graphic-novel artist Alex Varenne

     

     

    • Costs: please CLICK

    º Guided visit fee, Opéra Bastille  

     

    Credit : photo / Claude Abron