Luxembourg Palace (1)

Together with some fellow ”greeters”, voluntarily accompanying visitors to Paris (read more about it here or click on the sidebar “Parisien d’un Jour”), I had the pleasure to visit the interior of the Palais de Luxembourg, the site of the French Senate. I already posted about the Luxembourg Gardens, e.g. here and here, but not until now about the Palace itself.

A lot is to be said and showed about this Palace, so I will split in two posts and of course (you know me) start by trying to give some historic information.

The Palace was originally built for Marie de Medici, wife, widow of Henri IV, mother of Louis XIII and grandmother of Louis XIV. As from 1610 and the death of Henri IV, until 1617, she acted as regent for the young Louis XIII. Without going into any details, there was a lot of fighting and intriguing between her, her son, her second son, the Cardinal Richelieu and others as well during her regency as later.

Marie was not happy living in the austere Louvre Palace and desired to make a building and garden similar to what she had known from her birthplace, Florence.  In 1612 she bought land and the already existing smaller castle, still there and now referred to as the “Petit Luxembourg”, having belonged to a Duke of Piney-Luxembourg.

Thirteen years later, in 1625, she could move in, but the Palace was really completed only in 1631, when she had just been forced to leave the Royal court, first exiled to Compiègne.  She then escaped to Brussels, Amsterdam, London … conspiring against Louis XIII and Richelieu… and died in Cologne in 1642. She then still owned the Palace and bequeathed it to her favourite son, Gaston d’Orléans, always in fight with the elder brother, Louis XIII.

With only some short interruptions (as museum), the Palace was then occupied by the Orléans family and later by the brother of Louis XVI, the future Louis XVIII … until the Revolution when it became a prison, the home of the Senate (“Sénat Conservateur”) and the first residence of Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul.

1799-1805 the Palace was transformed into a legislative building, the grand central staircase was demolished and replaced by a senate chamber (blue circle). Beginning 1835 additional surface (in light blue) was constructed, keeping the original façade alike and a new senate chamber (the still existing one) was created as well as a library.

We can here compare what the Palace and its gardens looked like during the 18^th century and today.

Marie de Medici had her apartments in the west wing. Almost all the original interior decoration is gone, but a few elements have been saved and assembled in a room on the ground floor (“Salle du Livre d’Or”)…

… together with some decorations of the sleeping quarters of Louis XIII’s wife, Anne d’Autriche, from the Louvre.

Marie de Medici had ordered 24 canvases from Peter Paul Rubens – to her glory. They were exposed in the “Rubens gallery” (see plan above). When the Palace was rebuilt during the 19^th century, a new central staircase was built here. The Rubens paintings can now be seen at the Louvre.

Again referring to history, a very special event took place in this antechamber, referred to as “la Journée des Dupes” (the Day of the Dupes), when Marie de Medici, Louis XIII and Richelieu met in November 1630 and when Marie thought that she had got rid of Richelieu, but a day later Richelieu was the winner and soon Marie had to leave. Richelieu then lived in the neighbour “Petit Luxembourg”, now the residence of the President of the Senate.

Here are some pictures of the “Petit Luxembourg” and its still private garden.

… and here some from the central court of the real Palace.

In a next post, I will illustrate the magnificent rooms which were added, redecorated during the 19^th century.                  

A private park

This is the largest non-public garden in Paris. Most of the time it’s empty of people… except for the gardeners, who keep it in a perfect shape  Since January, it’s open to public the first Saturday afternoon each month. I was there at the premiere.

We are in the garden of Hôtel Matignon, the official residence of the Prime Minister. The garden and the mansion date from the beginning of the 18^th century. The place has been owned by families like Luxembourg, Matignon, Grimaldi (Monaco) until the Revolution, then by a dancer, by Talleyrand… and after the Restoration of the Royalty, by a Duchess of Bourbon, who made it into some kind of nunnery, by a wealthy American… For a while it was in competition with the Elysée Palace to become the home of the head of the State. It was then owned by the Family Galliera, who, when France again had become a Republic, invited 3000 persons here to celebrate the wedding of a French princess with the heir of the Portuguese throne.  This was ”too much” for the republicans and led to the exiling of the French throne pretenders. Matignon then housed the Embassy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, becoming “enemy property” during WWI. For a while thought to be a museum, in 1935 it finally became the headquarters of the President of the Council and in 1958 of the Prime Minister.

Obviously, few people were informed, as it was still possible to take photos giving the impression that the garden was empty. The garden is a mixture of the typical French garden and some more “romantic” parts. There is a special charm even on a grey winter day, but I may return in April or May…

There are very few statues.

At the extreme end of the garden is the building. It was Saturday afternoon, but one could see a few lights is some of the rooms, including the one of the Prime Minister. It’s obvious that at present no rest is allowed to our political leaders.

A few trees have been there for centuries, but since 1976 each Prime Minister has planted a new tree or bush – obviously with the exception of Jacque Chirac. Maybe he planted something in the Elysée Palace gardens later. 

This gives us the opportunity to check who the occupants have been since then.

I was not quite alone and some journalists were of course present. I was even interviewed by a TV channel, but I doubt that it was broadcast.

The official entrance to Matignon is on rue de Varenne, but unless you have a personal invitation by the Prime Minister, I guess you will have to use the back entrance from Rue de Babylone and go through a severe security control.

Soon closing...

The cultural offer – CDs, books, magazines, DVDs, different accessories…  have during the last decades moved from small shops to some leading chains, e.g. FNAC … and Virgin Megastores.

Virgin Megastore has a dominant place on the Champs-Elysées. Since 1988 it occupies the major part of the building which was created in 1931 for the First National Bank. (The architect was André Arfvidson, who was responsible for a number of remarkable buildings in Paris; you can read about one of them in one of my previous posts.) The building was recently bought by the Quatar.

Virgin Megastore will most probably disappear from the more and  more expensive Champs-Elysées and perhaps altogether in France, with its remaining 25 shops and 1000 employees. Created by Sir Richard Branson, but long since sold by him, the hundreds of stores worldwide have already to a large extent disappeared, e.g. in UK, US, Italy, Spain, Canada, Australia…. The takeovers have in majority lead to closures. Some hundred Virgin Megastores remain  (for how long?) in France, Germany, the Middle East...

The French ownership was first taken over in majority taken over by the Lagardère group in 2001, in 2007 sold to an investment company, Butler Capital Partners*, heavily criticized by employees and syndicates for having neglected the needed transformation, adaptation, to a changing market. The liquidation of the French branch was declared this week. 

*/ Walter Butler is a French-American businessman, who has had advisory roles for the French government and also has a past as director at Goldman Sachs.  

Also FNAC is in difficulties. Yes, the market is changing. Soon, we will have the choice to buy – with a very restricted choice - at supermarkets or on internet. Who will take over the Champs-Elysées building? Zara, H&M, Apple, Hermès …?

In the meantime and before closure, here are some photos of the Virgin Megastore on the Champs-Elysées.

Especially when you visit the book shop, downstairs the past of the bank building is very visible.

Restored facade

About a year and a half ago I posted about the Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis Church, about its connections to the Jesuits, to Père Lachaise, about the former convent (now Lycée Charlemagne), about the musicians who worked and performed there… and I made the remark that the façade was in heavy need of restoration. It’s done!

Here you can compare the façade as it looked a bit more than a year ago and today. 

I guess that previously most people passed in front of it – rue Saint-Antoine – without taking notice. Now you do and I guess most of us are impressed by its baroque splendour.

The equally restored clock is marked with the year 1627, the year when the church began to be built. It seems however that it was transferred from the former Saint-Paul Church, which was demolished in 1797 (the Revolution).

And… don’t forget to get inside!

One day, I hope to be able to visit the crypt where Louis Bourdalou, Père Lachaise, and many other celebrities were buried and  where the hearts of a number of kings, princes, dukes… (Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Condé, La Tour d’Auvergne…) were deposed. Not much left of course and there is even a troubling story that the heart of Louis XIV later was eaten (!) by some eccentric English personality.   Addendum: (As I have got some surprised comments on this, here are some sites where you can read about this true or false story: 1 and 2.)

Fontaine Saint-Sulpice

Some five years ago I made a post about the Saint-Sulpice Church and briefly mentioned the beautiful fountain in front of it. When I passed by the other day (night), I could not resist against taking a few pictures.

The “Fontaine Saint-Sulpice” was inaugurated in 1848. It was created by Louis Visconti, who has left a number of other remarkable works around Paris, including the Molière Monument (see previous post), but perhaps is especially known for the design of Napoleon’s tomb (see previous posts).

  

The four statues represent four French religious “orators” (Bousset, Fénelon, Fléchier, Massillon).

The pigeons seem to appreciate the monument for their night sleep.

At the moment the place houses also a nice carrousel (merry-go-round).