Journées du Patrimoine

This is the weekend that thousands of publicly-owned buildings normally closed to the public fling open their doors on the third weekend in September.

(Above) Real gold on display at the headquarters of la Banque de France
(Below) One of the grand rooms in la Banque de France

(Below) Sarko's office in Palais de l'Elysée

Visited the Palais de l'Elysée on Saturday and the Banque de France on Sunday. Also went to the Prefecture de Police on Sunday but the museum was quite ordinary.

This is the weekend that Nicolas and Carla kindly move out of the Elysée Palace and let the public wander through (only certain areas, of course!). I was there at 07:45 but still had to queue for three hours to get in. It was worth it because it really is a magnificent building.

The Salle des Fêtes is extraordinary; the place settings and the length of the tablecloth are measured to the millimetre. It takes two hours to set it up. There was a big screen in the garden while we waited to get in, with a video showing how everything happens to keep things running like clockwork.