The four towers of the new Bibliotheque Nationale

The revised edition of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France

What can we say? They don't make them like they used to. Above you see the four large buildings (that show) that replaced the city-block sized Bibliotheque Nationale de France in our neighborhood. Unseen are long rooms that connect those four towers (made to look like open books standing on end) and a forest to replace the small garden in the Bibliotheque near us. While this garden was closed to us, it offers card-carrying researchers a quiet respite in a busy city:

This building opened around 1996 so how they got such tall trees is probably another remarkable feat of French civic engineering. Here's another view showing the raw nature feeling of this mini-forest:

Like so much modern architecture, the new building is both an improvement and a disappointment over its predecessor. It makes up in practicality for what it lacks in the cumulative beauty of the old library assembled over 4 centuries.

Walkways surround this forest-courtyard; we walked around them in the greenhouse heat of their glass:

Large rooms, some with exhibitions, spin off from this long walkway. These connect the four wings which look like opened books standing on ends:

A series of shutters protect the books inside from the rigors of the sun.

Next we wandered back to the Palais Royal to enjoy the first signs of spring: the tulips. Please join us by clicking here.

Where do you want to go today? Here's a few choices:

If you can't figure out your way out of this mess, search for something else on the Schmitt pages