Contemporary Paris
According to our Brockhaus encyclopedia, this complex was built from 1982-1991 under the
supervision of the architects B.Tschumi and Adrien Fainsilber. We would probably have gotten
more information from our Larousse French encyclopedia but it has the annoying property of
requiring the insertion of the original disk every so often which is so irritating that we
hardly use it. Just imagine if every piece of software installed had such a requirement!
I have four encyclopedias installed (Encarta, Britannica, Brockhaus, and Larousse) and find
the Larousse the slowest and with the least intutitive search engine (you have to spell everything
exactly as it appears to find it), as well as having the annoying copy protection mechanism.
I would also like to install a Russian encyclopedia but haven't yet found one I would trust.
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Designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel and built from 1981-1987.
We attended a lecture here and took time out to take in the fabulous view
of the Seine and the back (eastern) end of Notre Dame de Paris across
the river.
One of Jan's least favorite architects, Gehry designed the former American Center
which was built 1988-1994. It now stands empty and looks rather decrepit with its
white surface blackened with mildew. It's unclear what it will be used for next.
Built so that it can be seen from the Arc de Triomphe, la Grande Arche
physically and symbolically connects the modern business center of La
Defense to the rest of Paris. We heartily approve of this piece of urban
planning, specifically the removal of all the modern high-rise buildings
to a new focal point outside of the original confines of the city of Paris.
We so wish that other governments, notably that of Mao Zedong, had adopted
this policy instead of destroying an ancient historic city to replace it
with something perceived as more advanced and modern. During our 1999 visit
we actually visited the Arche and travelled up to its top to take some pictures
and so skipped it this time.
This photograph should convince any doubters of the wisdom of the decision
to build all of these skyscapers away from the lovely 18th and 19th century
archtecture of the center of Paris.
We were lucky to get to see this collection of folk art and traditions
because it is being transferred to Marseille as part of a government plan
to decentralize museum collections. We support such a plan wholeheartedly.
Why should the capital be the only city in the country to host national
museums? And, we liked the collection. It included several very interesting
commented dioramas showing life in an alpine summer farmhouse, a bakery, a
blacksmith, and so on.
We spent an interesting afternoon here attending a real-estate expo.
We daydreamed of buying a house in Paris, or in one of
the overseas territories like la Reunion, or even in Spain, a favorite
destination for Frenchmen trying to flee French taxes.
This glass and steel commercial center built to replace the wholesale
fruit and vegetable market was, much like Covent Garden in London,
intended to revitalise the neighborhood. Sadly it is now looking a
lot worse for wear and definitely needs some refurbishment.
The Pompidou Center is another piece of architecture that we disagree on.
Jan dislikes it intensely and wishes they had banished it to La Defense.
Gerry finds it intriguing and a nice change
from formal Parisian architecture.
We never did eat here, but walked by it several times and loved its garish
vulgar but vibrant exterior!
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