Like every year the European Heritage Days will take place on September 19 and 20.
It's a opportunity to visit or discover sites that are usually private or closed to the public or to enjoy unusual guided tours
Thousands of events and exceptional visits are planned all over France, and in principle, all of them are free.
They are listed here with a map. Advance booking can be required:
Jo Lui,
Thank you for the link. How I wish we could be in France for these activities, etc.! Alas, who knows when we will get back there. Had to miss a family wedding in Bandol this year, and still haven't met the newest baby cousin.
I'll check out the references and put myself in the locations vicariously. Hope you get to enjoy some of them!
A strategy suggestion. We will not build our life around waiting in lines and the popular sites will have very long lines. What I did last year and will do again this year is look for lesser known sites near where we are staying. Last year I went to a high school that had been designed by Guimard the art nouveau architect who designed the attractive metro entrances around Paris. It was very interesting -- gorgeous structure. And no line; no crowd; they were happy to see visitors.
I also went to Citeco, the gorgeous bank of France headquarters in the 17th at Place General Catroux -- you get to tour the stunning old chateau and there is a big museum of economics and money that actually turned out to be rather interesting. they preserve the old bank vaults and such but also display coins throughout history, money presses, and a museum of how the economy works (from the perspective of capitalists of course). Again, very interesting and no lines at all and no crowds. More people than at the high school, but no line.
both of these were in the 17th where we always stay in the fall. We will be looking for similar opportunities this fall. Look for things that are either expensive or closed the rest of the year.
