Paris (AFP)
Around the light theme of "Arts and Entertainment", the 36th edition of the European Heritage Days, Saturday and Sunday, is likely to be a success in France, almost six months after the disaster of Notre-Dame which has confirmed heritage as a national cause.
17,000 public and private venues will be opened and 26,000 events will take place in France but also in 49 other European countries.
Last year, nearly 16,000 sites and monuments were open.
Games, circus, parties, theater, cinema, sports ... The spectrum of places visited is expanding. Even the Professional Football League (LFP) is joining forces with the Heritage Foundation: seven clubs will mobilize for the benefit of various projects of the Heritage Foundation campaign "Never Again", referring to the fire of the cathedral.
The annual public opening of these public and private monuments on an autumn weekend is an initiative launched by the Socialist Minister of Culture Jack Lang in 1984. It was followed by some 12 million visitors in the last five years in France.
But also in Europe since 1985, the Days are gaining momentum, from Switzerland to Iceland, via Georgia and Russia. At the head of the pack, Germany with 8,000 events, followed by the Netherlands (6,000) and England (5,500).
- All environments -
In France, a lotto heritage acclaimed for two years, an effective popularization of the history of historic monuments by the popular animator Stéphane Bern, and the shock caused by the fire of Notre-Dame have confirmed the interest of the French for their heritage, all environments combined.
In some sites like the National Assembly or the Ministry of Culture rue de Valois the reservation will be mandatory.
A fear however for Saturday in Paris: the event coincides with a new day of mobilization of "Yellow Vests" and a walk for the climate. Some sites will therefore be closed to gathering places, such as the Petit and Grand Palais.
In the capital and in the provinces, everything starts on Friday with the second edition of "Children of Heritage", sponsored by Stéphane Bern, with treasure hunts, workshops, courses allow classes, kindergarten to high school, to walk the palaces , castles, parks and gardens.
Discover the traditional Creole architecture or the forts of the Maginot line, learn about the size of the stone or take part in an architectural competition to imagine a city around a dungeon: more than 600 activities will be proposed in more than fifty departments.
In support of these days, Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron will go Friday to the home of painter Rosa Bonheur in Thomery in Seine-et-Marne, one of the emblematic projects that receive financial support from the heritage mission.
- Backstage -
In Paris, visitors will be able to discover behind the scenes of the Comédie-Française or the recently renovated Théâtre du Châtelet, the Cirque d'Hiver, the Eden Cinema, the oldest cinema in the world still in activity, the Molitor Pool or the Hippodrome de Longchamp. They will be able to visit the site of the Carnavalet museum, before its reopening in 2020.
In the Palais du Luxembourg (Senate) will be proposed a sound walk entitled "Murmures of the Palace".
Sunday a new day without a car from 11 am to 6 pm will prevail in Paris. No motorized vehicle may circulate intramural, two-wheeled and electric vehicles included. Attractive rates will be offered in many car parks. Offenders will be exposed to a ticket of 135 ?.
In this year of the fire of Notre-Dame, objects, therefore the rooster of the arrow, will be shown to the Ministry of Culture, and the huge carpet of wool of the time of Louis-Philippe exposed to the Mobilier national.
The SNCF will transport historical treasures on board five wagons of a line from Transilien line D. As for the RATP, it will propose to visit the site of the station Rosny-Bois-Perrier, built in the open sky.
Also in the province, the proposed sites are very diverse: from the National Center for Stage Costume of Moulins to the Theater in the Italian Saint-Omer, Palais Lumiere in Evian at the National Center for Circus Arts in Châlons-en-Champagne .
© 2019 AFP