Policy
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Remarkable announcements from the Minister for Culture
The interview that Rachida Dati has just given to our colleagues at Figaro marks, in our view, an unexpected and remarkable turning point in the heritage policy of the Ministry of Culture. While…
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The project for the surroundings of Notre-Dame gets clearer and better
The plan to redevelop the area around Notre-Dame was presented at a press conference yesterday, Tuesday 15 October. It should be remembered that the version presented to the Commission nationale…
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From the Eiffel Tower to the Cour du Bel Air: the under-protection of Paris
Dans une interview parue aujourd’hui dans Le Parisien, la ministre de la Culture Rachida Dati annonce son intention de classer d’office la tour Eiffel, si la maire de Paris refusait le classement…
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Notre-Dame stained glass windows: a budget of €3 to 4 million
Will the replacement of Viollet-le-Duc’s stained glass windows at Notre-Dame cost 3 million euros, as Michel Guerrin revealed in an article in Le Monde published last Friday? Or is the total…
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Fontaine Saint-Michel: highly lucrative advertising
The system is perverse, and we have denounced it on many occasions: advertising on historic monuments in France, which is usually prohibited, was authorised in 2007 on condition that it was…
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Notre-Dame: the untruths of Archbishop Ulrich
Can you be an archbishop and lie? Clearly, yes, as Archbishop Laurent Ulrich has just demonstrated in an interview given to the newspaper Paris Notre-Dame, which distributes the good word of...…
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A review of the eight months of Rachida Dati’s tenure as Minister of Culture
Rachida Dati has been reappointed Minister of Culture. Although, as usual, we welcomed her appointment (see article), we have subsequently been critical of many of her actions, foremost among…
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Bercy protects the sell-off of châteaux
It may be a politically uncertain time in France, but there is no denying the need to make savings. Antoine Armand, the new Minister for the Economy and Finance, and Laurent Saint-Martin, the new…
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Don’t blame me, blame him
In view of the success of the petition for the conservation of Viollet-le-Duc’s stained glass windows, which has risen sharply in recent days and will certainly reach 200,000 signatories before…
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Notre-Dame stained glass windows: let’s help Sites & Monuments take the fight to the courts
Ignorant complètement l’avis de la Commission nationale du patrimoine et de l’architecture, s’asseyant sur les souhaits des donateurs de Notre-Dame de voir la cathédrale restaurée à l’identique et…
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Anne Hidalgo, the Lady of the Rings
It’s exhausting. There are few months, or even weeks, when Anne Hidalgo doesn’t take a decision that is harmful to our heritage and to Paris. Without any real opposition from the State or the…
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The ‘ephemeral’ Grand Palais must go
Never, of course, should the Ministry of Culture or Paris City Council have agreed to the installation of the ‘ephemeral’ Grand Palais in front of the École Militaire, a building by Gabriel, one of…
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The crown of light, a new scandal at Notre-Dame de Paris
An article published three days ago in La Tribune, written by Philippe D’Indevillers, tells us that the chief architect of historic monuments, Philippe Villeneuve, regrets that ‘the archbishop of…
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La Barben and the Champ-de-Mars, same battles
One is in the countryside, in Provence, the other in Paris. But the threats facing the area around the Château de La Barben and the Champ-de-Mars, both of which are in the vicinity of historic…
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The Ministry of Culture indifferent to the fate of the Maison Marrou in Rouen
L’une des principales missions du ministère de la Culture consiste à protéger le patrimoine. Il est donc inacceptable que celui-ci, régulièrement, refuse de protéger les monuments historiques…
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Stained glass windows at Notre-Dame: Emmanuel Macron’s obstinacy
The French President of the Republic was not happy when he learned of the CNPA’s decision to vote against the project to replace Viollet-le-Duc’s stained glass windows with contemporary ones. He…
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Notre-Dame: Rachida Dati ignores the opinion of the CNPA
As we always do with new arrivals at the Ministry of Culture, we welcomed the appointment of Rachida Dati, hoping that she would bring about a change in the practices of the Ministry, especially…
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Rouen: another fire in a historic monument, and another restoration site
More fear than harm at Rouen cathedral, which today suffered a blaze in its spire. The fire does not appear to have caused any major damage. The cathedral is an all-metal structure, made of cast…
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The Petit Palais freely accessible without reservation throughout the summer
L’obligation de réserver son entrée au Louvre, y compris pour les Amis du Louvre ou les titulaires de la gratuité, entre le 2 juillet et le 5 septembre devient de plus en plus incompréhensible au fur…
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Friends of the Louvre banned from entering the Louvre
We never would have thought we would see this one day, and even during Jean-Luc Martinez’s tenure, we hadn’t seen it.. But everything happens, and from now on Friends of the Louvre are no longer…
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The recommendations of the Commission for the rehabilitation of La Concorde
Contrary to what some may have understood, the commission set up by Paris City Hall to make recommendations on the rehabilitation of the Place de la Concorde did not give it a blank check. The…
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La Barben: the Prefect supports Rocher Mistral and is overruled by the Council of State
How far will the public authorities go to defend the indefensible in the never-ending case of the Château de La Barben transformed into an amusement park under the name of Rocher Mistral? After…
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Notre-Dame: a very intrusive choir organ
Notre-Dame should not be a playground for the French President of the Republic or the Archbishop of Paris. No doubt they think they have some legitimacy in the decisions they take, but they have…
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A short lesson on the protection of historic monuments, for Jean-François Martins, Director of the Eiffel Tower operating company
It’s one thing for politicians to talk rubbish about the legislation governing historic monuments, but it’s quite another for them to be able to do so over and over again on the airwaves without…
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Classification of the Eiffel Tower: what the heritage law says
While Emmanuel Grégoire, the first deputy mayor of Paris, said that he was not opposed to the classification of the Eiffel Tower and was prepared to look into the matter, Anne Hidalgo stated this…
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Budget cancellations: a new blow to France’s heritage
The Ministry of the Budget (obviously in collusion with the Élysée Palace) has just wiped €10 billion off France’s budget with the stroke of a pen, despite the fact that the budget was debated in…
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Rachida Dati’s hot heritage issues in Paris
France’s new Minister of Culture didn’t get off to a great start when she approved the ’relocation-reconstruction’ of the Institut Curie’s Pavillon des Sources... But while the future of this Parisian…