The dismantling of the ephemeral Grand Palais is slow in coming

6/11/24 - Heritage - Paris, Champ-de-Mars - Back in 2018, the building that was to replace the nave of the Grand Palais while the latter was being restored was described as ‘ephemeral’. Remember the Greek etymology of this word: ‘which lasts only one day’. Of course, no one imagined that this ephemeral Grand Palais would last just one day, not even that it would be ‘of short duration’, as the word is also used. For nearly four years now, this wart built by Jean-Michel Wilmotte (ill. 1 and 2) has been cluttering up the Champ-de-Mars and blocking the view of the École Militaire (ill. 3), an outstanding historical monument built by Gabriel. We’ve seen more ephemeral, except for the other meaning of this word, as defined by the Académie française dictionary: ‘which will quickly fall into…