La Bibliothèque Nationale de France

A good night’s sleep then Mass locally, very hot! Glad I had a fan with me! After mass we wandered round the few shops and market just outside and picked up food for an excellent lunch!

Many years ago a family cousin gave Ro and I a tour of Paris by car. Among other places he showed us the new building at Bercy. The sports arena with outside walls covered in grass, even though at around 45°! That was were we saw the concert yesterday!

Today we visited a building that was built in the early 1990s and opened in 1996. It’s the huge Library of France. All new books are kept as well as all the old ones. Also media etc. etc. There are four tower buildings joined by walls of steps and in the centre an enclosed space with many trees. The idea is a nod to the cloisters of old. There is a space at each end to sit and contemplate or relax or chat. That’s where I left Ro and went to explore this huge place.

At one end I found two globes made by Coronelli for the Sun King, Louis XIV. One of the World as it was known at the time and the second globe a reconstruction of the sky with its constellations. Fascinating!

We walked back over the Seine via the Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir. A very interesting pedestrian bridge. A little further we could see the Pont de Bercy with its two levels. The top, held up by a series of little arches has a train running over it. The huge building of the ministry of economics and finance towers over the road from the Bercy arena.

We walked back through the Park. Obviously a very popular place on summer Sunday afternoons!

Tired and very hot we had an ice-cream in Bercy village. An area that comes alive at night even more than during the day!!