Luxembourg

Paris Gare de l’Est is the little sister of Gare du Nord. In fact, the two stations with their imposing façades are located just 500m apart in the 10^th arrondissement. The Gare de l’Est sits at the end of one of the long straight boulevards Baron Haussmann cut through the city, the Boulevard de Sébastopol which turns into Boulevard de Strasbourg. Fun fact: The train station was initially called Gare de Strasbourg.

Its style is neoclassical, with some parts being Art Deco, notably the glass-roofed departure-arrivals hall. Note the beautiful half-circle rose window on the main façade.

Like all the other Paris train stations, the Gare de l’Est is a terminus station. Being the 5^th-busiest of the six main stations, from Gare de l’Est trains go to–you guessed it–Strasbourg, which these days is served by the high-speed TGV Est on its way to Frankfurt, but also the rest of North-Eastern France (Champagne-Ardennes, Lorraine, Alsace), Luxembourg, the southern parts of Germany (for the North, go to Gare du Nord), Austria, and even Italy, as well as local trains (TER) serving the eastern part of the greater Paris area. In 1883, the first-ever Orient Express train to Istanbul made its departure from Gare de l’Est

The Gare de l’Est can be reached by bus and métro (4, 5, and 7). From Gare du Nord, you can walk or take the métro 4 (one station) which serves both stations.

The Gare de l’Est has featured in numerous French movies, sometimes standing in for other stations as it is less busy. One you might know is Amélie (2001).

Below the tracks 2 and 3, there is a bunker from WWII that was in fact begun not long before the war and completed by the Occupant in 1941. It is, however, not open to the public.

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The European Heritage Days, based on an initiative of the then French Minister for Culture, Jack Lang, in 1984, now exist in 50 countries across Europe. In France, the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine, take place on the third weekend of September. This means sites that are usually closed to the public will be open, other sites will be free of charge, many will offer special activities and/or guided tours. Some will require reservations, but many will just let you drop in, from well-known institutions in big cities to ancient buildings in small villages. Often there will be activities for younger visitors.

At some point, when you got in line at 5am at the Elysée Palace, you might be lucky and shake hands with the president, or do the same with the prime minister after queuing at the Hôtel Matignon. I once stood in line at the Senate, the Palais du Luxembourg and indeed met the president of the Senate, the upper house of Parliament. He is the third person of the state in order of importance, after the president and the prime minister, and before the president of the national assembly.

Gérard Larcher, President of the French Senate

I am not sure though if you still queue for these institutions nowadays or sign up online, as I did to visit the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, more recently.

When you choose your visits, don’t overlook small events. You never know a hidden gem until you find it. For example, on year in the Latin Quarter, a college offered the visit of ongoing preventive archaeology digs – it turned out there were Gallo-Roman ruins on a site marked for construction, and archaeologists were trying to unearth and save as much as they could. This is something that will never be seen again!

Here are glimpses of some other interesting places I’ve visited during Heritage Days in and around Paris over the years: