Journées du patrimoine: How to navigate Heritage Days in Paris

Journées européennes du patrimoine, meaning “European Heritage day” is one of the most popular weekends in France, and especially in Paris. This is the occasion to visit government institutions and important landmarks that usually have their doors closed.

I will fully admit it usually involves running around from one place to another and crossing your fingers that the wait in line won’t be too long.

The good news is the top attractions have now instituted reservation systems, no more line-waiting for hours on end. (I once waited over 6 hours to enter the Élysée, though I did make some good friends along the way.)

So reservations are a wonderful invention, except for the slight hick is that there is not a central booking system. Rather each monument runs a separate lottery reservation system on their own website.

Basically, a bunch of websites that don’t usually have reservation systems because you can’t usually visit them, all of sudden dusting off some old CSS/html code and pushing it live to their websites once a year.

And tickets are released randomly by each institution a week or so before, rather than on a particular day. Again if you plan in advance, it works wonderfully. Very little lines, and you get to enjoy the inside without too big a crowd.

Not every place has reservations though so at some point you may have to tackle those that don’t have a reservation system. Whatever you choose, these are the top sights you shouldn’t miss.

Inside Palais de l’Elysée: The French President’s official residence

I have been 3 times during Journées du Patrimoine, and would go again if I could. And that's because being President of France means that you get to redecorate the Palais de l'Elysée. Visit the different rooms of the official residence of the President of France and judge their decorating tastes for yourself.

Assemblée Nationale: the heart of the French Republic (Palais Bourbon)

France's Assemblée Nationale is not open very often, so make the most out of your visit into Palais Bourbon, the heart of French democracy. And don't forget to take a picture of yourself in the famous Hemicyle!

Palais Royal and Colonnes des Buren: the photo hotspot

The Palais Royal in Paris has been just about everything. Its history ranges from a royal residence to pleasure palace, and these days government offices. It is today the office of the Minister of Culture, the Conseil d'Etat (State consul) and Conseil Constitutionnel (Constitutional consul). Not to mention, a series of high-end apartments allocated to government officials.

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