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I used to go the cinema in Les Halles, but I recently transferred allegiance to the more salubrious MK2 Bibliotheque multiplex in the 13th arrondissement. It's only a short hop from the city centre via Paris's newest, most hi-tech metro line - the 14, also known by the acronym Meteor (Metro Est-Ouest Rapide). The line was supposed to continue southward, but progress has been held up following the subsidence of a school playground. Luckily no children were there at the time.
The Bibliotheque quartier is dominated by the BNF - the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, also known as the Francois Mitterrand library. This monument to French culture consists of four 25-storey towers shaped like open books. On days when the towers aren't channelling a Force 10 gale, the wooden decking between them is a nice place to sit and sunbathe.
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At the foot of the giant library towers, Bibliotheque is a quartier on the rise
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The surrounding streets are a discordant mix of public housing, building sites and luxury penthouses overlooking the Seine. There's also a monument rather less jubilant than the BNF in the form of a burnt-out building where, last year, 14 children and three adults died in a fire that swept through their lodgings - one of a series of fatal blazes that drew attention to the precarious living conditions of Paris's immigrant community.
But this is a quartier in full mutation. Barring technical hiccups, a new pedestrian bridge will open this summer, providing a direct link between the BNF and the Parc de Bercy, across the Seine in the 12th. It won't be long before the immigrants are ousted by the bourgeoisie. The price of those penthouses is already enough to bring tears to the eyes. 
FIRST POSTED MAY 11, 2006
 Last week: Vietnamese pedicure |
