Inside the Luxembourg Palace

Once a year, the European governments get together and for a whole weekend they open up a host of government buildings normally closed to the public. In France, they call this weekend Les Journées de la Patrimoine, the Days of the Patrimony. Despite being a bit bogged down with work-- I have my Master's defense tomorrow and Valentin resumes his medical school studies after two and a half months' vacation and a year away from medicine earning a Master's in Neuroscience-- we took advantage of the weekend to find out just what is hidden inside the imposing building standing at the head of the Luxembourg Gardens, the Senate Building aka the Luxembourg Palace. Answer: a hell of a lot of gold.

The Senate Building as seen from the Luxembourg Gardens

The excessively fantastic interior made Valentin seriously wonder just how French senators can be expected to write laws and run a country when there are so many shiny distractions and a whole new bunch of politicians elected every three years. The building has always been in the hands of the government (perhaps explaining some governing efficacy issues). The Senate Building was built from 1615 to 1630 and remained in the hands of royalty until the French revolution, at which point it briefly became, of all things, a prison before being converted into government offices in 1795. In 1958, it officially became the home to the Senate.

Valentin and I in the Cour d'Honneur, the Courtyard of Honor, in the Senate Building/Luxembourg Palace

The Senate library, with its view across the Luxembourg Gardens, was my personal favorite. It has somewhere around 400,000 to 450,000 books on its shelves, complete with some pretty excellent ladders with semi-circular landings on top where you can stand to check out books on the upper shelves. The dome is adorned with a scene from Dante's inferno showing the suffering of the sinless unbaptized, the likes of Plato, Socrates, Homer, and Ovid, as depicted by Delacroix in the 1840s. 

The view onto the Luxembour Gardens from the Senate Library

The Senate Library

Of course the Salle des Conférences with all its gold, Napoleon's throne, the chandeliers, the sculptures, and the medals in glass cases cannot go unmentioned, but the pictures explain the room by themselves.

The Salle des Conférences, home to Napoleon's throne

Napoleon's throne

Valentin in the Salle des Conférences, contemplating...

We also had a chance to pass through the Hemicircle, where the Senate meets for law making. Like the US Congress, the French Parliament is bicameral, composed of an "Assemblée Nationale" similar to our House of Representatives and a "Sénat," or Senate. The Sénat is at an all-time high for female representation: 22%. Sadly, the US is about on par with France for female representation in government, well below countries in Scandinavia, Latin America, and even Africa. Feminist sentiments aside, the building was pretty impressive. I wondered how many nations' net worth does not compare against what's stored just within these walls.

The Hemicircle, where the Senate debates and passes laws