Biblioteque Francois Mitterand

We went to the Biblioteque Francois Mitterand at midday with our friends Nine and Didier, hoping to see a pair of exhibitions. But the library had just opened and there was a long line (visible on the left just at the entrance, which leads down to the lower level entrance--out of sight).

This web page provides a schematic view of the ultra-modern complex, inaugurated in 1996. Here it is in 2004. In this blip, the dominant building is one of the identical four towers (reportedly supposed to suggest open books). Two of the others are reflected in the background. (It's worth viewing large--note that the word librairie posted at the entry on the left means "bookstore", not library.) I'm glad to post one more reflection blip--here's my series of those.

The 2004 image is one of my earliest archived blips--I only went digital in April 2003. This site contains most of the French national library's collections (some are still at the original Richelieu site).

Nine and Didier left this afternoon; they'll stay with friends and return to Rennes tomorrow.

The year-ago image is a Wood Pigeon opposite our Paris apartment.