Forum des Halles, Paris - update

THE DATE ON THIS PHOTO IS INCORRECT - SEE BELOW

The massive canopy has now been installed.

This photo does not give anything like a realistic idea of the light and shade here.  I wanted to provide detail of the whole project, and so took five photos with different exposures (providing an extra 5 stops) to generate an HDR image for exiting.  People in motion appear fivefold. 

THIS USE OF MULTIPLE IMAGES TAKEN ON 15TH AUGUST 2016 HAS RESULTED IN A NEW IMAGE CONSIDERED TO HAVE BEEN CREATED TODAY 25TH.  NO MATTER, I HAD NO PHOTOS TO OFFER FOR TODAY!

In my opinion, the canopy is impressive but will be judged a disaster.  Its dreary colour certainly doesn't help; it cuts out most of the light from above, and even in summer generates a gloomy effect in the mall below.  What it will be like in winter, when light levels are much lower, I hate to think!

There is plenty of work unfinished at the site.  Little of the garden area is currently accessible - OK, it's a big site - and the RER stations below the complex still need a lot of work.  However, the RER (Réseau Express Régional, or regional express network) is functioning nonetheless.

The whole site provides a large and diversified shopping mall - including an enormous FNAC, my favourite of all French stores - multiple cinemas and a major hub for both metro and RER services.  

(A real pity about the canopy, though!)