Grand Palais Reopens

Here is yet another reason, besides newly renovated paintings by Charles Le Brun, to look into plane tickets to France for the yearly Journées du patrimoine (September 17 and 18). An article (La résurrection du Grand Palais, August 31), by Marie-Douce Albert for Le Figaro, announces that the Grand Palais, closed in 1993 for restoration, will be reopened to the public from September 17 to October 1 (the Nuit Blanche). (As the ground shifted underneath the Grand Palais, the metal structure began to twist apart, and in 1993 a piece of rivet fell from the ceiling during a public exhibition.) What will be on display inside? Suspended above the floor will be the 17th-century Coronelli globes, which were rediscovered last year in La Villette, and there will be an audiovisual installation, Ondes visibles, by Thierry Dreyfus and Frédéric Sanchez. The restoration work, particularly on the exterior, is going to continue for over a year, but the interior can be opened soon.

UPDATE:
See also seven images of the Grand Palais in the portfolio (La nef du Grand Palais bientôt réouverte au public, August 31) in Le Monde and Harry Bellet's article (Le Grand Palais rouvre pendant les Journées du patrimoine, September 1), also in Le Monde.