September 18, 2007

National Assembly

In yesterday’s post I referred to the “Heritage Days”, involving open doors to many public buildings, and a visit I made to our National Assembly. I took many photos and I know that I often present too much in my posts. I believe that this time I will therefore split my post in three, hopefully making it a bit more digest.

I had not the intention to make a presentation of the French parliamentary system; for that you must go to other sources, but… maybe a few words: The French Parliament comprises the National Assembly and the Senate. The deputies of the National Assembly are elected by direct, the Senate by indirect suffrage. Normally new bills must be decided by both, but if after different procedures there is still no common understanding, the final vote is normally given to the National Assembly. Certain constitutional modifications would need a common decision by the two bodies. The Assembly has 577 members. The Assembly can dismiss the Government.

The National Assembly, created in 1791, sits in the Palais Bourbon since 1798. The palace is from 1728 and was originally built for the Duchess of Bourbon, daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. It has of course been modified several times. A second connected building, the Hôtel Lassay, was built at the same time and serves today as residence to the President of the Assembly and for different receptions. You can find these buildings within the red pentagon on the map.

Of course the visit started by queuing up, but it took less than an hour to get in. Some of us had the privilege to get say hello to the President of the Assembly (considered as number four in the French hierarchy). The organisation was perfect, I have never seen the sky so blue over Paris, everybody was in a good mood…!Today I will just show you what it all looks like from the outside, the gardens… and also a first look at the inside; some of the chandeliers. I suppose they must have a favourable tariff for electricity! Tomorrow I will show you something of the more official “working space” and then at last some of the magnificent reception rooms. When I have finished with the Assembly, I will put some originals on my other blog, “Peter – photos”.

30 comments:

Zhang Chunhong said...

L'Assemblée nationale est vraiemnt l'Assemblée nationale, elle est magnifique! J'attends les deux posts suivants avec impatience.

Azer Mantessa said...

The Assembly can dismiss the Government - This is cool.

Annie said...

It is quite grand outside but the inside shines in magnificent glory.

krystyna said...

The French National Assembly is magnificent! Amazing post, Peter!
Thanks!

di.di said...

>>I suppose they must have a favourable tariff for electricity! LOLz

but I love it.. the crystal chandeliers hanging from beautiful ceilings --> absolutely perfect!

Olivier said...

une collection de lustre admirable. Dire que je ne suis jamais rentre dedans. Merci pour la visite guidée.


a collection of admirable gloss. To say that I am never returns inside. Thank you for the guided tour.

Anonymous said...

Hi Peter, what a wonderful series of pictures for a majestic (if the word applies to a building of the republic) monument!

My mother and daughter also visited the Assemblee Nationale this weekend, you could have met them there!

Thanks for your kind comments on my blog, glad you enjoyed my picture of Arles. And yes, unfortunately the letter box reserved for love letters is closed - what a shame!

Anonymous said...

...maybe I could do something to revive it!

hpy said...

Comme Olivier je n'ai jamais visité l'Assemblée, et pourtant il me semble que cela se fait toute l'année (mais pas en détail).

Peter said...

zhang:
Pas trop d'impatience! La suite demain!

azer:
Well it doesn't happen too often. More often the other way round!

annie:
These old buildings are sometimes almost too nice. Almost all our ministries also occupy these old splendid "hôtels"!

krystyna:
Thanks and even more and especially for your comments on my yesterday's blog!

Peter said...

drama div@:
I should actually try to check how much they (we) are paying!

olivier:
Le plaisir est pour moi!

nathalie:
So your mother and daughter were there - but not you! Actually I saw that we were 22000 visitors. There would have been room for 22001!
Yes, please try to do something about the letter box... or create one to recieve your own love letters!

hpy:
On a le droit d'assister au séances; visiter les autres lieux est plus difficile, sauf si tu es une invitée VIP bien sur!

Ash said...

Wonderful images. The chandeliers are awesome!

Anonymous said...

As my husband said the first time he saw Paris, "it just isn't fair" - every time we came around the bend onto a new street, a new building, a new vista. So much in one city, and how fortunate we are that you get out and show it to us so well.

The craft of these buildings inside and out is something I can sometimes take for granted, unless I really stop and look. I just get saturated. You don't show us too much, but yes, it can be overwhelming sometimes. But it's not your fault! It's Paris!

Shionge said...

Peter thank you for the photos as usual and I wonder how they clean the chandeliers....they are so pretty :D

Peter said...

ash:
Thanks!

ruth:
Thanks; now I have a good excuse!

shionge:
From what I can judge even from my Sunday visit, the staff seems quite important in number; everything is extremely well entertained and clean!

Anonymous said...

Nice photos as usual. It is almost too much to digest in one visit. But they are interesting to see and the commentary is always interesting too.

I just began a new site about Japan in the early 1950s when we were there. You can get to it from my Brookville daily photo blog. Times have changed a lot there too over the 50-plus years since we were there.

Anonymous said...

Tu es donc passé sous "les lustres de la République" !

Peter said...

oldmanlincoln:
I know, it's sometimes "too much", but I could have made it at least three times longer!
I already visited your new "Japanese blog"! Once more impressed!

catherine:
Eh oui! Quel honeur pour un travailleur étranger - à la retraite!

hpy said...

The best way to clean chandeliers is to put on cotton gloves that you have in moistened in soapy water before, and then to caress the crystals.

Mélisse said...

J'ai visité l'Assemblée Nationale et l'Hôtel de Lassay, comme toi, à l'occasion des journées du patrimoine. C'est un des plus beaux hôtels de Paris à ce qu'on dit. La prochaine fois je me débrouille pour visiter le Sénat ;-)

Peter said...

hpy:
Thanks for the good advice! We must not forget that when these were installed, you needed also to lighten all the candles, one by one!

mélisse:
Dommage qu'on ne se connait pas. On était puet-être ensemble en faisant la queue!

Mona said...

Amazing structures Peter! & those chandeliers are just awesome!!

Heather said...

As other shave noted, those chandeliers are simply magnificent, and you never post too much.

Cergie said...

Tu étais donc dans les ors de la République ! On ne pouvait se rencontrer. Là où j'étais c'était plus sombre et si les personnes importantes y venaient ce n'était qu'une fois par an (mais les leiux avaient été aménagés pour qu'avec leur grand chapeau ils puissent passer)
Il n'y avait pas foule pour la visite

J'en parlerai ds mon prochain message.

Peter said...

mona:
Agree to 100%!

heather:
Some think that my posts are too long, but nice to see that there are different opinions!

cergie:
J'attends to message avec impatience (comme d'habitude)!

Maxime said...

Même si je ne laisse pas un commentaire à chaque fois, je viens tous les jours sur ton blog pour visiter Paris. Je devrais dire TON Paris, car tu as un oeil qui me fait découvrir des surprises nouvelles, même dans les endroits que je crois connaitre.
Pour l'assemblée nationale, tout est nouveau, car je n'ai pas eu l'honneur d'y pénétrer, sauf à l'occasion des sessions télévisée...
Et j'adore lire les commentaires des commentateurs étrangers...

Peter said...

maxime:
Tes commentaires me font beaucoup plaisir!

Emilieee said...

The lightings are magnificent!! =)

Kate said...

Back among the living again, but barely. Wow! Have I missed a lot on your blog. The chandeliers are dazzling. Can't think of a more apt description!

delhidreams said...

is paris beautiful or m i in love ;)