Apparently, La Samaritaine is likely to be closing its doors for several years. The building was found to be unsafe in case of fire and the owners have exhausted all their options for appeals. There is a possibility that they can close just a part of the store while renovations go on, but it appears to be more likely that they will close the entire store. Do your shopping and roof-top ogling now!
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Truffaut, Thanks for the heads up, this was part of my itinerary on the Afternoon we arrive (coffee and ogling on the rooftop), do you suppose it will have already closed by 24th June?
BTW does anyone yet know whether the Catacombes will be open by then, I tried e-mailing the museum that run them but received no reply (despite my e-mail being in French courtesy of my French work colleague)!
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The Orangerie is closed??? Are the Waterlilies on display somewhere else, or does this just mean another future trip to Paris.
I was planning to go to the rooftop of La Samaritaine on my trip too. Does anyone know the closing date? Does that mean the SOLDES will be better than ever?
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Helking and Portland, don%26#39;t panic! I%26#39;m sure it will take several weeks (or months) for them to get around to closing (probably after the soldes). The owners have tentatively promised that they will find other jobs for all of Samaritaine%26#39;s 750 employees, and in a country with double-digit unemployment, that in itself will take some time!
Portland, the Orangerie has been closed since shortly after the paint dried on the waterlilies. By the time it reopens, the paintings may be considered %26quot;Old Masters%26quot;. Seriously, it has been closed since at least 2000 and there appears to be no re-opening date on the horizon. For Monet, go to the Marmottan or the Orsay.
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I just looked at three official Paris web sites. One says tthe Catacombs are open, one says they will open in Spring 2005, and one says they will open in Autumn 2005. Take your pick...
As for the Orangerie, it has been closed for several years. I suspect it will not re-open in my lifetime, since apart from the Cleveland Museum of Art which is splendid, it is the only museum in the world to which I have a lifetime free pass. No-one seems to have any idea when it will re-open...
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Musee l%26#39;Orangerie has been closed since 1998. Originally, the renovation and remodeling schedule called for the museum to remain closed for a year or so and re-open sometime in 2000 or 2001. At some point in the renovation project, they were doing excavations for new foundations and discovered ancient walls and artifacts. This brought in other departments and agencies and it was decided to stabilize and preserve the ancient foundations and walls for display(much as they did during the Louvre renovation) and this blew any hope of whatever schedule they might have had to hell %26#39;n gone. At first the re-openning was push back to 2002, then 2003 then 2004 and the last I heard 2006 was the completion date. But I have it on good authority now, that L%26#39;Orangerie will reopen in time for the centennial celebration in honor of France%26#39;s first manned colony on Mars.
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The catacombs seem to be opened, yesterday i saw a line at the entrance, I suspect they were not there to enjoy the sight?
Orangerie : still at work. For any financial donation, do not hesitate to contact the Paris City Hall and the Ministry of Culture, my income taxes are draining enough like this.
Samaritaine : there is some other nice rooftop restaurants in this area, better to close than to have a disaster in case of fire isn%26#39;t it?
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I had visited the Orangerie once back in the 90%26#39;s. I just hadn%26#39;t been there in the last few visits. Now I now why. I saw it listed on the museum pass and I thought I%26#39;d add it to my itinerary. Oh well.
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Portland, you wouldn%26#39;t actually expect the government to remove the Orangerie from the Museum Pass, would you? That shows your lack of understanding of the French system. Such an action would probaby require a unanimous vote in the Assemblee Nationale and the approval of low-level functionaries in numerous government ministries at both the national and city level. One of Monet%26#39;s descendants would surely have to take off work for several months to visit various offices to open dossiers and collect the necessary official stamps.
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Are you talking about all those Samaritaine buildings or just the one with the rooftop cafe? In my opinion, the views from the Pompidou Center and the rooftop cafe at Printemps (or is it Galeries Lafayette) are very similar to the Samaritaine view.
What I really like about the Samaritaine building the wonderful structure, the iron staircases, the old timey feel, and the range of merchandise for sale -- from handbags to toilets, all under one roof! We no longer have department stores like that.
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I think La Samaritaine was bought by LVMH a few years ago and the whole character of the stores changed, though the structures were still there. Much more high-end luxury merchandise, that kind of thing...
Or am I thinking of the wrong store?
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