After the Hôtel de Noirmoutier, I headed to the Quai d’Orsay, where the headquarters of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs are located.
Above, the official entrance during the visit of a head of state.
On the second day of the Heritage Day week-end, I went on multiple visits. I started the day at the Hôtel de Noirmoutier, a mansion from the 18th century that now serves as the residence of the Prefect of Paris.
The European Heritage Days (Journées Européennes du Patrimoine) take place every year on the 3rd week-end of September. The programme was started in France in 1984 and offers opportunities to visit buildings and sites which are not normally accessible to the public. A lot of monuments are open in Paris and the most popular ones (like the Palais de l’Elysée or the National Assembly building) can get really crowded.
This year, on the first day, I went to visit the headquarters of the French Communist Party, designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in the 1960’s. The building is located Place du Colonel Fabien, in Paris.
SAIL Amsterdam is a maritime event taking place every 5 years in Amsterdam, where boats from all over the world come to the Amsterdam harbour for a few days. Some of the ships can then be visited.
“The Garden Which is the Nearest to God” is the title of the temporary platform installed by artist Taturo Atzu on the roof of the Oude Kerk, in the Red Light District of Amsterdam. It is gone now, but the tower of the church provides a similar view every year from April to September.
Gojoten Jinja (五条天神社) is a shinto shrine located inside Ueno Park. It holds its annual festival in May. In 2014, it was at the same time as the Yushima Tenmangu shrine festival: I was walking away from that festival when I saw another mikoshi parade just across Chuo Dori.
Yushima Tenmangu (湯島天満宮), also known as Yushima Tenjin (湯島天神), is a shinto shrine in Bunkyo, not far from Ueno Park. It holds its annual festival in May.
Hanazono Jinja (花園神社) is a shinto shrine in Shinjuku, right next to Kabukicho. It holds its annual festival in May. As usual in Japanese festivals, there are many food and game stalls on the grounds of the shrine, while the mikoshi are paraded around the neighbourhood.
Sanja Matsuri is a festival held in Asakusa every year in May. It celebrates the three people involved in the creation of Senso-ji and later enshrined as Shinto kami in Asakusa Shrine, next to the temple. It is one of the biggest festivals in Tokyo, with about 100 mikoshi (portable shrines) paraded around the neighbourhood.
While I was at Zojo-ji, there was a Hana Matsuri (花まつり; literally “Flower Festival”) celebration going on. It takes place at buddhist temples all over Japan around April 8th in order to celebrate the birth of Buddha. During the festival, small shrines decorated with flowers and a baby Buddha figurine bathed in sweet tea are displayed in front of temples. Another symbol of Hana Matsuri is the parades with children in fancy clothes pulling a papier-mâché white elephant.