European Heritage Days @ Galeries Lafayette

"Once a year, citizens in 50 countries celebrate Europe's cultural heritage"-- quoted from Council of Europe, European Union. It was first organized by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication in 1984 to engage the citizens to rediscover the various monuments and sights for free or at a reduced price. Since 1999, the European Heritage Days (EHD) have a permanent slogan: "Europe, a common heritage".

This year, the EHD is held in France on 17 and 18 Sep 2016. Since I happened to be in Paris on 17 Sep 2016 for my Le Cordon Bleu macaroons making short course, I decided to take the opportunity to visit one of these sites: the Galeries Lafayette.

Galeries Lafayette offered guided tours at its department store. Our guide, an Italian working for Galeries Lafayette under its corporate foundation wing, was keen to offer us insights into how one of the largest department stores in Paris was in its preceding years.

(1) Founded in 1893 by two cousins, Theophile Bader and Alphonse Kahn, the store is the youngest among the other existing giants: Le Bon Marche (the pioneer), Printemps, and the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville (BHV).

(2) It celebrated its 122 years anniversary this year and had grown more than a thousand times from 70sqm when it first opened to 70,000sqm today. It now operates in 3 separate buildings in Paris and has a large number of stores in other parts of France and overseas.

The main building

(3) Accordingly, Galeries Lafayette is still run by the descendants of the founders, making it one of the most successful family enterprises in Paris.

(4) The origins of the name stemmed from the fact that the individual shops inside the Galleries Lafayette were lined up in a straight line like a gallery ("Galeries"). The very first store was at 1 rue Lafayette, which was where the "Lafayette" came from. As Galeries Lafayette grew, it purchased additional land space for its expansion and eventually landed a few streets away at its present location: boulevard Haussmann. Over the years, with the changes in the architectural styles, the design of the new extension buildings varies as well. Hence, one could see from the exterior the older building following the Art Nouveau style adjoining the newer building with the Art Deco style.

(5) Nevertheless, the most iconic symbol of the huge department store has to be its majestic glass dome. It was constructed in 1912 using the same technique as that of building the Eiffel Tower and took but 5 months to complete!

The construction stages of the dome.

(6) Since it's construction, it has withstood the passage of time and no major restoration works has been carried out as of today. This is possible only with the detailed planning and care for the dome: for example, an external layer protects the fragile dome from the direct elements and temperature changes. Each single glass panel is supported by metal so that even if it breaks, the glass will not shatter on the patrons below. In addition, firemen are engaged to check on the dome every single day for safety reasons.

(7) The dome is lighted up all day, giving it the beautiful glimmer from underneath even at night. They say it's one of the little tricks to visitors enjoy the entire shopping/ relaxing experience and lose track of time.

It truly is mesmerizing

(8) There are several coats of arms decorating the pillars of the dome. These coats of arms belong to the cities which allowed the department store to grow and blossom by producing fine merchandise such as silk, cotton etc which were could then be sold in Galeries Lafayette.

Coats of Arms at the dome.

Seasonal decoration is hung from the dome using a pulley system built at the same time of dome.

(9) There were 20 elevators in the older days and each of them is labelled numerically. Two of these original lifts (no. 15 and 16) remain in operation today. The lifts were designed entirely of glass so that patrons could look out, perhaps see some items that will catch their eyes, and alight immediately. Galeries Lafayette also included non-commerical spaces within the buildings (e.g. the rooftop terrace) which helped to shift people's perception that shopping is not just a commercial activity but a leisure past time as well. (People in those days didn't go out shopping; they merely went to specialised shops to buy what they needed and go home!)

Number 17 and 18 are the preserved but non-functional ones.

(10) Talking about the rooftop terrace, the cousins once dangled a 20,000 french franc carrot to anyone who could land a plane on the terrace.  Well, on 19 Jan 1919, an aviator Jules Vedrines accomplished the amazing feat! As it was just after the World War I, the government forbid any low flying aircrafts and Jules's was no except. While they knew of his attempt, they did not stop him but wait at the terrace for him to land. They then proceeded to issue him a symbolic fine of 18 french franc. Unfortunately, being a risk-taker, he did not enjoy his fame nor money for very long-- he died just 4 months later and to commemorate him, a plague was installed at the rooftop terrace.

(C) Tangopaso The section was under refurbishment at the time of my visit.

Brilliant free views of metropolitan Paris.

The Opera House is right in front.

Our dedicated guide sharing information wherever we go. The picture is an image of Jules's plane landing on the terrace.

(11) Galeries Lafayette has always been pushing for something new. According to our guide, on one of the anniversaries of Galeries Lafayette, some tens of thousands of balloons printed with the store's name were released. At that time, letters and post often take up at least 10 days to arrive. When the currents blew and one of the balloons ended somewhere in Spain, the locals didn't know what had happened and thought that the French had came to invade them!

(12) In more recent years, to keep that vibe alive, Galeries Lafayette hosts regular events/activities at its department stores. In 2015, they introduced vertical gardening at its rooftop terrace and even produced even strawberries to make and sell strawberry jams at their store! I would really like to try those jams some day!

(13) Another important piece of history happened in 1974 when Galeries Lafaette decided to remove its grand staircase below the dome. By 1970s, the grand staircase was taking up too much space and not adding any value to the shop itself. That period of time was also the height of french protests, and protesters will often chain themselves to the handrails of staircases during the strike. Back then, the call for nostalgia and preservation were not as strong as today and hence, the staircase was dismantled.

(C) Galeries Lafayette official website

No traces of the staircase at all today.

Showcasing a part of the history.

If you are planning to visit Paris during the European Heritage Days and have about an hour to spare, it's worthwhile to join the tour. Tours in English require prior registration while those in French are free to join. On other days, free ad hoc guided tours can be arranged for groups of 10 to 20 people.

A little info booklet as a memento.