At a time of "Grand Paris" as the host city of the Olympic Games in 2024 and where the term "Museum City" has become pejorative, almost a swear word, we must not forget the heritage of Paris which takes us back to the past and which made it great from the capital of France. To build the future we always need points of support from the past, we must not forget that “Paris was not built in a day” and Chaval (French designer, 1915;1968) adds “and isn’t even finished yet.” Looking to the future, innovating sustainably, does not mean making a clean sweep of the past but on the contrary building on known foundations, in the rock we will speak of a base, for the fire we will speak of a hearth, in the air we will speak of this lightning inspired by music that has transcended time and for water we will always draw it from the source. In a museum, even if you are not looking for a muse, you are at best coming to take a look at the past. Long live curiosity to prevent the vestiges of the past from becoming ruins!
Here are at least a few solid and fluid reasons to “breathe” Paris, as a famous Parisian Victor Hugo said [1]:
with Lutetia and its remains [2],
in the footsteps of the famous people of the capital (street names, statues, monuments, etc...,
on the remains of the Commune (revolt of 1871) such as those of the Tuileries Palace or the old Town Hall [3],
with its scenes of flooding of the Seine and their landmarks [4],
with the remains of its 7 fortified walls [5] (see this article ) ,
and its bridges rebuilt over the centuries which will remain a link between the past and the future.
[1] "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" Victor Hugo
[2] https://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/paris/en
[3] Horne, Alistair (2015). The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune 1870-71
[4] Jackson, Jeffrey (2010). Paris Under Water: How the City of Light Survived the Great Flood of 1910
[5] Inrap in French (2011) "Site archéologique : Sur les traces de la première enceinte médiévale de Paris".
