With a theme this year of ‘Patrimoine pour tous’ (Heritage for all), Open House weekend (les Journées du Patrimoine) is back for its 38th edition! This is the moment to see tons of places that are closed to the public the rest of the year, with special events and guided tours, and its all free!

As usual, there’s not enough time to see a quarter of what’s on offer in Paris for this special weekend (one of our favourites of the year), so let’s look first at what’s on offer close to our hotels!

In the 5th arrondissement, the Museum of the History of Medicine is taking part in the event for the first time (but they are only open Saturday). We visited the museum for you a few years back, and it’s a really crazy place, like stepping back in time. Not many people even know about it.

They have free guided tours on Saturday at 10am, 1.30pm and 4pm, but you can also visit unaccompanied all day until 5.30pm.

Another place opening specially for the event (on Sunday) in the 5th – the Maison mère des spiritains, a chapel dating from 1769. They are organising a free concert with an African choir at 4pm, a homage to the French priest Lucien Deiss who died in 2007. The place looks spectacular, so consider putting it on your to-do list.

And of course there are lots of other great places to visit for free – the Pantheon, the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, the Curie Museum, the Irish Cultural Centre, the Institute of the Arab World…

For the full line-up for the 5th arrondissement – 71 events! – click here.

In the 6th arrondissement it’s slightly more calm, with ‘just’ 39 places to see, but some of them are unmissable:

— the hothouses where they grow all the flowers for the Jardin du Luxembourg

— visits of the Senate

— guided visits of the Théâtre de l’Odéon,

— Auguste Comte‘s apartment to visit

— guided visits of the stunning Église Saint-Germain-des-Prés,

— visits of the Beaux-Arts de Paris

— a new layout of recent acquisitions at the Delacroix Museum…

For the full programme of what’s going on in the 6th arrondissement, click here.

In all, there are over a hundred propositions for our two arrondissements! Just imagine how many must be on offer all over Paris (the official website lists a dizzying 1,180 events)…

For the full programme, click here, and have a great weekend!

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Open House weekend (Les Journées du Patrimoine) is happening in Paris (and all over Europe) on 18th & 19th September 2021

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Une publication partagée par JEP (@jepofficiel)