Another heritage

[shewhomust]

We were accompanied on yesterday's jaunt by our friend Sue (WINOLJ). She was just back from a short holiday in northern France, and this was our first chance to hear about it. The trip had been a great success, and while some of what she told us merely confirmed that her interest in architecture is more serious and academic than ours, some of it went straight onto my "must see" list. A couple of links worth saving:

Louis XIV's Minister of War decided that maps did not give a clear enough picture of the ground, particularly in towns, and commissioned a series of relief models of the fortified towns of France. The majority of these are kept in a dedicated museum at the Invalides in Paris, but the Palais des Beaux Arts in Lille has sixteen of the northern towns, including Lille itself.

Roubaix is historically a textile town (twinned with Bradford, which gives something of the flavour), known mainly as the end of the one-day Paris - Roubaix cycle race. It has been particularly creative in finding new uses for old buildings, and has constructed a quite stunning museum in the old swimming pool.

Comments

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

Those links do look really cool; I did try to look at the Museum a bit but the site was far too complex and had too many bells and whistles for the current online connection I have (on a train). But I will bookmark them for future reference.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Those relief models are wonderful.