In September 2014, I had the good fortune of visiting several eighteenth-century hôtels particuliers (townhouses built by the wealthy elites) in the Saint-Germain district of Paris during the Journées du Patrimoine. One weekend of the year, many of the national and municipal buildings around France open up to the public as an effort to instill a sense of appreciation for French national heritage. Hôtel de Noirmoutier, located at 138 rue de Grenelle in the 7th arrondissement, is one of the buildings I visited that weekend.
reveries of a dixhuitièmiste 