Bibliothèque nationale de France

This morning, I went for a movie at the MK2 cinema next to the national library, also called BNF or Bibliothèque François Mitterand. This is my favorite cinema because the chairs are so comfy (by designer Martin Szekely) and usually, no crowd here, so you won't ever be forced to sit in the first row and spend 2 hours with your head half bent to the wrong side to watch the movie. I like to go to the 1st film of the day around 10am, there's usually hardly 10 persons, so it's almost like I have the theater for myself :)

The library consists of 4 L-form buildings to be like 4 open books. In the middle of the esplanade, there's a mini forest hidden in a lower area, also part of the library. On nice summer days, you can chill out on the boardwalk esplanade. (tip: they sell Ben & Jerry's in the lobby of the theater)

This area has been developing lately. Near the BNF, other interests are the pedestrian bridge Simone de Beauvoir and the floating swimming pool Josephine Baker.

 You can access this bridge from the BNF's esplanade. On the other side, you'll arrive in the garden of Bercy which is very crowded on sunny days. It's also a newly developed area, Bercy Village/ Cour St Emilion. Ancient wine cellars have been rehabilitated into shops and restaurants. On weekends, it has a crowded trendy ambiance. (tips: there's also ice cream on this side at Amorino, who sells italian gelati. And a very good french restaurant "L'Auberge Aveyronnaise". More on these two in a future post)

 

If the garden in Bercy is too crowded, you can try to come back on

this side and stroll along the Seine.

If you want to visit this area, you can take the metro line 14 which stops at both Cour St Emilion and Blibliothèque François Mitterand.