Coming to Paris is always an event now really. After working in it for 9 years while living in Versailles, I came to see many wonderful things. Many of which are already very famous and busy… Some of these however, are tranquil places of history and no crowds, in fact they are not open to the general public. Some lucky residents do visit like me visiting the Palais Brongniart. Let me update this post for you as you might be lucky to come in on a conference, exhibition or professional event or even in Heritage Days in France.
Funny thing is, while living near and working in ,never had the opportunity to visit it. Actually, at the time I was living there, you can still visited and only since 2008 is off the general public. Once out of the Paris region, and living in the Morbihan Breton, I had the opportunity to visit 4 times already!!!
The Palais de Brongniart is closer to home as a wine aficionado. At the Place de la Bourse, been the old stock exchange of Paris. Metro Bourse line 3 and ordered built by Napoléon Ier in 1807-1826 (finished). The stock exchange was important by 1885 been the second in the world behind London, and the building also, house the Commerce exchange house.
I came here invited by the magazine La Revue du Vin de France , it is one of the great events of the year (see my post on the wine festivals of France, Foires aux vins) . This is an annual event and if you are close and love wines , absolutely do not miss it. The LARVF magazine webpage for future info. https://www.larvf.com/
The area around is wonderful with gorgeous walking things to see such as the Opéra Garnier, Place de la République, Palais Royal, Louvre, Church St Eustache, Le Forum Halles, etc etc etc. A glorious walking tour of Paris indeed. It is the place of management review meetings for my last company every year in Paris! This was 4 years in a row! The Brongniart Palace, formerly called the Bourse Palace, is a building surrounded by a Corinthian-style peristyle, which hosted the Paris Stock Exchange. It is located in the Vivienne district, in the 2éme arrondissement of Paris. Get there on metro line 3 Bourse.
In fact, an anecdote is that the palace of Brongniart is still very fond of the Bonaparte family and that is why it is mentioned on their imperial official authorize page Fondation Napoléon : https://www.napoleon.org/magazine/lieux/palais-brongniart-bourse-de-paris/
A bit of history I like
The French revolution, it was decided to move from the place that hosted the Paris Stock Exchange in the 18C, which had just experienced the great stock speculations under king Louis XVI. The Convent of the Daughters-Saint-Thomas, located in Rue des Filles-Saint-Thomas, which then stretches from rue Saint-Augustin to rue Notre-Dame-des-Victoires. Consecrated to the celebration of the Feast of Saint Thomas, these nuns gave themselves the name of this Saint. The Church, which was only completed in 1715, offered only as a curiosity the tomb of the Countess of Saint-Pol. Abolished in 1790, this convent became a national property. The convent is destroyed and begins in 1807 the construction of the Brongniart Palace on its ruins. Until the end of the construction, the Bourse was moved from the Galerie Virginie to a hangar located not far from the former convent.
In 1807, Napoleon 1er entrusted the construction of the building to the architect Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart . He wishes to set up an emblem of the power and achievement to which France has succeeded, like a Bourse de Paris. Brongniart did not have the opportunity to see his work completed, dying prematurely in 1813. It was finally Eloi Labarre who took over the succession of Brongniart and completed the building in November 1825. However, the palace took the name of its first architect.
The palace is surrounded by 64 columns of 1 meter in diameter on 10 meters high: There are 14 on the facades, to the west and to the east, and 20 to the side. They are based on a continuous base of 2, 60 meters, which is reached by a wide porch of 16 steps on the two facades. Two colossal statues adorn each porch: it is Justice, Fortune, Abundance and Prudence, A circulation gallery reigns under the Colonnade, it 2.78 meters wide. The body of the monument is elevated from the ground floor and one floor up, each with 56 windows in porticoes.
The painting decorations of the ceiling in grilles representing the various cities of France, complemented by a frieze of garlands where are represented the different European stock exchanges. There are statues of Justice and Europe, the Asia bas-reliefs above the gates. Fifty years after its construction, the Paris stock Exchange became the second largest in the world after London and with a trend towards internationalization. The peristyle that surrounds the building accommodates the Coulisses, which compete with foreign exchange agents by negotiating the international values.
The market exchange shares is managed since 1987, at the banks ‘ premises, outside the Brongniart Palace. The latter then hosted for another twelve years the Contract futures contract on the CAC 40 index, the Matif, until 6 November 1998. The Palais Brongniart is currently a place of conferences, congresses, seminars, receptions, lunches, dinners, cocktail parties, galas, fairs, exhibitions.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry has more on the future events: https://www.cci-paris-idf.fr/fr/evenements/salons/site/palais-brongniart
The official Palais Brongniart webpage: https://www.palaisbrongniart.com/fr?langue=en
The Paris tourist office on the Palais Brongniart: https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71378/Palais-Brongniart
There you go, now you have a better idea of the wonders of Paris even if off hands to the public, there are hundreds like these, just to show Paris is a living open air museum and still many secrets. The area is wonderful great for walks eat out and even shop; take a look. Hope you enjoy the post as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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