by Ric Erickson

Number 1.43:- Metropole Paris - Monday, 16. December 1996:- This is my second year on this particular 'job' in Paris but it is my first Christmas, as last year's was struck out by the transport strikes.

Now I see that I have to go out and choose a tree, buy it and drag it home. Look for a bird, take the advice that goes with it, buy it and drag it home. Scout around, look at things, ask questions, assume batteries are not included but hope the ones needed are standard. Look at the little shops, look at the little things that will fit into little packages, and pay a lot or a little for them. But above all, keep looking, do it the hard way and pick every choice on purpose - not because it's advertised on TV.

There are thousands of shops here and they are in hundreds of streets and in all of them there are people who know what they have for you. Some greet 'searchers' like fellow souls and some don't - the ones that do, send you further; and on the way you see more things.

Ask yourself, are your eyes open? If you can't open them all you can see is the box with the moving pictures and the 15-second pitches. Turn it off. Go out, open your eyes.

In Paris, keep your eyes open - all year around. Keep yourself moving but do not move too fast; be prepared to stop. You can miss some of your life if you won't stop. It doesn't matter if you do not arrive; you are not a train. The only passenger you are carrying is your own head.

Christmas shouldn't be a chore or a duty. It is a beautiful excuse to go out and see what other people have made for your pleasure; the pleasure you get when you find something for somebody else who is not expecting what you've found.

Doing it in Paris is grand. Unlike doing it in a warehouse in some outer suburb, if you get a little tired or have to decide between two choices, you can take a break in a handy café, overhear a conversation, read the back of somebody else's newspaper or look at the gallery posters taped to the mirrors. You can try out a toilet you've never seen before - how many are there in Paris, no two alike?

Ride standing at the ends of métro cars so you can see the whole car; who gets in, who gets off, what they're wearing, what they're carrying. Weak eyes? Stand in the centre of the wagon and you can look both ways. When you get to your station always take the escalator, if there is one, because you might be in a lot of stations in a day. Whatever you do, don't walk up the up escalator; be like a submarine, come up slowly to the light, no matter how weak it may be.

I guess the thing you can't buy is time and if you can't afford it you are out of luck, and you won't be able to do what I've been telling you here.

If you can't buy time, then maybe you should just steal some. It might turn out to be the best thing you've ever done for Christmas.

Opening of The Very Big Library

'TGB' is the temporary nickname for Trés Grand Bibliothèque, the new and large - 'Trés Grand' - addition to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. From now on this state library will have two physical locations in Paris: the old one on the rue de Richelieu and this new one, out east in the 13th arrondissement, on a 7,5 hectare site at Tolbiac.

Last Wednesday I went out there; you know, to sort of case the location. There's no problem getting out of the métro at the quai - but there is a very long block of flats under construction between the station at the new library site and a little care should be taken getting by this.

I don't know what it will be like when it is all finished. On my little walk on this very grey day, the amount of oncoming traffic did not seem friendly, and across the Seine, with the Finance thing jutting into the river, and all the traffic growling past the Bercy pyramid, I had a feeling of being in a place with lots of space but not much soul, a bit like the desert of concrete at La Défense. Trees could make a difference if double screens of them are planted on both sides of the Seine - and somebody should tell them they are needed at La Défense too, no matter what it may cost.

President Jacques Chirac will inaugurate the new building on Tuesday, 17. December and it will open to the public for the first time on Friday, 20. December.

By 'open,' this means that the 'Haut-de-Jardin' part will be opened to the general public; the research section located on the 'Rez-de-Jardin' will not open until 1998.

The new building will contain, at the opening, 180,000 works, in five areas: literature and art; philosophy, history and social sciences; law, economics and political sciences; sciences and technical; and audio-visual.

The Richelieu location will continue to contain the collections of older documents, such as manuscripts; stamps and photos; maps and plans; musical documents; coins, medals and antiques; and 'arts du spectacle.'

To give a hint of the size of the collections, Richelieu has books, magazines, maps, photos, manuscripts, musical scores - and in each of the categories,the individual documents number in the millions. It is not surprising because the collections at Richelieu started in 1720. Tolbiac will start off with 850,000 books, accessible to the public.

I've lost the paper it was in, but during the week I heard on the radio that the Tres Grand Bibliothèque is to be named after François Mitterrand. Your guess is as good as mine as to what local citizens will decide to call it.

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, URL: http://www.bnf.fr/

Tous les Savoirs du Monde

This is the modest name of the first exhibition, celebrating the opening of the BNF at the TGB, which for clarity I will call 'Tolbiac,' which I believe is already in wide usage. The exhibition runs from Friday, 20. December until Sunday, 6. April 1997, and will be divided between Richelieu and Tolbiac.

BNF - Richelieu, 58. rue de Richelieu, Paris 2; métro Bourse or Palais-Royal. Info tel.: 01 47 03 81 26.

BNF - Tolbiac, 11. quai François Mauriac, Paris 13; métro Quai de la Gare, line 6. Info tel.: 01 53 79 53 79.

Every day except Monday, from 10:00 to 19:00. Reserved for scholars Tuesdays from 10:00 to 13:00.

Entry price is 45 francs and reduced, 30 francs.

Besides an exhibition catalogue of 440 pages for 395 francs, there is an Exhibition CD-ROM for 295 francs, an album for 59 francs, an agenda 1997 for 140 francs, and another CD-ROM, entitled 'Les Natures de Johann Walter,' for 195 francs.

Next week's edition of Metropole Paris will have a report about the opening of the BNF at Tolbiac, and more details about the BNF in general; but a report on the exhibition will follow later.

Don't Forget: Sign Up for the Paris Marathon

The Marathon International de Paris - to be run on Sunday, 6. April 1997 - is now taking registrations. Registrations made before 31. December 1996 cost 150 francs for residents and 220 francs or US$45 or 70 DM. After this date the rates rise to 250 francs for residents and to 370 francs - US$75, 115 DM - for visitors. There are rates for registering on the day, but entries are limited to 22,000, and if the quota is full on race day you'll be out of luck.

For information or to request an official entry form, fax to
(33-1) 53 17 03 13 from outside France.
In France the fax number is 01 53 17 03 13. Otherwise write to:
Inscriptions A.M.S.P., 8. Rue Crozatier, 75012 Paris

Payment must accompany the registration. Elite or Preferential runners - the fastest people - must provide some sort of proof of a win less than two years old.

Starting time is 9:00, someplace on the avenue des Champs Elysées.