European Heritage Days

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European Heritage Days at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs

The 41st European Heritage Days will take place on 21 and 22 September 2024. This year’s theme is “Heritage of Routes, Networks and Connections”. Just like every year, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs will open the doors to four of its sites: the Hôtel du Ministre (Quai d’Orsay) in Paris, the Diplomatic Archives at La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis), the gardens of the Château de La Celle-Saint-Cloud (Yvelines) and the Nantes Diplomatic Archives Centre (Loire-Atlantique).

Hôtel du Ministre, Quai d’Orsay

Saturday, 21 and Sunday, 22 September
Access via 37, Quai d’Orsay, Paris - free entry with reservation

For the 41st edition of European Heritage Days, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs will open its doors and invites you to come and discover the Quai d’Orsay.

Prepare your visit now by reserving online: just choose your preferred time slot and register using your full name. You will then receive a confirmation email with your ticket to be shown upon entry at the time slot selected.

Important: tickets are personal and proof of identity will be required. Please ensure you register using the name on your ID.

Events:

  • Introduction to the professions and roles of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs
  • Meeting with Ministry officials
  • Area dedicated to Heritage of Routes, Networks and Connections and the Francophonie Summit
  • Immersive activity on the Protocol Department
  • Information stand for Travellers’ Advice, the Ariane service and France’s humanitarian action, with Libraries Without Borders in attendance
  • Presentation of diplomatic archives and meeting with curators
  • Listen to Sources Diplomatiques, the podcast on French foreign policy
  • Reconstruction of an official dinner table and display of silverware
  • Musical entertainment by the Republican Guard and the Diplovoce choir

Accessibility

Our heritage should be open to everyone, so the Hôtel du Ministre will be fully accessible to people with reduced mobility. Guided tours will also be available in French sign language (lien d’inscription à venir)

Register for events at Quai d’Orsay

La Courneuve, Diplomatic Archives site

3 rue Suzanne Masson, 93120 La Courneuve

Programme details available soon.

Contact: archives.lecture at diplomatie.gouv.fr

Park and kitchen garden of the Château de La Celle Saint-Cloud

Guided tour of the park at the Château:

  • Saturday, 21 September from 4 to 4:45 p.m.
  • Sunday, 22 September from 10:30 to 4:45 p.m.

Self-guided tour of the park and kitchen garden at the Château:

  • Saturday, 21 September from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Sunday, 22 September from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Entrance: Avenue Mesureur, La Celle Saint-Cloud.

Nantes, Central Civil Registry Departmentl

11, rue de la Maison Blanche, Nantes

Saturday, 21 September at 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.

Come and discover the Nantes site of the Foreign Ministry, see what happens there and chat to the women and men who work in the service of our fellow citizens.

Enjoy a general introduction to the Ministry and its work in Nantes, the Central Civil Registry Department, learn about historical civil registers, visit the gardens of the Villa Chantreau, and chat with Ministry officials in the consular field.
Photo ID mandatory at entry, security screening at entry, registration with the Nantes Métropole services (00 33 (0)2 40 41 61 30). For people with reduced mobility, please let us know ahead of your visit so we can meet your needs.

Nantes, Diplomatic Archives site

Entrance: 17, rue du Casterneau, Nantes (Loire-Atlantique)

Reservation mandatory, before 20 September, by email to archives.cadn at diplomatie.gouv.fr.

A valid identity document (national ID card, passport or residence permit) will be requested in order to access the site

Saturday, 21 and Sunday, 22 September. Guided tours

On Saturday, from 1:45 p.m. to 5.30 p.m., and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., take a look behind the scenes at the Archives, with Ministry archivists.

Saturday, 21 September at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Live theatre: “Face au péril nazi : journal d’un ambassadeur” (Confronting the Nazi peril: Diary of an ambassador)

The actors of the Compagnie de l’Écume will introduce you to the diary of Ivan Maïski, the Soviet ambassador in London between 1932 and 1943. The actors will portray several episodes from this fascinating document, which provides the perspective of a diplomat working against the Nazi threat and to bring the USSR closer to democracies.

3 p.m.: 1938, Churchill and the USSR; the Munich Agreement.
4 p.m.: 1939-1941, from the German-Soviet pact to the USSR invasion.

Update: 6 September 2024