Bibliothèque Nationale de la France, Richelieu Site

This is how France does libraries. This National Library started out with the manuscripts of medieval kings. There was a law passed in 1537, and it stipulated that a copy of every book ever published in French be added to the library's already vast collection. The inside is enormous and fantastic, but the oval reading room is only open to card-bearing scholars(as I duly found out when I was schooed out by a over zealous librarian).



This is the Oval room I was kindly shown out of. The picture is bad because it was taken through a window in the door. It really is beautiful when you see it properly.