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From Brussels to Naples and London to Milan, the shopping galleries had a glorious time from the beginning of the 19th century. A lot of them still exist in Paris, with diverse fortunes: in some galleries there are as much people as there were hundred years ago and that's mainly thanks to their location. Others look rather like deserts or shipwrecks in the heart of the city and see only people when it rains a lot. Although some of these are being restored the last years like the gallerie Vero-Dodat.
The inventiveness of the builders of those neat, richly decorated and use of noble materials deserved much better than the contempt of the authorities, which seems to be blind for their architectural value. Because they are damaged, neglected and degenerated they lots a great deal of their charm. Despite of that they still succeed to give the casual passer-by the impression that they land in another world. As they look now, they are much nearer to the reign of Louis-Philippe than the 5th republic. Loiterers who are charmed by their aspect-that of an old charming lady-and are sensible to the special perfume of old hat boxes they spread around, can make a very original and unexpected tour along this unreal Paris: after entering the inner yard of the Palais -Royal, they just have to follow the passage des 2 Pavillons, via a detour to the galerie Colbert, arrive at the right side of the galerie Vivienne, opened in 18723 and disappeared in 1926 off the official list of historical monuments. Back in open space they cross the rue Reaumur, pass along the Bourse and go and look for the Passage des Panoramas where the galerie des Varietes runs through. Coming out of the Passage they cross the boulevard Montmartre and find, left of the Grevin museum, the entrance of the passage Jouffroy, continuing in the passage Verdeau. They will not believe what they see!
Of all Parisian galleries, the Passage des Panoramas is the most famous. Opened in 1808 it looked out on the gardens of the Hotel de Montmorency. Fame came because of the enormous round buildings, built near the entrance to the boulevard, where famous panoramas, imported in France by the American painter-engineer Fulton, were the main attraction. The spectators sat in the middle of the gallery and were surrounded by breathtaking views of landscapes, famous places and events, as well as famous battles, or images from Athens, Jerusalem or Rome. These admired panoramas, real works of art were executed by skilful painters on 20 m high and 97 meters wide canvasses. That meant 35,000 square meters of painted surface used as model by the pupils of the Academie des Beaux Arts.
When the panoramas disappeared in 1831, the reputation of the gallery was set forever. It was THE place for the in crowd, a meeting spot for trendy people and thinkers.
Under the Second Empire its fame grew even bigger and not the least thanks to the tremendous successes Jacques Offenbach had in the neighbouring Theatre des Varietes. One of the prominent figures was the hairdresser Geelis, who had an exceptional salon, one of the most visited in town. A few famous clients were Balzac and Berlioz.
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