In England there is normally an outcry when any of the tax payers money goes on anything that is not considered to be essential. Remember the uproar surrounding the creation of the Millennium Dome? People reacted in fury thanks to the millions it cost us all to build. The French seem to have a slightly different take on things, and the decision to build an enormous building to further thought and learning was welcomed with open arms. The Pompidou Centre houses the The main Paris Library, and the National Museum of Modern Art. The Art museum is the largest of its kind in the whole of Europe and I find it thrilling that the French people found the money to invest in the creative people of their country in this way. The Museum organises many exhibitions every year and last year saw the likes of Soulages and Kandinsky display.

The Centre, known to locals as the Beaubourg, is named after Georges Pompidou, who was at the time of building, the President of France. Funnily enough, when construction was completed, Valery Giscard d’Estaing was the new president and it was himself who had to declare the brain child of his predecessor open!

If you are considering visiting Paris in the near future then I would highly recommend that you visit the Pompidou centre. There are plenty of cheap hotels in Paris which are in good range of the centre, and any taxi company should be able to take you right to its doors.