BnF Richelieu — salle Ovale

The Salle Ovale was drawn in the 1890s by Jean-Louis Pascal, who had succeeded Henri Labrouste as the library's architect, and finished in 1932 by his student Alfred Recoura. President Albert Lebrun inaugurated it on 15 December 1936 and the press immediately called it the "oval paradise". The room is 43.70 metres long, 32.80 wide and 18 high, and sixteen glazed oculi ringed with mosaic light the upper wall around a central skylight.

It closed for works in September 2016 and reopened in 2022 — this time with free access. No ticket, no booking, no age limit: you push the door at 5 rue Vivienne and sit down. A hundred and sixty seats, more than 20,000 volumes on the open shelves, and a comics collection few Paris libraries match. The wifi works, there is a cloakroom and a café. Closed Mondays, late opening Tuesday until 8pm.