See Bond's car as ambassador's Residence opens up
Two British icons – Paddington Bear and James Bond’s silver Aston Martin – are taking centre stage this weekend as British ambassador Lord Ed Llewellyn opens up his Residence for the Journées du Patrimoine.
The famous silver DB5, as well as its modern counterpart the new DB11, will be parked in the courtyard at the Residence, whose official name is l’Hôtel de Charost.
And there will be a lifesize Paddington figure that visitors can take photos with and a chance to enter them in a competition on Instagram to win DVDs and free tickets to see Paddington 2 when the film comes out from December 6.
The Residence will be open on Saturday from 10.00 to 17.00, with the last entry at 16.00, for free visits of the ground floor living rooms and the gardens.
Bought from Napoleon’s sister Pauline in 1814 by the Duke of Wellington, the Residence was the first permanent British embassy in Paris, and was the whole of the embassy premises until 1957 when buildings next door were bought.
Now it is the home of the ambassador and also welcomes a guests and hosts events to promote friendship between the UK and France.
This year the embassy has launched a programme called Les Voisins, to highlight the friendship and links between the UK and France. There is also more about the Residence and the embassy on Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
See this previous Connexion article for more about the Residence and the history of relations between the UK and France.
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The Residence is at 39 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris 8e (Metro stations: Concorde or Madeleine) and the areas being opened are all accessible to disabled people.
