Not long after the Centre Pompidou, one of the most famous landmarks in Europe, the Louvre Museum, was to be modernized, again striking fear into Parisian hearts. When the new design (by I.M. Pei) was first shown to the French, emotions evolved quickly: disbelief at first, followed by disgust.

The Hôtel des Invalides in Paris isn’t a hotel at all, but a complex built by Louis XIV as a home for veterans. You can easily recognize its characteristic golden, under which Napoleon Bonaparte is buried. His is quite the tomb: red quartzite on a base of green granite, surrounded by a mosaic containing the names of Napoleon’s war victories.

The Centre Pompidou was inaugurated in 1977, but not before it set many tongues wagging, confirming that Parisians don't seem to take instantly to what is modern. The peculiarity of this building is that it is turned inside out: all the pipes, conduits and shafts are placed outside the building rather than inside, as is usual.