Isn't is human nature to mourn the past and love and hate changes? That's what makes a history rich.

1. I haven't read the book, but I'm beginning to think that mourning the changes made to Paris is a traditional part of the Parisian experience. People are still bewailing the changes made by Haussmann, and I'm just waiting until they find the manuscript where some monk or milkmaid mourns the changes made by Philippe Auguste. [I bet his changes were a lot, LOT bigger than those made by Pompidou or Malraux, or even Haussmann.]

2. In this context only: Pompidou who?

3. Malraux? I do seem to remember a Malraux; wasn't that Sophie de Vilmorin's lover?

by Louis Chevalier. I just atarted this fascinating book about the transformation of Paris and the sense of loss many French feel after the changes made by Pompidou, Malraux and others.