Surprisingly perhaps, it's the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) of the the solid little Breton market town of St. Méen le Grand. It was constructed in 1933 and renovated in 1992. The astonishing bell tower was modelled after those of the Town Halls of Gouda in Holland and Vichy in France. Usually there are lots of cars parked in front of it, but I managed to catch it at a good time when there was just one car parked unobtrusively to the side... I've waited a long time for that!
Lots of symmetry here. And yes, it definitely has a fairytale style to it. Way to go, catching this scene at a nearly carless time. Blast it for there not being more time in MY life for faithfully getting by to see your pictures. It's always worth the trip!
What a wonderful building! And Denise is correct... if you fold this building exactly in half, it would be symmetrically perfect! (except for the lettering across the top). Kudos to you for finally getting your auto free shot!
@maggiemae You're right Maggiemae, I did consider cloning the car out even if it would have been a bit messy - but then I would have wanted to remove the street signs, the radio communications aerial on the roof, the yellow waste bin...! I did once waste an entire Saturday afternoon cloning out cars parked in front of this building - I ended up with the Frankenstein's Monster of Town Halls ;-))
@lyndemc@akirk Thank you both for today and all the days you take the trouble to comment on my images. Speaking of symmetry, have you noticed that the the letters RF (République Française) are mirror imaged on the facade?
@francoise Funnily enough Françoise, it is perfectly possible that it has been done as we have a quite a population of children's' authors in our area... including many who write about the mystical and the magical.
No it was the one near you as. I remember this building. It also has links to the Tour de France if I believe as there were cycles on shop fronts. It is a lovely area.
@pjr Yes, this little town has produced three TdF champions, the most famous being Louison Bobet... there's a museum dedicated to him and his career just by the Tourist Board office.
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