Palais des Congres was a concert hall, convention and exhibition centre and a shopping mall in the 17e of Paris. Very accessible, it was located at the metro station of Porte Maillot.
As this place was close to the hotel we stayed in the Neuilly area, I spent an afternoon here before attending a dinner party in the neighborhood.
The convention centre was opened in the 70s and it looked a bit old from outside. Yet it was a great piece of architecture with jutting out facade and still being a striking feature in the area. The main venues included the TV studio, a 650 seats Amphitheater, and a Grand Amphitheater with the capacity for 3700 people.
I didn't know how busy it was in the daily life, I just found it very spacious,
elegant in a simple way at the main floor. The shopping mall consisted about
100 boutiques, a supermarket, pharmacy and restaurants, shops for furniture,
lighting, home-ware, and a cinema. Not top trendy but ok, you can find brand names here. I had a hot chocolate at the Paul Bakery at the side access level, and sampled some macaroons at the Dalloyau counter which was attached to the supermarket.
Very relaxed window shopping time, however, the mall was very quiet and not all the boutiques opened. Many put the light on with window display but a sign of “close” at the door. It was somehow sad to see business like this in a weekday afternoon ....
