Palais du Luxembourg - Senate of France (Paris)

 palace, parliament, 17th century construction

The Senate of France (French: Sénat) is the upper house of the Parliament of France.
The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and enjoy generally less media coverage.

The palace was originally built for Marie de' Medici, mother of king Louis XIII of France on the site of an old townhouse owned by the Duc de Piney-Luxembourg. Her architect was Salomon de Brosse. Louis commissioned the artists Nicolas Poussin and Philippe de Champaigne to decorate the Palace. However, by the time the palace had been finished, Marie de' Medici had been banished.

It was inherited by Marie's granddaughter, Anne, Duchess of Montpensier. The palace was not used until it was owned by Louis XVI's brother, the Comte de Provence. During the French Revolution, it was the centre of the French Directory and later the first residence of Napoleon Bonaparte when he was First Consul of France.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_du_Luxembourg
Official website of the Senate: www.senat.fr/lng/en/index.html