Banque de France

The magnificent Hôtel de Toulouse was commissioned by L.P. de La Vrillière, Secretary of State during the reign of Henry IV. It later became the siege for the Banque de France.

This was the very first major government institution created by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, just two months after he rose to power.

Within three years, a new currency was implemented. The "Napoleon Franc" would be devalued for the first time in 1914, over a century after its creation! Pretty good for the first institution created by a thirty-year-old leader.

Today, the Banque de France has the fourth largest gold reserve in the world with twenty four hundred tons. Can you guess how many meters below the ground they are?