The Villejuif-Gustave Roussy Metro station
The Villejuif-Gustave Roussy Metro station was named the most beautiful train station in the world in 2025 by the Prix Versailles, a respected international architecture prize awarded under the patronage of UNESCO.
It is so grand in scale that my photos cannot do it justice. However, since it is so new and not terribly busy, I was there by myself, with the guards asking if I was in need of help, as the station receives so few passengers.
The entrance opens onto a vast circular space, cut deep into the ground. A glass roof sits at the top, allowing daylight to travel nearly 164 feet down to the platforms bathed in light the entire time.
The station was designed by French architect Dominique Perrault. He intentionally took light into consideration in the design, trying to get away from the sense that one descends into darkness whenever one enters a metro station. This is important as the station is one of the deepest metro stations in France.
The station is located in the town of Villejuif near the Institut Gustave Roussy, hence its name.
Gare Saint Lazare
L’Heure de tous (The Hour of All) is a 1985 work by Arman. It was a public commission from the State (Ministry of Culture and Communication-National Center for Plastic Arts).
Also, by Araman as a public artwork is Consigné à Vie (Consignment for Life). It sits in the Roman Plaza at Gare St. Lazare.
Gare de Lyon
On Line 14 on my way to The Villejuif-Gustave Roussy Metro I was taken aback when the trained stopped and I saw a garden.
Originally, the space was meant to be an entrance to a planned transit museum, which never happened. Instead, it was turned into a garden experiment when the line opened in 1998. Several times a day, the plants are watered by misters, complete with sounds simulating a thunderstorm. The plants get a break from the artificial light at night when the garden goes dark.
