Le loto du patrimoine

I had the news on in the background tonight, and heard something about the first « tickets de patrimoine » being sold, and it piqued my curiosity, especially since they were showing a scratch-off in the background.  Apparently there is a new temporary lottery ticket that went on sale starting yesterday, and part of the money earned from it will go to finance the restoration of a select few buildings around France.

12 million scratch-off tickets will be sold, at the rather-shocking price of 15 euros (!) a piece.  There is a one in three chance of winning at least 15 euros, and 1.52 euros from each ticket will be placed in a fund that will finance the repair of 18 chosen sites.

There will also be a special once/year « Mission Patrimoine » super lotto, with a jack pot of 13 million euros.  Each ‘grille’ will cost 3 euros, and the first drawing will be September 14 in honor of ‘les journées du patrimoine’.

The organizers are expecting to collect 15-20 million euros, however some are criticizing the fund as a ‘tax on the poor man’, and questioning why the government can give 450 million euros to renovate the Grand Palais in Paris, but the average man is having to finance the restoration of so many other sites out of their pockets.  There is also some controversy over the sites chosen to receive funding, but others state that this will give the French the feeling that the country’s ‘patrimoine’ belongs to them all...