Picturing San Francisco Consulates IV

                                        88 kearny street

In a departure from my other posts about San Francisco consulates, all of which reside in sequestered Pacific Heights, the French consulate can be found six floors up in the impressive CitiBank building on Kearny and Post Streets. This is an interesting part of town: on the edge of the Financial District where skyscrapers and their shaded streets meet the chic, long-established Shopping District of such legendary boutiques as Tiffany, Brooks Brothers, H&M as well as Gumps in Maiden Lane - not far from Union Square. 

Indeed, the posh store-fronts on Post, Grant and Sutter Streets lured the likes of Woody Allen and his entourage this summer to do some filming for the director's up-coming movie taking place in both San Francisco and New York. There have been Woody Allen and Cate Blanchett sightings reported here and in the Mission District. 

Just two blocks to the south of the CitiBank building is busy, dynamic Market Street, and to the north, a quick jaunt up Kearny, is unmistakable Chinatown. 

When the building was completed in 1986, the San Francisco architects, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill won two prestigious awards from the American Institute of Architects. The building stands 309 feet high and has 22 floors and 6 elevators.

The consulate is here in the city for the French community – to protect and assist French nationals and their interests. The consulate also provides visa and other travel-related service for people venturing to France.