Our trip to Paris with our daughter in 2018 included many of the most famous sites, including Notre Dame, The Concierge, Sainte-Chapelle, the Arc de Triomphe, Musée de l’Orangerie, the Louvre, Versailles, the Eiffel Tower, Musée d’Orsay, and Musée Rodin. G is not a huge fan of museums; I went by myself to those last two museums on our first visit. This year, since G had to travel, I decided to take advantage of my time alone and visit a few more museums. Here’s a little rundown for each one.
Musée Carnavalet: this museum in the Marais explores the history of Paris. I love museums that use objects to lead you through the timeline of a city and this museum does it very well. The museum is housed in two historic hotels (built in the mid-16th and mid-17th centuries) in the Marais. The story of Paris begins in the basement with a Prehistoric canoe, continuing with items from the pre-Roman Parisii through Roman, medieval, and Revolutionary times and beyond. There are also several recreations of famous rooms. The museum was free and was not crowded. I highly recommend visiting this museum if you’re in the Marais and have time. You can sample what interests you and admire the two gorgeous buildings all for free.
The Cluny Museum, The National Museum of the Middle Ages: this museum has an extensive collection of medieval art as well as the Roman baths. Since I love both very old things (Roman) and middling old things (medieval), this museum was right up my alley. The rooms are arranged with Roman artifacts near the baths, and medieval art is arranged in themes throughout the rest of the building. A lot of the art was religious art rescued from various churches. My highlights: the Roman baths (obviously), the gothic-style building l’Hôtel des Abbés de Cluny, the tapestries and the room with medieval games and art detailing more secular pursuits, mainly because most medieval art is usually religious and it was interesting to see some different themes. Cost 12€.
The Picasso Museum contains an extensive collection of Picasso’s work spanning his entire career. The art is fantastic, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the Picasso exhibition I went to at the NGV. I think this is because there is a lack of context and explanation for the paintings here whereas at the NGV they had a fantastic audio guide that talked you through the paintings and his influences. I should have got the audio guide, but I can’t tell you whether the audio guide is worth it or not. Cost 16€ + 5€ for the audio guide if you get it.
Musée Marmottan Monet: has one of Paris’s largest impressionist collections with 100 works by Monet. Tickets cost 14€, or you can get a combined ticket with Monet’s Garden for 24€. The museum is located on the 16th, so it is a bit off the main tourist trail and is not crowded, so you can relax in front of the paintings and, even as I did, sit on a bench and admire them. The building is in a beautiful townhouse with preserved Empire-style decor. If you are a fan of Monet, this is worth a trip.
Have you visited any of these museums?
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