-
Musée Cognacq-Jay
The oil paintings, pastels, sculpture, objets d'art, jewellery, porcelain and 18th-century furniture amassed by the founder of La Samaritaine department store are a great excuse to peek inside this museum, housed in the beautiful Hôtel de Donon.
-
Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme
Documents from the Dreyfus Affair, famously championed by Parisian novelist Emile Zola in his open letter to the government, J'accuse…! ( I Accuse…!; 1898), are the highlights of this comprehensive Jewish Art and History museum tracing Jewish communities throughout Europe from the Middle Ages to today. The 17th-century mansion is also an impressive showcase for works by Chagall and Modigliani.
-
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
The Modern Art Museum of the City of Paris, established in 1961 and housed in what was the Electricity Pavilion during the 1937 World Expo, displays works from just about every major 20th-century artistic movement: Fauvism, cubism, Dadaism, surrealism, expressionism and so on. Artists represented include Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Modigliani and Chagall.
-
Musée d'art Naïf Max Fourny
Founded in 1986, the Max Fourny Museum of Naive Art is housed in Halle St-Pierre, across from square Willette and the base of the funicular. The dozen or so paintings in the permanent collection represent both the primitive and Art Brut schools and were gathered from around the world. The museum stages some three temporary exhibitions a year.
-
Musée d'Orsay
This former railway station houses a superb collection of French Impressionist and post-Impressionist works, making it a must-see for any art lover. The museum displays France's national collection of paintings, sculptures, objets d'art produced between 1848 and 1914, including the fruits of the Impressionist, Post Impressionist and Art Nouveau movements.
-
Musée Dapper
This fantastic museum of Sub-Saharan African art collected and exhibited by the nonprofit Dapper Foundation in a 16th-century hôtel particulier (private mansion) with wonderful 21st-century add-ons stages two major exhibitions each year. The collection is mostly of carved wooden figurines and masks, which famously influenced the work of Picasso, Braque and Man Ray.
-
Musée de L'assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris
A museum devoted to the history of hospitals in Paris since the Middle Ages doesn't sound like a crowd-pleaser but some of the items on display - paintings, sculptures, drawings, medical instruments etc - are fascinating and very evocative of their times. A must-see for nurses and nurse-wannabes. The lovely Hôtel Miramion, dating from the 17th century and the city's central pharmacy until the mid-1970s, is a positive delight.
Read more about Musée de L'assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris
-
Musée de l'Érotisme
The Museum of Erotic Art tries to put some 2000 titillating statuary, stimulating sexual aids and fetishist items from days gone by on a loftier plane, with antique and modern erotica from four continents spread over seven floors. But most of the punters know why they are here. Still, some of the exhibits are, well, breath-taking and instructive.
-
Musée de L'évantail
Big fans of this museum, we always find it impossible to walk by without checking in on our favourite fans - screen, folding and brisé (the kind with overlapping struts). Around 900 breeze-makers are on display, dating as far back as the mid-18th century. The small museum is housed in what was once a well-known fan manufactory, and its original showroom, dating from 1893, is sublime.
-
Musée de l'Orangerie
Monet's Waterlilies take pride of place in this freshly renovated, light-filled museum, but you'll also find the astonishing collections of Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume, which include additional works by Monet and many by Sisley, Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin, Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani; the collection also includes Derain's Arlequin & Pierrot .
-
Advertisement
-
Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature
The Hunting and Nature Museum may sound like an oxymoron to the politically correct, but in France, where hunting is a very big deal, to show your love for nature is to go out and shoot something - or so it would seem. The delightful Hôtel Guénégaud, dating from 1651, is positively crammed with weapons, paintings, objets d'art related to hunting and, of course, lots and lots of trophies - horns, antlers, you name it - adorning the walls.
-
Musée de la Contrefaçon
This fascinating museum is dedicated to the not-so-fine art of counterfeiting. Apparently nothing is sacred to the manufacturers of the ersatz: banknotes, liqueurs, designer clothing, even Barbie dolls. The museum displays the real against the fake and allows you to spot the difference. Most of the time it's as plain as the nose (the real one) on your face.
-
Musée de la Curiosité et de la Magie
The Museum of Curiosity & Magic in the 16th-century caves (cellars) of the house of the Marquis de Sade examines the ancient arts of magic, optical illusion and sleight of hand, with regular magic shows (last one at ) included. But some visitors feel that the displays - optical illusions and wind-up toys - and very basic magic tricks do not justify the very high admission fee. An audioguide costs around €3 .
-
Musée de la Franc-Maçonnerie
This museum housed in the colossal and quite impressive Grande Orient de France building provides a brief introduction to the secretive world of Freemasonry, which grew out of medieval stone masons' guilds of the 16th century, and the museum is a much more popular sight since the publication of The Da Vinci Code . A visit to the museum and guided tour of the building in French on Wednesday at costs around €6 .
-
Musée de la Monnaie de Paris
The Parisian Mint Museum traces the history of French coinage from antiquity to the present and displays presses and other minting equipment. There are some excellent audiovisual and other displays, which help to bring to life this otherwise niche subject. The entrance fee includes audioguide.
-
Musée de la Poste
You don't have to be a postie or a philatelist to appreciate this postal museum. Anyone inspired by travel and communications will enjoy its exhibits such as antique postal equipment, telecommunication and ancient French stamps. Imaginative temporary exhibitions are based around quirky themes such as letter boxes that constitute works of art.
-
Musée de la Vie Romantique
In the centre of the district once known as 'New Athens' (due to all the writers and scholars who once lived here), the Museum of the Romantic Life in the lovely Hôtel Scheffer-Renan is devoted to the life and work of the Baronne Aurore Dupkin (1804-76), better known to the world as George Sand, and her intellectual circle of friends.
-
Musée de Montmartre
Housed in Montmartre's oldest building, a 17th-century garden-set manor, this is no dusty old local museum. The quarter's bohemian history comes to life through a series of paintings and documents, but it's worth visiting for the bookshop alone, which sells wine from Montmartre's little vineyard, Fête des Vendages de Montmartre.
-
Musée des Arts et Métiers
Foucault's original pendulum, which he used in 1855 to prove the world turns on its axis, is among the 80,000 instruments, machines and working models displayed at Europe's oldest science and technology museum. The metro station of the same name is one of Paris' most artistic, with gleaming copper panelling and crafts.
-
Musée des Arts Forains
The Museum of the Fairground Arts in trendy Bercy Village, housed in an old chai (wine warehouse), is a wonderful collection of old amusements from 19th-century funfairs - carrousels, organs, stalls etc. Most of the items still work and are pure works of art. The place is usually only rented out for corporate events with minimum numbers but give a call and try your luck.
-
Advertisement
-
Musée des Égouts de Paris
A city cannot grow, prosper and become truly great unless some way is found to deal with its odiferous output of human waste. Along the Seine, east of the Eiffel Tower, Paris has a unique working museum devoted to such an answer: sewerage. It'll take your breath away, literally.
-
Musée du Fumeur
The Smoking Museum traces the history of one of man's greatest vices - the smoking of tobacco and other substances of various strengths. Hard-core butt-fiends will feel vindicated, though the museum's stance is impartial, providing (as it states on its website) 'a vantage point for the observation of changing behaviours'.
-
Musée du Louvre
The Louvre may be the world's greatest art museum - but it's also the one most avoided by visitors to Paris. Daunted by its size and overwhelming richness, many people head to smaller galleries. But if you have even the merest interest in the fruits of human civilisation from antiquity to the 19th century, then visit you must.
-
Musée du Luxembourg
Prestigious temporary art exhibitions take place in this beautiful former orangerie in the Jardin du Luxembourg. Admission prices vary according to the specific exhibition.
-
Musée du Montparnasse
Housed in the erstwhile studio of Russian Cubist artist Marie Vassilieff (1884-1957) down a charming narrow alleyway off the av du Maine, the Museum of Montparnasse does not have a permanent collection but recalls the great role Montparnasse played during various artistic periods of the 20th century through temporary exhibitions. It's always well worth visiting when something is on.
