Soaring columns, art deco friezes… what exactly is that palace on the Seine? Palais de Tokyo was created for the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life). Nowadays the western wing, also called Palais de Tokyo(palaisdetokyo.com; adult/child €13/free), is Europe’s largest contemporary-arts center. The concrete-and-steel interior is a slick host for interactive exhibitions and installations. (There’s no permanent collection.) Eating, drinking and entertainment options are fun: Bambini and Forest, with tables in the central courtyard over a reflecting pool with the Eiffel Tower in the distance, and basement nightclub Yoyo.
In the east wing, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (mam.paris.fr) displays a vast collection representative of just about every major artistic movement of the 20th and 21st centuries, with works by Modigliani, Braque, Chagall and Soutine. The real jewels, though, are monumental installations: an entire room of murals by Henri Matisse, and Raoul Dufy’s La Fée électricité, a fresco depicting the history of electricity. The room is so dazzling that visitors sit on stools, transfixed, losing themselves in the effervescent colors. These permanent exhibitions are all – somewhat unbelievably – completely free. And superbly peaceful compared to the slammed Orsay and Louvre. Look out for excellent temporary exhibitions (not free), such as "The Atomic Age," a past hit. Download the free multilingual app online.
