Unusual Paris Museums and Galleries

Musée Baccarat

Gallery-Museum
11 place des Etats Unis
75116 Paris
website: http://www.baccarat.com

Metro: Iéna (line 9) or Boissière (line 6)
Disabled access available
Open: from 10 a.m to 6:30 p.m
Monday, Wednesday to Saturday (closing days: Tuesdays and Sundays)
Entrance fee: 5 € per person
Reduced price : 3.50 € per person (groups and students less than 25 years old and applicant)
Free admission for people less than 18 years old and disabled person

The Baccarat Museum is housed in a prestigious mansion on Place des Etats-Unis - once the home of art patron Marie-Laure, Viscountess de Noailles (1920-1970) who held fabulous parties there attended by artists like Man Ray, Cocteau and Dali.

The decor is something else; created by trend-setting designer Philippe Starck it features a crystal chandelier sunk in an aquarium of water, a two metre high glass chair, “talking” Baccarat vases that make use of holography and a non-stop soundtrack, as well as a signature crystal pieces including glassware once used by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Pope John Paul II, and monumental pieces such as the Tsar Nicholas II's candelabra.

They also have limited-edition collections created by famous designers such as Georges Chevalier, Ettore Sottsass, Roberto Sambonet, Van day Truex and Marcial Berro.

There is a restaurant in the museum called the Baccarat Cristal Room, now reputedly one of the best in Paris, certainly one of the most expensive, although the decor is amazing.

Next page : Catacombes de Paris