Unusual Paris Museums and Galleries

Musée Baccarat

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

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)
Entry: €7 per 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. Here is a review from March 2005 "Negrito enjoys dinner at the Cristal Room Baccarat" from a crazy Parisian blogger (well worth reading some of his other stuff too!).
Note: he (and others) were especially impressed by the restrooms...

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