Unusual Paris Museums and Galleries – Musée Guimet: Located at 6, place d’Iéna, facing the equestrian statue of George Washington is the Musée Guimet, one of the largest collections of Asian Art, outside of Asia. The Musée National Guimet has the most important panoramic collection of Indian, Chinese, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Japanese, Nepalese and Tibetan art […]
Musée Fragonard
Unusual Paris Museums and Galleries The Musée Fragonard shows visitors major collections of anatomical "pieces" portraying all systems making up the living body. It contains Honoré Fragonard’s famous "Ecorchés" (he was the cousin of the painter and the first professor of anatomy at the Ecole nationale vétérinaire d’Alfort in 1766). These anatomical figures represent a […]
Musée Edith Piaf
Unusual Paris Museums and Galleries Everyone has heard Edith Piaf’s songs like "La Vie en Rose" and "Non, je ne regrette rien," and many know something of her chequered career. Well, Belleville is the neighbourhood where she grew up. The daughter of an acrobat, her real name was Edith Giovanna Gassion, and she only acquired […]
Musée Baccarat
Unusual Paris Museums and Galleries 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 […]
Musée Grévin: waxworks that live!
Unusual Paris Museums and Galleries – Musée Grévin Before I visited the Musée Grévin in Paris, I was doubtful about enjoying a wax museum visit. But the Musée Grévin’s 450 or so wax figures soon changed my misconception of wax museums being just rooms full of emotionless wax models of significant individuals or movie stars. […]