Musée de la Grande Guerre
The War that Demolished a Civilization
With all the troubles the world is dealing with today, from the pandemic to the environmental devastation and extreme weather events caused by climate change, not to mention violent conflicts and political extremism, it is easy to forget some of … Read More
Reopening of the Galerie d’Apollon
The Crown (à la Française)
The king of France lost his head in 1793, and with him were lost all but one of the crowns that had sat on the heads of his Ancien Régime predecessors. What is left of the crown jewels of France … Read More
Musée de la Poste
It's in the Post (Office Museum)
Paris’s newly renovated Musée de la Poste (Post Office Museum) is far more than just heaven for philatelists (although it certainly is that, with examples of every stamp ever produced in France: 5,300 of them since 1849). In the tradition … Read More
Musée National de l’Histoire de l’Immigration
A Showcase for Changing Attitudes toward Immigration
Far, far from home, in a fastness of the 12th arrondissement near the Bois de Vincennes, stands the Musée Nationale de l’Histoire de l’Immigration. An Art Deco jewel, a celebration of newcomers past and present, and a slap in the … Read More
Cinémathèque Française
A Feast of Film Treasures
The Cinémathèque Française is a treasure that is sorely underused by visitors to Paris. This great institution is frequented mainly by French cinephiles, who are legion, but it also provides a valuable service to the world of international cinema: for … Read More
Lafayette Anticipations
New Marais Cultural Space
A major French luxury group is not a major French luxury group without its starchitect-designed foundation building. The Louis Vuitton Foundation scored big with Frank Gehry in the Bois de Boulogne, and the Pinault Foundation by Tadao Ando is set … Read More
Monnaie de Paris–11 Conti Museum
Newly Minted Museum and an Architectural Treasure
If you have ever wondered where the coins you spend come from and how they are made, fear not. At the just-opened Musée du 11 Conti, located in the renovated Monnaie de Paris, the world’s oldest continually operating mint (founded … Read More
Musée Rodin
Musée Rodin Redone: Less Bohemian, More Elegant
It is strangely quiet now in the newly renovated Rodin Museum, located in the 18th-century Hôtel Biron. The handsome Versailles parquet, now shored up to support the weight of the master’s heavy statues, makes nary a squeak (it used to … Read More
Musée de Minéralogie
Crown Jewels or Fancy Minerals
The best of what’s left of the French Crown Jewels – most of which were sold off by the Third Republic in the late 19th century to mark the end of empire – can be seen in the Louvre, but … Read More
Maison Jean Cocteau
Dandy-Dilettante or Multifaceted Genius ?
Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) is a slippery character. It’s hard to get a grip on who he was and what he did, partly because he did so many different things – he was a poet, artist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, screenwriter, set … Read More