Extremely interesting.
On the first floor there's a little…read moreexhibit on the history of the Palais de la Porte Dorée itself, which first hosted a colonial exhibition in 1931 and a series of colonially-minded collections before becoming the museum it is today.
You can then find a section made of personal items donated by individuals to the museums: family photographs, objects of devotion, musical instruments, old postcards. I found it a very interesting insight on the 'plural voices of migration', as the museum puts it, and liked the fact that this section is varied chronologically and geographically.
The centerpiece is the exhibit on migrations which develop thematically rather than chronologically/geographically. Some topics I remember: sport as a means of integration, music as a means of integration (with a nice jukebox of French songs written by / about migrants), lodging issues connected to immigration, food and immigration.
It's a small museum and I personally spent about 2hrs inside.
Tip: if you visit on Sundays (but apparently also on Thursdays) you can enjoy the local market (Marché de la Porte Dorée) and have a snack there. Just across the museum is the nice Bois de Vincennes. While I visited, the Palazzo Café just outside the museum (not the museum coffee shop, which is inside the Palais) offered snacks and drinks on a very nice patio.
The only reason why I did not give a 5 stars rating: only some of the explanations are translated (into English, some are translated also into German and/or Spanish), therefore visitors who do not read French might only partially enjoy the exhibits.
