Once we walked away from the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur into the residential area of Montmartre, it…read moregot a lot quieter and easier to stroll. Jamie W and I didn't even know there was a museum here, but we decided to give it a look. Housed in an atmospheric 17th-century manor house and an adjacent hotel, it chronicles a helpful bit of Montmartre history since the Belle-Epoque period. Artists like Picasso, Renoir, and Toulouse-Latrec were starting to emerge. You might expect more definitive works from masters of this caliber, but no, this is a small museum not at the level of Musee d'Orsay and Musee de l'Orangerie. It was fairly crowded because the rooms were somewhat claustrophobic. On display was a special exhibition of the paintings of Divisionist artist Maximilien Luce. His work was unfamiliar to us though he seemed inspired by his more famous contemporaries like Seraut and Monet. There was a popular cafe in an interior garden, but the limited seating became a pushy table grabfest (Photo 3). Admission is 15€, and it's not included in the Paris Museum Pass since it's a private institution. I'd still recommend a visit if you want a crash course on Montmartre. RELATED - Exploring Paris? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/TDhdgjoONI

Update 2025 This was like a new visit but still remembering…read morewhat was the same. It's a mansion, art gallery , cafe and pleasant garden. There is a tree swing in the yard Renoir did a painting of. Simple, both the swing and Painting live on. As well as the tree itself. Come Again.

Features contemporary art and permanent collection is free to the public. There are also paid…read moreexhibits but you'll just appreciate what they have downstairs. Their outside space has skateboarders and overlooks the Seine. Nice bookstore too.

"It was okay" is how I would reply, if asked about my visit (09/27/2023) to the Musee d' Art…read moreModerne while in Paris for the 1st time. I have to say, having a lukewarm experience was disappointing & so unexpected. I must have hyped up the Musee d' Art Moderne in my head before visiting because I was so sure that because it was a PARIS museum that it was going to "wow" me from beginning to end because surely, all Paris museums were supposed to have that wow factor. On a positive note, at least I can now share a few helpful tidbits w/ others so hopefully, you'll have a wow experience! :) Helpful tidbits: - - - research exhibits beforehand: During my visit the majority of the exhibits on display didn't "wow" me so I would recommend doing a little research beforehand to see if the exhibits being shown when you go are something that would peak your interest (I didn't do this & wish I would have) - - - budget friendly thing to do! It is free to visit this Paris museum so a great location to use the restroom and/or take a break from all your Paris sightseeing - - - security screening & free coat/bag check Hope, this info helps! Rebecca visiting from Austin, Texas (United States)

As I unpacked from a recent Paris vacation I came across the palm-sized flower press I'd purchased…read morein the gift shop at this museum. It's the sort of place that inspires - through its roomfuls dedicated to animals, hunting, and nature - a desire to begin pressing flowers. Or learning the art of taxidermy. An artist friend, before my trip, recommended this museum (literal translation: "The Museum of Hunting and Nature") by saying "I go there every time I'm in Paris". I trust her eye and judgement and reaped the rewards. Housed in a beautiful Le Marais mansion, the museum features rooms centered around the notion of, well, hunting and nature. Exquisite taxidermy is in many of the rooms but not until one reaches "The Trophy Room" does one enter a space that is solely taxidermy. However one feels about hunting, this room will likely cause your jaw to drop and, when one wall-mounted Wild Boar begins to snarl and roar through a moving mouth, will bring a smile on your face. Each room features clipboards hanging from the wall, with information about the room's contents in assorted languages other than French. Despite me having unhooked and read these in front of every guard in each room, one overzealous guard clearly unaware of the purpose of these clipboards dogged me for two rooms, telling me in French that I could not touch the exhibits. The clipboards cannot be read without touching them, so I hope someone has re-trained this guard since my visit. Aside from that? This is a beautiful, unique museum, both elegant and artful and you'll find nothing similar anywhere else. I was glad I made time for it.

Well, it was a bizarrely fascinating collection and one of the most elegantly appointed private…read moremuseums dedicated to taxidermy. It's not that old. The Museum of Hunting and Nature was founded in 1964 by wealthy rugmaker Francois Sommer and his wife Jacqueline, who were both hunters and conservationists. While that struck me initially as a contradiction in philosophies, Jamie W and I could tell from the comprehensive breadth of the collection that it's true. Located in Le Marais in two adjoining 17th-century mansions that were formerly hotels, it consists of several wood-paneled rooms filled with not only taxidermied animals, trophies, and weaponry but also paintings, sculpture, and truly unique art pieces. We never got a sense that the artifacts were purely for bloodsport, though it was somewhat daunting to see so many animal heads in one room. The polar bear and cheetah were particularly lifelike. The museum was effective in showing the evolving relationship between man and wildlife. There was a sense of aristocracy in the way objects were displayed, but it seems fitting for the period in which the collection was gathered. Admission was 11,50€ per person (less for seniors), and a visit from a non-game enthusiast would probably last less than an hour. Not at all crowded, it attracted more locals than tourists, truly a big plus. RELATED - Exploring Paris? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/TDhdgjoONI

I've been to some spectacular museums in France but there is truly something magical about Musee…read moredes Arts Forains. My Mom and I were supposed to go for my birthday on our last visit and had a long lunch that caused us to skip our tickets that day. I'm thankful I had no idea then what I was missing. Bestie and I returned and needed to book the French tour since English tours are limited. This has got to be one of the most special experiences. I've been a lover of carousels for as long as I can remember and this musee might as well be called La rêve because every moment of it truly felt like one. I love moments filled with synchronicities, something makes life fill in alignment when this occurs over and over and our little spring break trip and visit here held so many special moments to me. Wrapping the most incredible tour pedaling a bike on the velocipede carousel manufactured in 1897 absolutely took the cake! All of my life's favorites things were in the most beautiful collision here. I can't wait to visit again! Perfect date spot, complete with dancing.

Unbelievably cool museum. I checked back to their website multiple times to get a reservation and…read moreit was worth the trouble. My teen daughter said the last ride was the best ride she has ever been on. I won't say more: just go.

We have been to Paris a few times, so we try to visit museums off the beaten path. This time we…read morevisited the "arts and crafts" museum, which is actually a science and technology museum. It is amazing! The history of things we take for granted is wild and the displays are so engaging. We spent about two hours and it was an amazing morning.

Moderately interesting museum for the average person (ie me) but my husband the engineer really…read moreseemed to enjoy looking at all the gadgets, old machines, etc. Not crowded.

If you're interested in learning about the city of Paris and the French Revolution, this is the…read moreplace to go. It's in a really great area with tons of shopping and history. It has detailed exhibits about the city, so I wish I could have spent more time there. It's a place that is off the beaten path a little bit when it comes to the great museums of Paris, if you like history and want to immerse yourself a little more in the French Revolution, come here. It's also free.

The oldest Paris history museum having opened in 1880…read more The former mansion is located in the Marais, an easy walk from the hotel I was staying in. I wanted to check it out for both the preserved architecture and the immense number of city artifacts spanning 450 years. The permanent collection is free to the public. Short term exhibits are ticketed. At your own leisure you can stroll room after room. Some are furnished with their original decorations, , others have been recreated with furnishings of a certain period. Rooms from historic residences in Paris from the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries are in the museum. It made a nice introduction to the history of the city as I wandered Paris for the next 5 days. It was a bit confusing in some areas to follow the arrows through rooms that had so many nooks to explore. Allow easily 2-3 hours to start your exploration.

MAD Art Deco exhibition ends April 26. I'm glad I got to see this wonderful well-thought-out…read moreinstallation. The temporary exhibits at MAD last about 6 months. Their curator and their team do an excellent job changing out their collections.

My friends and I went to the Iris van Herpen exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and were…read moreterribly jealous and annoyed by the idea of a retrospective for a designer born in 1984. Aside from this, though, the experience was quite wonderful. We got timed entry tickets for 4:00 on a Friday. There was no wait to enter, but it was quite busy inside, with a line to check coats and a large crowd in each room of the main exhibition. It was a pretty diverse group, in age, race, and nationality, and I was surprised by the number of men in attendance. I can't imagine American men lining up for a fashion exhibition at home. The security guard who admitted us into the show blatantly hit on one of my friends. That was kind of weird (though I'm guessing more acceptable in France, home of a particularly strong strain of #metoo backlash), but the experience was otherwise smooth and pleasant. The crowd was organized, and we flowed easily from room to room. The exhibition was fantastic, beautiful and inspiring and well put together. Iris van Herpen makes exceptionally cool, sculptural clothes using a combination of innovative techniques and painstaking labor. The show highlighted some of the themes in her designs, bringing in relevant items from nature and complementary work by other artists. There were hundreds of garments on display, as well as accessories and sketchbooks and a whole room made up like an Iris van Herpen workshop, with fabrics and 3D-printed designs pinned to the walls in a giant mood board. I watched part of the looping video showing preparations for a fashion week, and wow, did that look intense. So much thought and time put into each piece. After the Iris van Herpen show, we did a quick walk-through of the permanent jewelry collection and the Fashion and Sports exhibition (we also treated ourselves to an old lady interlude, sitting on a quiet bench on the highest floor--a very nice spot if you need a break). The jewelry was impressive, and I really enjoyed the quick education in athletic wear over the decades. We stopped by the gift shop on our way out and ended up spending a good amount of time there, just browsing all of the eye-catching merchandise. (I guess it's no surprise that this museum has a worthwhile store.) There were tons of accessories and home goods and decorative items, as well as a huge selection of art books. If you have any interest in the decorative arts, check out MAD while you're in Paris. It's a stellar museum right by the Louvre, and if you go in the next few months, you'll catch a spectacular show.

One of the most unique smaller museums I had the pleasure of walking to, on a most glorious…read moresunshine, warm day. Learned about this museum from Downie's exhaustive book on some serious Paris history. And then, almost done with Kevin Kwan's book #2, it just got an honorable mention as some girls in the book went to visit! The house that was transformed on the upper two levels to Moreau's very own studio, it was, to my delight, filled with art students deep in study and practice when I came by. The spiral staircase up to the top room is stunning, has a great view, and leads to a full hardwood to ceiling exhibit of so many various pieces! It takes one's breath away. Incredible amount of works that are all exhibited here. I'm not sure that I am a fan of his art, even those I spied at the Louvre. Any trompe l'oeil? Well, not exactly... But it's wonderful to have walked the 9th, and to have seen firsthand the artist's atelier and humble home. History truly is amazing.

I just adore this museum! Lose yourself within and feel the magic of Gustave himself…read more Start your visit with a tour of Gustave's residence on the first floor and work your way upstairs into the gallery. This makes for a truly rewarding and relaxing day away from the hustle of the center city. Just wonderful!