The Louvre Museum - Paris

Mona Lisa - Da Vinci- Paris Louvre

Largest museum of France, The Louvre Museum (Le Musée du Louvre in French) presents collections of western art from the Middle Ages to 1850, and the antique civilisations that have preceded and influenced this art.

They are divided into 8 departments : Oriental Antiquities, Islamic Art, Egyptian Antiquities, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities and, for the modern period, Paintings, Sculptures, Art items, Prints and Drawings until 1848. In addition to these departments, the museum presents a section devoted to the history of the Louvre, including the medieval moats erected by Philippe Auguste in 1190.

21 new rooms have been dedicated to collections of Italian and Spanish paintings dating back to the XVIIth and XVIIth centuries.

 Visit The Louvre Museum Art Collection photo tour

Let's not forget, the ever so famous masterpieces: the Venus of Milo, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Mona Lisa of Leonard da Vinci, and so many others.

Venus of Milo - Paris Louvre

Open to all since 1793, the Louvre has embodied the concept of a truly "universal" institution. Universal in the scope of its collections, it is also universal in its appeal to some  6 million visitors every year!!

The Louvre, in its successive architectural metamorphoses, has dominated central Paris since the late 12th century. Built on the city's western edge, the original structure was gradually engulfed as the city grew. The dark fortress of the early days was transformed into the modernized dwelling of François I and, later, the sumptuous palace of the Sun King, Louis XIV.

The demolition of the Tuileries in 1882 marked the birth of the modern Louvre. The palace ceased to be the seat of power and was devoted almost entirely to culture. Only the Finance Ministry, provisionally installed in the Richelieu wing after the Commune, remained. Slowly but surely, the museum began to take over the whole of the vast complex of buildings.

The museum has the "Tourisme et Handicap" label for physical and mental disabilities, and hearing impairment. A special map shows disabled people how to move around the museum (18 lifts, 20 platforms). Totally practicable for people of limited mobility and acknowledged as such by the Parisian delegation member of the Association des Paralysés de France. Tactile space. Documentation in Braille. Visits-conferences in sign language are proposed each month for deaf people. Tel: 01 40 20 59 90; handicap@louvre.fr

The Royal Palace - Paris

The Royal Palace (Palais Royal in French) is a palace with gardens north of the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Royal Palace - Paris

Despite its name, never was a residence of kings. Its construction was commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu, to architect Jacques Lemercier. Construction work began in 1624. The building was then known as the Palais Cardinal (cardinal's palace). Richelieu had the painter Philippe de Champaigne for decorative work, and ended up bequeathing the palace to the French crown.

After the death of Louis XIII, became home to the Queen Mother, Anne of Austria, Cardinal Mazarin and the young Louis XIV. It was at this time when the building began to be known by the name of "Royal Palace." Later, the Palais Royal became the Paris residence of the Dukes of Orleans.

Royal Palace - Paris

During the minority of age of Louis XV, the regent, Philippe d'Orleans, led the court from the palace. His grandson, Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans, better known as Philip Equality, became popular in Paris to open to the public the gardens of the palace. Instructed the neoclassical architect Victor Louis to rebuild the structures that were in the garden, and the closing of it by colonnades. Likewise, small shops were built.

At the end of each gallery there was a theater. The largest of these became the seat of the Comédie Française. The first theater built in the Palais Royal was also commissioned by Richelieu to Lemercier in 1641. During the reign of Louis XIV, the theater hosted performances of works by Molière. Later became the Opera House under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Lully. From the 1780s until 1837, the Palais Royal again became the center of social and political intrigues of Paris. We could find one of the most popular cafés of the period.

On July 12, 1789, the young Camille Desmoulins jumped on a table in the cafe and announced to the crowd that the crown had come to an end. Two days later came the storming of the Bastille.

After the restoration of the Bourbons, the young Alexander Dumas got a job in the offices of the powerful Duke of Orleans, who regained control of the Palace during the Restoration. During the 1848 revolution, the palace was attacked and looted by bands of uncontrolled. In the period of the Second French Empire, the Palais Royal was home to a branch of the Bonaparte family, represented by Prince Napoleon, cousin of Napoleon III.

Royal Palace - Paris

Today is the headquarters of the State Council, the Constitutional Council and the Ministry of Culture. In the back of the gardens we have the old buildings of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the deposit of the library with a collection of more than 6 million books, documents, maps and prints; most of the collections have moved to a more modern building.

Do not miss: Buren columns, archways.

The Musée de la Mode et du Textile (Fashion and Textile Museum) in Paris.

Musée de la Mode et du Textile - Paris

Resulting from the fusion of the collections belonging to the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs (UCAD) and the Union Française des Arts du Costume (UFAC), the Musée de la Mode et du Textile is the heir to a tradition forged by the dynamics of private initiative.

From its opening in 1905, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs has major collections of textiles which are continually enriched with silks, embroidery, printed cotton, costumes, lace, tapestries…

Its collections now contain some 16,000 costumes, 35,000 fashion accessories, 30,000 pieces of textile. A total of over 81,000 works which trace the history of costume from the Regency period to the present-day and innovations in textiles since the 7th century. These collections are regularly enriched by generous gifts made by private donors, designers or manufacturers. They rival with the largest collections in the world, the Musée Galliera, Paris, the Musée des Tissus, Lyon, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London and the Metropolitan Museum, New York.

Apart from its historical pieces, the Musée de la Mode et du Textile also has collections of the work of great designers such as Paul Poiret, Madeleine Vionnet, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Christian Dior in the fashion field, and for textiles, Raoul Dufy, Sonia Delaunay or the embroiderer Rébé, to name just a few.

Its long-standing interest in innovation continues with its collection of new forms derived from contemporary design.

The Arts Décoratifs manage four museums: the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Musée de la Mode et du Textile, the Musée de la Publicité and the Musée Nissim de Camondo.

A total of some 357.100 works are divided between the various museums as follows:

Arts Décoratifs : 150,000 works in departments organized by period or specialty: from medieval furniture to contemporary design via the 18th-century in France, the Empire, Art Nouveau and Art Deco; as well as large collections of jewelry, toys, wallpaper, gold work, ceramics, glass, drawings and an Islamic and Oriental collection.The rich history of the decorative arts from the Middle Ages to modern day is documented in the spanking new museum; 9,000m2 of vast halls and spectacular views over the Tuileries gardens are reason alone to visit. To see absolutly is the Lanvin ‘period rooms’: Jeanne Lanvin’s sumptuous private apartments designed by Rateau are recreated identically from the original.

Publicité : some 100,000 historical and contemporary posters as well as over 20,000 French and foreign advertising films from the 1930s to the present day, radio commercials, promotional objects, packaging, etc.

Mode et textile : 86,000 items of costume, accessories and textiles which trace the development of costume from the Copts to the present day and the development of new textiles since the 14th century. Complemented by a permanent loan from Ufac (Union française des Arts du costume), numbering over 45,000 costumes and accessories.

Musée Nissim de Camondo : 1,100 works making up one of the finest sets of furniture and objets d’art from the second half of the 18th century in France. Under the terms of his will, nothing can be added to Moïse de Camondo’s art collections.

Place Vendôme - Paris

Place Vendome - Paris

Place Vendôme, located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, located north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the church of the Madeleine.

Place Vendome is without doubt one of the most beautiful architectural ensembles in Paris. It was built at the initiative of Louvois, superintendent of buildings under Louis XIV. The king bought in 1685 the Hotel de Vendome and the first convent of the Capuchin order to achieve it. Work began in 1686. Interrupted in 1691, they resumed in 1699 under the direction of architects and JH Mansart Boffrand.

One of the most beautiful squares in Paris, the place Vendome is a symbol of luxury. The place is truly beautiful, close to the Louvre, the Rue de Rivoli, is a place not to be missed during a first visit to Paris.

Frederic Chopin died at No. 12 and Cesar Ritz opened the hotel's famous No. 15 in the early twentieth century. At the dawn of the third millennium this place has not lost its appeal and prestige and is home to the biggest names in jewelry. Column Vendome in 1806 replaced the old equestrian statue of Louis XIV (1699). Napoleon erected on the pedestal of white marble original (top 10 m) column of 43 meters, pure imitation of Trajan's Column in Rome in honor of the victorious soldiers of Austerlitz ..

Place Vendome - Paris

Vendôme Square is also popular for its fashionable and luxurious hotels, such as those of the Bristol, Park Hyatt and Ritz, even though their entrances are inconspicuous. However, the square itself reserves elegancy, from when many famous designers established their dress shops in the 18th Century. Today, the square still boasts luxury stores and department stores of famous dress designers. Offices of world-renowned institutions are situated here as well. The most famous people that once lived in this area were Italian Countess de Castiglione-Virginia Oldoini and Polish music composer Frédéric François Chopin.

Place Vendôme is simply a symbol of exquisite luxury.

Jardins des Tuileries - Paris

Jardins des Tuileries - Paris

The Tuileries garden is named for the clay soil with which the Parisians made their tiles to the sixteenth century.

First public garden in Paris, the Tuileries Gardens was designed by André Le Nôtre in 1664. This green oasis of 280 000 m², surrounded by the Jeu de Paume and the Musée de l'Orangerie, offers the pleasure of strolling among the French parterres, groves of trees, ponds and small sculptures.

The Jardins des Tuileries is a museum of outdoor sculptures many of them of the era of Louis XIV to the present day. For visitors more childish, the Tuileries also offer playgrounds, pools where to rent boats, pony rides and even a large funfair during the summer months.

Jardins des Tuileries - Paris

We discover in the midst of vast lawns, many statues of Rodin (The Kiss, Eve, Meditation, The Great Shadow), or Coysevox Carpeaux, but also contemporary works of Max Ernst (Microbe seen through a temperament), Alberto Giacometti (Great Woman II), Jean Dubuffet (Bel Costume), Henry Moore (Reclining Figure), which form a truly remarkable museum of outdoor sculpture.

Not less than 3000 chairs await you to admire the 60,000 bulbs in bloom in Spring.

The site of Jardin des Tuileries is part since 1991 of the World Heritage List of UNESCO

Jeu de Paume - Paris

The Jeu de Paume was a French ball game. It is a direct ancestor of tennis, played by two teams passing the ball over a network.

Jeu de Paume - Paris

The so called Jeu de Paume in Paris now a days, is a gallery that aims to introduce visitors to the art of the image, the photography called 'history' with the most sophisticated video installations.

Ideally located in Paris, a place which allows visitors a breathtaking view over the city, the Tuileries to the Concorde, Invalides. The art center of the image was first, as its name indicates room, a tennis court ( a Jeu de Paume).

Jeu de Paume - Paris

Jeu de Paume produces, coproduces and hosts exhibitions as well as film programmes, symposiums, and public activities, and also pursues a publishing programme. It shows both established figures (Sophie Ristelhueber, Martin Parr, Robert Frank, Jean-Luc Moulène, Bruno Serralongue, Edward Steichen, Richard Avedon, Lee Miller, Lisette Model, André Kertész) and emerging talents (Cyprien Gaillard, Denis Savary, Virginie Yassef, Mario García Torres, Agathe Snow, Tris Vonna-Michell), attracting a considerable and varied public whose interest and support is growing steadily.

Jeu de Paume also supports Internet art on its website.

Les Nymphéas by Claude Monet at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris

Musée de l'Orangerie: The world’s most famous water lilies — the ones painted by Monet — have a refurbished home at this museum, which reopened in May 2006 after six years of renovations. The space also holds an eye-popping collection of paintings from Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Cézanne, Renoir, André Derain and others.

Musée de la Parfumerie Fragonard - Paris

In the Museum of the Perfume - le Musée de la Parfumerie - Fragonard, in french, discover  the history of perfume from the Egyptians to the nineteenth century through bottles, pots-pourris, incense burners, paintings, test tubes...

Presentation of plant and animal raw materials used in making fragrances, extraction techniques, the history of bottling...

Palais Garnier - Opéra national de Paris

Palais Garnier - Paris

Masterpiece of theatre architecture of the 19th century,  the "Palais Garnier", built by Charles Garnier and inaugurated in 1875 is the thirteen opera house to be found in Paris since the creation of this institution by King Louis XIV in 1669.

It's construction was initiated by Napoleon III among important renovation projects conducted under his control by baron Haussmann. An historical monument open to visitors during the day.

It mainly performs opera and ballet works.

Not to be missed : the famous ceiling of the Opera Room by Chagall.

Pinacothèque de Paris

In few years only the Pinacothèque de Paris became one of the most successful museums of Paris.

Since 2007 this place directed by Marc Restellini, indeed gains very popular successes with for example 700.000 visitors for the “Dutch Golden age” exhibition and a true success for” The Gold of Incas”.

In 2011 the Pinacothèque de Paris opened a new space of 3000m2 with 3 exhibitions evocating the birth of the museum.

A museum which has from now on its permanent collection..

In the veryheart of the Madeleine district, the Pinacothèque de Paris is open every day from 10-30 to 18-00.The ticket office closes at 17-15.
The wednesday until 21-00 (ticket office closes at 20-00).
During the late night openings, the visitors’ service organizes cultural activities: Round tables, readings, debates, film showings, all these propositions provide a way of looking at the exhibitions differently.