Kerouac visits the Grévin wax museum of Paris
 

It was time for me to see a real tourist sight, the sort of thing that I usually avoid. But the <I>Musée Grévin</I> is not on the "A" list of most visitors, at least not the ones from North America, so I think it qualifies as being off the beaten track here. Therefore I only recommend it to people who have already seen the main sights of the city.

Even though Madame Tussaud's in London opened long before the Musée Grévin, it shouldn't be forgotten that Marie Tussaud was a French entrepreneur who chose to move to London because the French revolution was getting a little out of hand. She had made death masks of Robespierre, Marat and the heads of the king and queen, so it was probably a good idea to get out of the country. Anyway, Madame Tussaud's opened in 1835 whereas the Musée Grévin didn't open until 1882, but various other wax museums had opened and closed in Paris over the years.

I have been to both places, and they are really different experiences in my opinion, so if you have been to Madame Tussaud's, I would not say that there is no point in going to the Musée Grévin. In fact, it is probably interesting from a sociological standpoint to see how some of the same celebrities are treated in both places.

Obviously I made a photo report of my visit, and here it is: http://tinyurl.com/grevin2014

Musee Grevin was brought to my attention on another thread. It looked interesting so I was happy to view your report. The building that houses the collection is beautiful in itself. It will definitely go on our list for a future visit to Paris. Just when you think you've run out of new places to visit in Paris someone calls your attention to another sight.

Thanks for posting another excellent pictorial report. You are definitely a great addition to the Europe Forum.

Yes once again an outstanding capture on film (film - that dates me I guess!).

Merci!

I get caught using the 'film' word myself more often than I would like.

At least I have almost never dreamed in black and white, which was how people talked about dreams when I was little.

"At least I have almost never dreamed in black and white, which was how people talked about dreams when I was little."

Dream technology has progressed since the time people dreamed in black and white.

From Kodachrome:

If you took all the girls I knew
When I was single
And brought them all together for one night
I know they'd never match
my sweet imagination
Everything looks worse in black and white

Paul Simon

OK, I'll bite, who hired you as personal assistant? If it was Johnny Hallyday, I can say hi for you tomorrow night, I'm going to see him in Boston.

No, it was Claude François.

Thanks very much, K

((I))

topping for others!

Thanks for the tour and commentary!