Paris: Unusual Museums and Day Trips?
 

Hello everyone!

For Christmas my husband surprised me with the Fodor's Paris 2011 guidebook and a promise to finally take me to Paris this year. This will be the first time in France for both of us, and the first time out of North America for me, so we're very excited. We're both in our 30s, childless, married 8 years but perpetual honeymooners, and share a love for simple pleasures and off-the-beaten-path moments when traveling. We each speak a little French, and have been brushing up on it in preparation for this trip. I'm very experienced with trip planning (never use an agency or anything like that), but this is my first international trip, and I know part of good trip planning is asking questions of people who have been there.

We're going in mid-April this year, for 11 days including travel days, with Wednesday-Wednesday on the ground in Paris (leaving Monday, arriving in Paris Tuesday, flying home the next Thursday). We've booked a little apartment in the 7th, near Rue Cler and the southern end of Champs de Mars, that we're very excited about. We're hoping for some sunshine while we're there, but as Pacific Northwest natives that have been transplanted to sunny Southern California, we wouldn't mind a bit of rain and mist too, heh.

I'm working my way cover-to-cover through the Fodor's Paris 2011 guide, trying to get the map of the city firmly ingrained in my head (I do this for every trip) and starting our must-see list. Like I mentioned before, my husband and I like off-the-beaten-track things wherever possible, and no matter where we travel try to act and appear as non-touristy as possible. So while I'm sure we'll go to Notre Dame and spend at least a little bit of time at the Louvre, we may never get closer to the Eiffel Tower than a picnic in the Champs de Mars, for instance.

Reading through the 2011 guide, it seems like a lot of column space is devoted to the various art museums in Paris. Neither my husband nor I are particularly interested in art, and I find all of the museum descriptions running together in my head. The museums that have jumped out at me so far are Les Egouts in the 7th, the Crypt Archeologique outside Notre Dame, and Musee de la Marine near the Champs-Elysees -- quirky, smaller museums not devoted to art.

So my first question is if any of you can recommend other non-art-focused museums in Paris? My husband and I have a passing interest in a great many things, but no deep interest or knowledge of any particular topic -- archaeology, natural history, medieval and renaissance history, literature, and mythology are all things we could happily spend an afternoon learning more about, but we don't have an existing knowledge base that makes any particular site a "must see" for us. We would like to devote our museum time to Paris/France focused exhibits, rather than east Asian or African exhibits, for instance, but other than that we're very open to suggestions.

My second question is for similarly quirky or unusual day-trips from Paris. We're of the "slow travel" mindset, but with 8 full days to explore Paris, I think getting out of the city once or twice could be nice. I'm particularly looking for things that we could do on a whim, buy a train ticket and go, rather than having to plan for before we leave home.

And lastly, I'm very open to any suggestions you more experienced travelers have for us. Things you'd wish you'd known before your first trip to Paris, little places you discovered only on your third or fourth visit, favorite non-touristy shops, good French phrases we're unlikely to learn in an audiobook, anything.

Looking forward to hearing the wisdom of the community,
Samantha/gc

I don't know about quirky, the marine museum isn't quirky, although I like it a lot. I also don't know how far from art you must go, as the decorative art museum is fantastic, next to the Louvre. The fashion and advertising museums are right in there, also, you get all three on one ticket, as I recall.

There are plenty, ifyou go to the Paris tourist info website, they probably list them all. There is the wine museum, several famous authors homes (eg, Balzac or Victor Hugo), and of course the anthropological museums, the usual stuff big cities have (acquarium, natural history, although I don't consider the ones in Paris top of the heap).

ONe of the best is the military museum at Les Invalides. And of course there are monuments, not museums (like the Pantheon) and the national archives, things like that. The Music Museum out on the edge is also fantastic, but I love music and musicology.

None of those are quirky, though. How about the Postal Museum, it is small (not quirky).

quirky enough for you? The erotic museum up near Montmartre http://www.musee-erotisme.com/

There are lots of museums not devoted to fine arts, in short, but I don't think of mot of them as quirky.

YOu can go most anywhere on a whim in that you don't need reservations for most things, as long as you know the days something is closed.

8 days is not too long to just spend in Paris.
For a wonderful bit of history and archaeology, go to the basement of the Louvre with a guidebook and see how the chateau was built.
In spite of not caring for art, you might find the Carnavalet Museum enjoyable since it depicts the history of Paris in art--looking at the paintings knowing that the artist painted it as it was when he painted it. I particularly enjoy the French Revolution floor and the "cartoons" depicting the Revolution, even though I can't read all the French. The art is so charming--and to think of it being done at that time.
The Musee Cluny--medieval art--just wonderful.
Personally I never get enough of the Impressionists and the art deco furniture and such at the Musee Orsay--or just to marvel at a space of a train station converted to an incredible museum.
I love the Passages. I LOVE the markets.

Check out Conflans - at the junction of the Seine and Oise Rivers - this is barge central where often hundreds of commrcial barges are tied up - there is also a neat museum devoted to barges and commercial water travel in France. A short enough RER ride - well for something really different.

also Arts-et-Metiers museum is a one of a kind - old scientific instruments, a Focault pendulum - model trains all lovingly set in an old church.

I belong to a web forum that you may find useful in getting ideas for off the beaten path things to do in Paris. Check out www.anyportinastorm.proboards.com. Check in the Paris forum and you'll find lots of quirky and unusual things that might interest you, I'm quite sure of it. If you check in the France forum you'll get lots of ideas for unusual day trips outside Paris. Give that a try and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

There is the Musee de Montmartre....interesting, on rue Cortot.
Good guide books-such as Fodor's Paris--will have interesting museums
by arrondissements...they have websites too!

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

I suppose "quirky" is the wrong word for it. I'm not necessarily looking for counter-culture or the intentionally-odd, just things the average tourist wouldn't necessarily think of when they think "Paris".

The Arts-et-Metiers sounds right up our alley, for instance. Definitely adding it to our list. The Carnavalet sounds like the way I'd prefer to experience art, and the basement of the Louvre also sounds interesting. Great suggestions all around, and I'll definitely check out anyportinastorm, FrenchMystique. :)

If it is really quirky you are looking forward to there is the Museum of Erotic Art http://www.musee-erotisme.com/ in Montmartre. Seven stories of erotic art. (I'm told, as my dear wife said we didn't have the time -- plus there was the headache.)

Hi.
I don't post often, but I might have a suggestion that would appeal to you. The Musee de l'Assistance Publique is a museum of the history of Parisian hospitals, and really, attitudes toward, and practices of, medicine from medieval times onward. Not many people visit it, so it probably won't be crowded, and I found it really interesting (both times!). It's not large, so doesn't take too long, it is on the Paris Museum Pass, and there's an also-interesting little herb garden in the courtyard that has herbs that have been used medicinally for many years. There are paintings, documents, instruments, and just lots of interesting displays.

It's very easy to visit, being in the 5th, on the Quai de la Tournelle right opposite Ile St. Louis.

So if it sounds interesting, give it a try.

Sandy

I second the recommendations for Arts-et-Metiers and Carnavalet. The original part of Arts-et-Metiers is a former church -- they used to have an airplane hanging in the nave. It is a huge place that has stuff you'll not see elsewhere. I don't think of Carnavalet as an art museum -- the art there is used to illustrate the history of the city. I love the collection of the old shop signs.

I'd also suggest you look at the Curie Museum which is the old laboratory of Marie Curie at the Radium Institute. You can see the room she worked in -- and how radioactive it still is.

How about the Lock and Key Museum in the Marais. That's pretty off-beat!

I've been to the Postal Museum which I thought was interesting.

How about period houses such as the Jacquemart-Andre, Museum of Romantic Life, Cognacq-Jay, Nissim de Camondo, and Josephine Bonaparte's house (outside Paris).

Also recommend:
Jewish Museum
Fragonard Museum
Doll Museum
Conciergerie
Deportation Memorial
Sewers
Gobelin Tapestry workshop

All great suggestions. I'll add

Musée de la Monnaie
http://www.monnaiedeparis.fr/musee/

and a visit to Palais Garnier
http://www.operadeparis.fr/cns11/liv...er.php?lang=en

If you think you will visit the Louvre but you're not that knowledgeable or even interested in fine art, you might want to watch "The Rape of Europa," which includes a fairly interesting segment on the the Louvre during WWII.

http://www.rapeofeuropa.com/theTrailer.aspx

I visited once with a friend who is "Not an art person," according to him. He watched this doc with me a few years after we had been in Paris and said, "Oh, I wish I had seen that before I went to the Louvre."

You might enjoy a phtography exhibit. Here's some info-

http://www.betterparisphotos.com/paris-blog/events

An outstanding book for day trips using public transportation is An Hour From Paris-

http://www.annabelsimms.com/

I forgot to add-

On the annabelsimms.com site, be sure to read some of her articles on the "other publications" link. Also, her "useful links" may help with planning and enjoying your visit.

Hold your nose and tour Le Musée des Égouts de Paris (Paris Sewer Museum) in a working sewer on the Left Bank. Just below the riverbank, in fact, and no, it is not terribly pungent. Sewers have long connected the heart of Paris to its river and these days you might want to hum a tune from Les Miserables which rambled underground through sludge and insurrection. The displays demonstrate the ingenuity of low-tech hygiene. Open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in winter, an hour later in summer, but closed Thursday and Friday. Face 93, Quai d'Orsay 75007; the entrance is near Pont d'Alma. Here's my only French pun: "Chacun a son egout."

Not necessarily quirky or even out of the way but the Cluny Museum with its "Lady and the Unicorn" tapestries and its medieval artifacts and the Rodin Museum with its lovely sculpture garden are both worth a visit. I guess I would caution you to see some of the sites that appeal to visitors to Paris. Don't miss St. Chapelle. Take a moonlight cruise on the Seine - you see so much of Paris from a different angle and it is very romantic to see the lights of Paris.

We loved the small, intimate museum at the Pasteur Institut. Louis Pasteur lived in an apt there the last 7 years of his life. Museum includes a background of his major scientific accomplshments, his apt and crypt. Within walking distance of Pasteur Metro stop.

Museums aside, take a morning's stroll through the Pere LaChaise cemetery. Fascinating. Tip - start your trip from the Gambetta metro station, not the Pere LaChaise. That way, it's downhill, and you'll miss a lot of the crowd. If you want to devote the rest of your day to Death, go over to the Catacombs afterwards. Look around for this month's National Geographic magazine, FWIW - I saw a copy at a doctor's office yesterday, and it has an article on 'les cats'.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/20...ound/shea-text

Here's a link to the Nat'l Geo article.

Great suggestions, here. I know you aren't much of an art person, but the Orangerie museum is very small, doesn't take long to visit and has the most exquisite, HUGE Monet paintings of waterlillies that you'll ever see. Yes, it is on the beaten track, but there is a good reason for that.

Riding a Metro line to the end is not exactly a day trip, but there are some great sites to visit--

St Germain-en-Laye, a moated chateau devoted to pre-historic art through the Merovingians, beautiful exhibits and a neat building to wander through, also a terraced vista of the parkland.

St Denis, the former burial place of the French kings and queens with lots of information on what happened there during the Revolution.

Vincennes has medieval fortifications, including a donjon/prison/palace that you can explore, a chapel built as a larger copy of the Ste Chapelle, and a mini-palace from the era of Louis XIV.

For Ecouen, you'd have to take an actual train, but from the station you walk ten minutes through the forest (directions in Annabel Simms book An Hour from Paris, or they can tell you at the bakery)to the chateau that is now a museum of Renaissance history.

I found all these places more fascinating because they are historic sites as well as (even more than) museums.

Have fun!

For something quirky and interesting I'd recommend a visit to Deyrolles in the 7th. See http://www.pbase.com/al309/paris1 and http://www.deyrolle.com/laboutique/. We were in Paris last May and unfortunately did not get to see the store. I believe it had a fire some years ago and only last year re-opened.

This is a great thread. When I read the title I started thinking of some of my favorite places, then read the posts and found almost all of them already covered. Things I'd second or third would be the day trip to Conflans to see the barges, the Carnavalet and one of the period houses such as Camondo or Cognacq-Jay(I think all or at least 2 of the 3 are free as well), Arts-et-Metiers, impressionists and art nouveau rooms and furniture at D'Orsay, the tombs of the Kings at St. Denis--especially Pepin the short and my personal favorite whom I call Matilde the big footed, the passages--very big on them, the markets--start every day with one or two of them, but also consider some of the parks and walks in the neighborhoods.

Of these I most enjoy Bercy park with its tiny vineyard, lovely modern water features and then lunch in the little shops area at the end with all the little wine bars built in the old wine warehouses. Across the Seine are the modern Mitterand library, lots of new glass buildings in a gentrifying area and the Simone de Beauvoir foot bridge to get there. Also like Andre Citroen park with its modern glass palm house and quirky fountains. Besides lovely old stuff, Paris does modern very well. Parc Monceau is lovely in the old fashioned way. Parc de la Villette in the modern new way and walk along the St. Martin canal to get there.

Touristy as it may be, we also love the area around Les Halles. Walking down the Rue des Martyrs from Montmartre is fun and the market streets like Rue Cler and Montorguiel and Poncelot are wonderful--as are the passages, don't miss them, but then we already pointed those out.

For years I would approach Paris with a list of places to see which would take us to many out of the way places that most visitors don't get to. I've slowly whittled that list completely down (although some of the posters above have given me ideas to build it back up again--Pasteur, Curie and Public Assistance museums) but for us seeking out sights or museums, etc. has been a way of getting to places you might not otherwise visit and then discovering just a charming neighborhood to walk through.

To "force" that kind of exploration, the other thing I do is start each day with a market using the information in "Paris in a Basket" a book about the markets of Paris. Since the roving markets are held in different places each day of the week, I look for a market for Tuesday or Thursday or whatever day it is (never on Monday when all markets are closed) that I haven't been to, find one in an arrondisement and location that I've not frequented, and I'm off. This has taken me to the Aligre market where they have a street market, a covered market and a flea market and the nearby quirky wine-bar, the Baron Rouge. It has also taken me to the Barbes market just below the metro tracks at the exit of the Barbes Rochechouart metro stop beneath Montmartre with its exotic Moroccan foodstalls featuring goatheads on spits and other delights.

Enjoy. And thanks to the other posters here for giving me some new ideas just when I thought I'd run out.

If you happen to be marginally athletic and perhaps casual cycling enthusiasts you might enjoy renting a bike and going for a ride in the suburbs or countryside near Paris. I cycle in and around Paris all the time and I write trip reports about my travels which I post on the website I referred to earlier (AnyPortinaStorm). They are full of photos so you can see what I see as you ride along with me. Just search my username and you will find links to all my reports. To save you some searching time here are links to a few of them:

Biking the Marne River Just Outside of Paris

http://tinyurl.com/22tud9w


Biking Paris's Western Suburbs (including Saint-Germain-en-Laye)

http://tinyurl.com/2fa3qsf


Biking the countryside in and around Fontainebleau

http://tinyurl.com/4bduunh


And if biking inside Paris itself appeals to you check out this video

http://tinyurl.com/6bwrmmg

We found the Rodin museum interesting. I'd imagined there'd be The Thinker and not much else, but was surprised. There's one bust of a young Parisian girl with a hat that still makes me wonder how anyone could hack all that detail so finely out of a piece of rock. About an hour will do it.

LOL, nukesafe.

My husband and I went to the Erotic Art Museum a few trips back and really enjoyed it. I remember thinking "How in the world can they fill 7 floors with this stuff?" but they can, and they did. It was fascinating.

There are so many good ideas here, I don't have much to add. On our last trip to Paris (my 11th) we went to the Pet Cemetery. It was easy to get to and very interesting - some of the graves are quite elaborate - and Rin Tin Tin is buried there! Here's a site I found on it:

http://europeforvisitors.com/paris/a...g-cemetery.htm

On my last trip to Paris, I visited the Musee du Service de sante des Armees, attached to the Val-de-Grace. It is a bit gruesome but very informative. Brings the horrors of war home in addition to being a good history of the development of medicine.

On my list -

Maison Européenne de la PhotographieMaison Européenne de la Photographie

http://www.mep-fr.org/

5 Rue de Fourcy
75004 Paris, France
01 44 78 75 00

Subway: Saint-Paul

Open 1100-2000 Wed-Sun except public hols - and free after 1700 on Wednesday.

Musée des Collections Historiques de la Préfecture de Police de Paris

http://www.placesinfrance.com/musee_...eum_paris.html

Fab thread, I was just going to start one myself asking the very same thing!!

Kerouac mentioned on another thread, or on Anyportinastorm about the Architecture Museum, NOW that one is definitely on my list for this year.http://www.citechaillot.fr/
I am not sure that is exact link, hopefully Kerouac will come in and let you know. It looks so interesting.

Also don't forget the Antiquities de Louvre (or something very similar to this name) an eye opener.


Schnauzer

Bookmarking

Antiquitaires du Louvre is across from the Louvre, on rue Rivoli. It houses 3 floors of high end antique dealers. I found it fascinating just to browse.

Some great suggestions here--what I like about the Rodin Museum and the tiny Delacroix museum is that the artists actually lived and worked there.

I find the Cluny very interesting on many levels, firstly the every day objects from the Middle Ages, which are hard to come by, then jewelry, illuminated books, religious objects, chalices, monstrance, etc.

Finally, the beautiful Lady and the Unicorn tapesties. All housed in a 15 th centry abbey whivh was built over and around Gallo-Roman baths which have been excavated. Corner of Blvds St. Germain and St. Michel.

The Clemenceau Museum is in the apartment in which the great man lived for 34 years. The apartment is supposedly just as it was on the day of his death.

If you have any interest in the man or World War I
it is certainly worth a visit.

http://musee-clemenceau.fr/en/index.html

Although you may not have art at the top of your list we found the Delacroix Museum an interesting visit. Again, it is in the apartment and studio where Delacroix lived and worked which made it the more interesting for us. Rue de Furstemberg is a quiet little corner of the city.

http://www.musee-delacroix.fr/

How about the Chapelle Expiatoire? Is is a memorial chapel that was erected near the Grands Magasins area. It marks the spot where the bodies of Marie Antoinette and Louis XV1 where thrown (a ditch) after being guillotined. Also in the ditch where the Swiss Guards killed defending the King and Queen from attack from Parisian mobs, at the nearby Tuileries Palace (in front of Louvre, now gone).

A royalist made note of the spot, tended it, and planted two large trees. When the bodies were dug up, one of the confidants of M.A. fainted at the sight of her head, recognizing it for its characteristic chin.

A chapel was built here, and the royal bodies were transfered to St Denis. It has some nice sculpture and inscriptions. When I went they had roped off the basement.

From there I went to the Jacqumart-Andre museum, also an interesting visit, since it combines a collector's house and taste in art. The restaurants is recommended.

From there I went to the Drouot area, where there are auction houses holding public auctions. When I was there I sat in on an auction of antique violins.

From there, easy to walk to the Passages, which are covered passageways with interesting shops and restaurants. Some are quite ornate, some quite old (late 1700s). In a sense, they were the first indoor shopping 'malls'.

Musée Jean Moulin at Gare Montparnasse

http://www.placesinfrance.com/musee_...lin_paris.html

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What a great thread. Thanks for all of the interesting recommendations!

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