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MUSÉE NATIONAL D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE Map

01 40 79 30 00; www.mnhn.fr; 57 rue Cuvier, 5e; Censier Daubenton or Gare d’Austerlitz

Housed in three buildings on the southern edge of the Jardin des Plantes, the National Museum of Natural History was created in 1793 and became a site of significant scientific research in the 19th century.

A highlight for kids: life-sized elephants, tigers and rhinos play safari in the Grande Galerie de l’Évolution (Map; Great Gallery of Evolution; 36 rue Geoffroy St-Hilaire, 5e; adult/4-13yr/under 4yr €8/6/free; 10am-6pm Wed-Mon), where imaginative exhibits on evolution and humanity’s effect on the global ecosystem, including global warming, fill 6000 sq metres. Rare specimens of endangered and extinct species dominate the Salle des Espèces Menacées et des Espèces Disparues (Hall of Threatened and Extinct Species) on level 2, while the Salle de Découverte (Room of Discovery) on level 1 houses interactive exhibits for kids.

Giant natural crystals dance with sunlight in the Galerie de Minéralogie et de Géologie (Mineralogy & Geology Gallery; Map; 36 rue Geoffroy St-Hilaire; adult/4-13yr/under 4yr €7/5/free; 10am-5pm Wed-Mon). Free guided tours (in French) depart the fourth Saturday of the month at 3pm.

Displays on comparative anatomy and palaeontology (the study of fossils) fill the Galerie d’Anatomie Comparée et de Paléontologie (Map; 2 rue Buffon; adult/4-13yr/under 4yr €6/4/free; 10am-5pm Wed-Mon). Free guided tours (in French) depart the second Saturday of the month at 3pm.

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top picks

LATIN QUARTER & JARDINS DES PLANTES

Musée National du Moyen Age

Grande Galerie de l’Évolution (Musée Nationale d’Histoire Naturelle; above)

Institut du Monde Arabe (opposite)

Panthéon

Centre de la Mer

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MUSÉE NATIONAL DU MOYEN AGE Map

01 53 73 78 00; www.musee-moyenage.fr; 6 place Paul Painlevé, 5e; adult/18-25yr/under 18yr €7.50/5.50/free, 1st Sun of the month free; 9.15am-5.45pm Wed-Mon; Cluny-La Sorbonne or St-Michel

The National Museum of the Middle Ages occupies both a frigidarium (cooling room), which holds remains of Gallo-Roman thermes (baths) dating from around AD 200, and the 15th-century Hôtel des Abbés de Cluny, Paris’ finest example of medieval civil architecture. Inside, spectacular displays include statuary, illuminated manuscripts, weapons, furnishings and objets d’art made of gold, ivory and enamel. But nothing compares with La Dame à la Licorne (The Lady with the Unicorn), a sublime series of late-15th-century tapestries from the southern Netherlands hung in circular room 13 on the 1st floor. Five of them are devoted to the senses while the sixth is the enigmatic À Mon Seul Désir (To My Sole Desire), a reflection on vanity.

Small gardens northeast of the museum, including the Jardin Céleste (Heavenly Garden) and the Jardin d’Amour (Garden of Love), are planted with flowers, herbs and shrubs that appear in masterpieces hanging throughout the museum. To the west the Forêt de la Licorne (Unicorn Forest) is based on the illustrations in the tapestries.

PANTHÉON Map

01 44 32 18 00; www.monum.fr; place du Panthéon, 5e; adult/18-25yr/under 18yr €7.50/4.80/free, 1st Sun of the month Oct-Mar free; 10am-6.30pm Apr-Sep, to 6pm Oct-Mar; Luxembourg

The domed landmark was commissioned by Louis XV around 1750 as an abbey church dedicated to Ste Geneviève in thanksgiving for his recovery from an illness, but due to financial and structural problems it wasn’t completed until 1789 – not a good year for church openings in Paris. Two years later the Constituent Assembly turned it into a secular mausoleum and bricked up most of the windows.

The Panthéon is a superb example of 18th-century neoclassicism. It reverted to its religious duties two more times after the Revolution but has played a secular role ever since 1885, when God was evicted in favour of Victor Hugo. Among the crypt’s 80 or so permanent residents are Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Louis Braille,