Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [84]
MUSÉE CERNUSCHI Map
01 53 96 21 50; www.cernuschi.paris.fr, in French; 7 av Vélasquez, 8e; temporary exhibits adult/14-26yr/student & senior €7/3.50/5.50, permanent collections free, under 14yr free; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun; Villiers
The Cernuschi Museum, renovated and its exhibition space redefined and enlarged in recent years, houses the city of Paris’ Musée des Arts de l’Asie (Asian Arts Museum). In essence it’s a collection of ancient Chinese art (funerary statues, bronzes, ceramics) and some works from Japan assembled during an 1871–73 world tour by the Milan banker and philanthropist Henri Cernuschi (1821–96), who settled in Paris before the unification of Italy.
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top picks
SQUARES
Place des Vosges
Place du Marché Ste-Catherine (Map)
Place de la Contrescarpe
Rue de Furstemberg (Map)
Village St-Paul
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OPÉRA & GRANDS BOULEVARDS
Drinking; Eating; Shopping; Sleeping
Place de l’Opéra, site of Paris’ world-famous opera house, abuts the eight contiguous ‘Grands Boulevards’ (Madeleine, Capucines, Italiens, Montmartre, Poissonnière, Bonne Nouvelle, St-Denis and St-Martin) that stretch from elegant place de la Madeleine in the 8e eastwards to the up-and-coming place de la République (Map) in the 3e, a distance of just under 3km. The Grands Boulevards were laid out under Louis XIV in the 17th century on the site of obsolete city walls and served as a centre of café and theatre life through much of the 18th and 19th centuries, reaching the height of fashion during the belle époque Click here. North of the western end of the Grands Boulevards is blvd Haussmann (8e and 9e), the heart of the commercial and banking district and known for some of Paris’ most famous department stores, including Galeries Lafayette and Le Printemps.
PALAIS GARNIER Map
www.operadeparis.fr, in French; place de l’Opéra, 9e; Opéra
This renowned opera house was designed in 1860 by Charles Garnier to showcase the splendour of Napoleon III’s France. Unfortunately, by the time it was completed – 15 years later – the Second Empire was but a distant memory and Napoleon III had been dead for two years. Still, this is one of the most impressive monuments erected in Paris during the 19th century; today it stages ballets, classical music concerts and, of course, opera Click here. If you’re not catching a performance here, it can be visited on English-language guided tours ( 08 25 05 44 05; http://visites.operadeparis.fr; adult/10-25yr/senior €12/6/10; 11.30am & 2.30pm daily Jul & Aug, 11.30am & 2.30pm Wed, Sat & Sun Sep-Jun).
The Palais Garnier also houses the Musée de l’Opéra ( 08 92 89 90 90, 01 40 01 24 93; adult/senior, student & 10-25yr €8/5, under 10yr free; 10am-5pm Sep-Jun, to 6pm Jul & Aug), which contains three centuries’ worth of costumes, backdrops, scores and other memorabilia. Included in the admission to the museum is a self-paced visit to the opera house itself, as long as there’s not a daytime rehearsal or matinee scheduled (in which case it closes at 1pm).
MUSÉE DU PARFUM Map
01 47 42 04 56; www.fragonard.com; 9 rue Scribe, 2e; admission free; 9am-6pm Mon-Sat, 9.30am-4pm Sun mid-Mar–Oct; Opéra
The Perfume Museum, run by the perfumerie Fragonard (but under extensive renovation when we last visited), is a fragrant collection opposite the Palais Garnier, tracing the history of scent and perfume-making from ancient Egypt (those mummies wouldn’t have smelled very nice undoused) to today’s designer brands. A short distance to the south is the Théâtre-Musée des Capucines (Map; 01 42 60 37 14; 39 blvd des Capucines, 2e; 9am-6pm Mon-Sat; Opéra), a kind of branch located in an early 20th-century theatre that concentrates largely on bottling (for example, in crystal flasks from Bohemia) and packaging the heady substance. There’s a decent short film here and, of course, a shop selling Fragonard scents.
MUSÉE GRÉVIN Map
01 47 70 85