Musée Carnavalet: A Parisian Museum About Paris

Musée Carnavalet is a must-see that attracts even local Parisians.

As an expat living in Paris on and off for many years, the most fascinating sentiment about the city is the constant discovery to fulfill my hunger of curiosity. There are 20 arrondissements and still, I have yet to know all of them by heart. When you’re a local, it seems that certain neighborhoods become routine strolls and there’s some comfort in such a familiarity.

 

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Le Marais is not too far from where I live, and it’s probably an area that I continue to lose myself in wander on a constant basis due to its windy alleys and infinite corners of surprises. For a long time, I knew that Musée Carnavalet (16 Rue des Francs Bourgeois, 75003 Paris) will undergo 4 years of restoration starting in October. The considerably small museum, compared to the massive Louvre or Musée d’Orsay, contains the history of Paris. For any traveler or even a local born and raised in the City of Light, Musée Carnavalet is a delightful education.

Occupying two mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau, Musée Carnavalet welcomes visitors by a courtyard’s beauty adorned with a sculpture of Louis XIV – the Sun King. The start of a history class begins with a hall which showcases Paris in the Medieval times. Grandiose rooms exhibiting approximately 2,600 paintings, 2,000 sculptures, 800 pieces of furniture, and even more drawings and photographs depicting Paris through several revolutions and the daily lives of Parisians in various social classes.

The Paris we see today adorned by wide avenues and splendid parks was part of the so-called “Haussmann’s renovation” commissioned by Napoleon III between 1853 and 1870. The museum, however, emphasizes the Paris prior to the city’s transformation, one that was crowded with dark alleys stuffed by over-populated residences. A section of the museum is devoted to the Renaissance period with paintings from the 16th century portraying famous nobles at the time such as: Henry IV and Catherine de’ Medici. A Paris we can now only imagine through history books is depicted via a painting of Pont Neuf during the 1660s, displaying Parisians on horsebacks.

The museum is situated on rue de Sévigné, named after Madame de Sévigné who was considered one of the most beautiful women in Paris during the Renaissance era. From 1677 until her death in 1696, Madame de Sévigné lived in one of the mansions where the museum is presently located.

In preparation for the restoration in October, parts of the museum has already begun shutting down. But if you find yourself in Paris this summer, be sure to stroll through the museum (free entrance fee,) it may provide a different perspective as you spend the rest of your vacation through historical sights that have too many stories to unveil.