My Life in Travel

Paris is a city, which you can visit again and again and still have a lot to discover. It is full of museums for any taste and you can surely find a big list of places you’d like to see, but if you have limited time and budget, this could be a bit hard. Despite a list of museums that you can visit in Paris on the first Sunday of each month, there are several museums, that are free to enter any time of the year/month. During my last trip to the city of love I’ve had chance to visit some of these museums and I’m going to share few notes about them for you to save for your next trips. This will help you to fill your trip with history and art and save a lot of money in the same time. So, let’s go!

The first free museum that I’ve decided to visit was the National Archives Museum, located in Marais district. This is the place where French history records are kept. The museum has a permanent section, where you can see exceptional items related to French history. The collection is quite big, but not all of them is shown in the exhibit rooms at once. It was said that every four months the shared collection is being updated in order to protect them from light damage. You may find here paper documents and books, sound recordings and digital files and microfilms, the last letter of Marie-Antoinette, and even the Constitution of the Fifth Republic! If you’re curious as me, don’t hesitate to visit this place. The museum is open between 10 am and 5.30 pm every day, except Tuesday.

In just a 5 minutes walk away, there is another museum, not much known, in my opinion, but worth a visit. This museum is called Musee Cognacq-Jay and represent mainly the private collection of Ernest Cognacq. In this three floor museum he intended to replicate the style of an eighteenth-century townhouse in its entirely rooms. The collection is quite big and different, includes art gallery, including works of Rembrandt, statues, ceramics, furniture and much more. The museum is open between 10 am and 6 pm every day, except Monday.

In the same area, some 2-3 minutes walk away, you can reach another great museum, called Carnavalet. I was lucky to reach the museum before it’s closing time but had to “run” inside to see as much as possible before it closed its doors. The person working there quickly introduced me the museum, where should I start and where end, what will I see in each room, etc. This was like a briefly made guided tour 🙂 This is quite big museum, which represents the history of Paris from prehistory times until now. Here one room is spectacular another, with all its decorations and exhibit items. What concerns to the exhibits, you can find here some archaeological items, signs & weapons, magnificent artworks and portraits, furniture details and much more. Believe me, you have to come here and prepare to spend an hour or even more. I was honestly impressed and surprised that such museum had no admission fee. The museum is open between 10 am and 6 pm every day, except Monday.

The other museum that’s located in the same area with above described 3 other ones is The Victor Hugo House, next to the Place des Vosges. If you’re not tired yet and still up for another museum, this one is a great place to visit. Who doesn’t know the story of Notre Damme de Paris? Here you can see where and how the genius writer lived (one if his houses). This apartment is located in the 19th century building, and is still housing the furniture he used, the works of arts and objects he created, such as decors, drawings, illustrations, etc. There are also family portraits which were mostly painted by his relatives or friends. It’s quite impressive to see in which conditions this great person used to live and create his works. And before you leave this house-museum, you will have a possibility to stroll on an interactive map of Hauteville House, Victor Hugo’s home in exile, Guernsey, located on the ground floor. The museum in Paris is open between 10 am and 6 pm every day, except Monday.

And the last but not least, is the well known Petit Palace, which also held permanent and temporary exhibitions. I skipped the temporary ones, but even on the remaining part there were a lot to see, starting from perfectly decorated murals at the museum’s entrance lobby (and not only), until artworks and sculptures of different authors. Some of the masterpieces this museum has belong to Paul Cezanne, Albrecht Dürer, Auguste Rodin, Rembrandt, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet… The list can be continued, but better you go there and see everything with your eyes. The museum has an entrance to its garden, where you can sit and enjoy your coffee in one of the cutest cafes in Paris. This place is hidden from outside and not everyone is aware about it. I was also planning to spend some time in that garden, but was late, as I visited the museum before its closing time and didn’t have chance to enter the garden at all. But that’s okay, will still try to repeat on my next visit 🙂 This museum is also open between 10 am and 6 pm every day, except Monday. However, if you plan to visit temporary exhibitions, you will have chance to use late openings options on Friday and Saturday until 8 p.m (not applicable for visits to permanent collections).

Note, that all above was related to the permanent collections inside above described museums. There are always temporary exhibitions made in these (and inside other free museums), which are not free to enter and you will have to buy tickets for them. But even if you skip the temporary exhibition sections, you will have plenty of things to see and enjoy your time in free museums of Paris. And yes, the list of free museums does not end with these. There are some mores to be seen and discovered. But these other ones are left for the next trip 😉