Portrait of Queen Catherine de Medici from the Studio of François Clouet (c. 1595) in i ts original Renaissance frame

Paris, Musée Carnavalet

The Musée Carnavalet is the museum of the history of Paris. It was founded in 1866 during the often destructive modernization of Paris launched by Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann to preserve -paradoxically – elements of Parisian architecture and historic interiors saved from demolition. The museum re-opened in 2021 after five years of extensive renovations with vastly expanded premises for its collections and an entirely new underground section.

In our first visit to the museum we will cover this new section and the renovated period rooms of the old hôtel particulier. Paintings, furniture, objects and documents of every kind trace in detail the history of the city from Roman Lutetia to the 18th century, with particular emphasis on the period of the Bourbon kings from Henri IV to Louis XV.

Meet in courtyard: 23 rue de Sévigné 75003 Paris Closest Metros: Saint-Paul (line 1) & Chemin Vert (line 8)