Carnavalet Museum – Why is this my favorite museum in Paris?

Whenever someone asks me to recommend attractions in parisThe first place I recommend is not the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre Museum, but rather a museum that many have not heard of – the Carnvalet Museum of the History of Paris. This is my favorite museum in the City of Lights and to it I want to dedicate the first post on my blog.

Although Paris's history is often very violent, its museum is housed in an intimate and quiet palace, despite being located in the bustling heart of the Marais on the boutique street Francs Bourgeois. The palace was built by the widow of the Polish king's envoy to France during the 16th century.

The messenger's name was Kernevenoy, but since no Frenchman could pronounce it correctly, the name was changed to Carnevale. During the 17th century, one of the most talented writers of FranceThe Marquise de Sévigné (1626-1696 Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné) and here she wrote her famous letters to her mother, the Comtesse de Grignan.

In these letters, she described in detail life in the Marais district and at the royal court in Versailles, and they remain an important historical source for anyone interested in the history of France during the period. Louis XIV.

The Palais de la Carnevale was purchased by the City of Paris in 1866 to house architectural gems that had been saved from the destruction that Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann imposed on Paris, as part of the city's rebuilding plans. city ​​of LightsOver the years, the museum grew and expanded towards the adjacent Hotel Peletier Saint Fargeau.

The museum looks quite old-fashioned at first glance (it doesn't have interactive signs like you can find inChateau Chan-sur-Marne (And as of the last time I visited, there is not enough material in English either), but it allows us to travel through several thousand years of Parisian history and find there not only the kings and counts but also the “little people” who made Paris what it is. And this, in my opinion, is the main reason why it is one of the most important museums in Paris.

What can be found at the Carnival Museum?

The Birth of Paris

The display of French history begins in rooms dedicated to the earliest period of Paris, the Neolithic period (around 10,000 BC). It turns out that Paris did not begin inIle de la Cita But rather in the Bercy area, where remains of various stone tools such as knives, plates, spoons, and even a ladle were found.

I'm pretty sure that if they dig deep enough, they'll also find an apron made of deerskin, which was used by the first Parisian waiter (everyone who has encountered Parisian waiters has noticed the directness, inflexibility, and rigidity that they apparently brought straight from the Stone Age).

Further on you can see remains from Lutecia, which is how Paris was called during the time of the Gauls and Romans (Lutetia means marshes, just like the word Marais, which describes the district where the museum is located). You will find there, among other things, knives and other surgical instruments, which are very similar to the tools used by surgeons today.

The Renaissance and the French Revolution

From there we make a time jump to the Renaissance period (if you want to get to know medieval Paris you will have to visitCluny Museum – Cluny). There you will find a very interesting combination of items in the same room. For example, a portrait of Mary Queen of Scots (Mary Stuart 1542-1587), who was Queen of France for about a year as the wife of Francis II (reigned 2-1559), next to a picture of a party where a drunk man gropes a woman against the backdrop of Notre Dame Cathedral.

In this room you can also understand how the French turned their flourishing city into a bloodbath. Here you will find a portrait of the Queen of France. Catherine de Medici (Catherine de Medicis 1519-1589), who planned the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre during which thousands of Protestants were murdered in the streets of Paris.

Her black eyes and stern gaze make her portrait look like a stone statue rather than an oil painting. There is no doubt that one look at her will make any of you become a Catholic. And that is exactly what happened to her son-in-law Henry IV, who changed his religion several times until, finally in the 4th century, he finally became a Catholic and coined the saying “Paris is worth a mass.”

Henry IV is commemorated in a rather strange way in this museum. He does not have his own room but a corridor where you can find remains of his original statue that was housed inThe Pon Nef Bridge And which was destroyed by the revolutionaries in 1792. The Carnival Museum somehow managed to get its hands on a giant boot, a horse's arm, hand and leg, which became a kind of memory puzzle.

Indeed, the section dedicated to the French Revolution is, in my opinion, the most fascinating part of the museum, as this turbulent period is presented through the eyes of ordinary people. You can find signs there that were carried during demonstrations, which were undoubtedly made at home by the demonstrators themselves, due to the spelling errors that can be found there (for example, one sign says Libeté instead of Liberté).

So which of you is that?Now learning French You can relax. Even in the 18th century, most French people wrote with spelling errors so the teacher couldn't come to you with complaints.

There are also quite a few portraits of public figures dressed in revolutionary clothing (a good idea in a time when if you couldn't prove your patriotism you were sent to meet Madame Guillotine). It's interesting to see that most of the pictures are very primitive, which shows that most of the good painters probably fled France during this period.

And speaking of the guillotine, its place is not forgotten either, with miniature ivory models. However, the strangest exhibit in this wing is a clock that shows revolutionary time (for the revolutionaries, the day was divided into 10 hours of 100 minutes each, with each minute having 100 seconds). It is interesting that this invention did not catch on, think about it, if each revolutionary hour is equal to our 2.4 hours, then the famous Parisian lunch break, which lasts about two hours, would have lasted close to 5 hours (without a doubt an excellent reason to initiate a revolution).

The last days of the French king are also well documented here, as the museum's directors have managed to recreate the room of Louis XVI and his family in the Temple fortress. You can see that the king had a decent-sized bed, a bookcase, and even a miniature billiard table for his son (Louis XIV for the future).

What is particularly interesting is the king's laundry list. It turns out that in the last two weeks of his life, he had to wash 17 shirts, 8 pairs of tights, two pairs of trousers and 3 sheets. This doesn't sound like much unless you remember that the only bedding the prisoners were given was a scarf to hold their long hair back when the guillotine blade landed on their necks.

19th century

The 19th century wing of the Carnival Museum presents this turbulent period well, during which, in less than 80 years, Paris replaced the Empire with the Bourbon monarchy (1814), the Bourbon monarchy with the Orléans monarchy (1830), the Orléans monarchy with the Second Republic (1848), the Second Republic with the Second Empire (1851), and the Second Empire with the Third Republic (1870). A truly historic spectacle…

In this wing you will find fascinating paintings on the walls that show us what historical buildings, some of which no longer exist, looked like before they were destroyed during the 19th century. As is known, the greatest destruction in Paris did not occur during wars or revolutions, but rather during times of peace. Between the years 1853-1870, Baron Haussmann destroyed quite a few historical buildings, some of which were real treasures, in order to build the boulevards we know today.

This is why this museum is so important, as they have sometimes managed to bring entire rooms from destroyed palaces here. An excellent example of this is the staircase of the Hotel del Luynes, whose frescoes give a spectacular three-dimensional illusion.

After you have finished visiting the rooms related to the turbulent times of Paris, you are invited to enjoy the rooms dedicated to the “Belle Epoque” (1871-1914). This is the period of the great exhibitions in which Eiffel Tower (1889) and the Parisian Metro (1900), in which Paris flourished as it had never flourished before.

This is one of my favorite periods and the Carnival Museum contains quite a few pictures of Parisian street scenes. If you look at these pictures you will realize that if we ignore for a moment the fashion of the women and the old men who went out of fashion (and are now back) then it would be possible to think that these pictures were painted in our time.

Cafés have a place of honor in the Carnival Museum, and alongside quite a few pictures depicting scenes that took place there, there is an entire room taken from a café that no longer exists. It is a private room where wealthy Frenchmen could privately entertain their partners or mistresses.

And that's what's so fun about the Carnival Museum. The unique, and sometimes bizarre, objects on display there manage to convey the atmosphere of every period in Paris' history, from the days when it was a fishing village to today when it became the cultural capital of the world. I promise you that after a few hours of touring this museum, you too will be addicted to it, just like me, and you will understand why this is one of the most important attractions in the City of Lights that is absolutely not worth missing.

Carnaval Museum – Tourist Information

I hope that what you have read so far has made you want to visit this magical museum, so the next section contains practical information that will help you plan your visit.

Where is the Carnival Museum?

The Carnival Museum is located in the heart Marais District And the entrance to it is from the address 16 Rue des Francs Bourgeois.

How do we get there?

If you useMy itinerary in the MaraisYou will reach it during your trip. However, if you decide to visit it specifically, I recommend taking the Metro line number 1 And get off at Saint-Pol station. From there, walk north on Rue de Sévigné and you will reach the museum in a few minutes.

What are the opening hours?

The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 18:00 PM.

Do I need to book tickets in advance?

In the past, it was necessary to reserve a ticket in advance (even though it is a free museum). Now this is not necessary and you can just get there and enter.