MUSEUMS 2019 THE GUIDE


Myriad marvels of millinery are made manifest at the Musée du Chapeau, a workshop-museum entirely dedicated to the art of hat-making and hat-wearing


France’s lesser-known but still unmissable museums, ranging from a centre dedicated to the legacy of Morvan’s forgotten wet nurses to an unusual


underground mushroom farm in the Loire Valley. We’re handing you the key – now go and open France’s cabinet of curiosities…


Atelier-Musée du Chapeau Chazelles-sur-Lyon, Loire You’d surely be as mad as a hatter to skip a visit to this delightful homage to le chapeau. Charting the rise and fall of luxury felt headwear produced in Chazelles-sur-Lyon, this poignant space is packed with imagination-tickling displays: industrial machines, mannequins and all sorts of colourful noggin-toppers dating back to the 18th century, both functional and fashionable. You can even try on a few! Whether you’re into


the manufacturing side of things, or can’t get enough of cloches and coifs, this factory-cum- museum is a fitting tribute to the last of the milliners. www.museeduchapeau.com


Maison Bonaparte Ajaccio, Corse-du-Sud We’re all familiar with Napoleon, of course, but did you know that he wasn’t born in mainland France? The Little Corporal instead entered the world in 1769 on the island of Corsica – in the capital city of Ajaccio, to be precise – and if you make a beeline for rue Saint-Charles, you can see his birthplace for yourself. It’s unassuming on the outside (even for a four-storey building), set in a narrow alley cluttered with shops and outdoor cafés. Inside, however, Napoleon’s first nine years of life are explored through a breadth


of artefacts and period furnishings – including the very bed in which he was born. musees-nationaux-malmaison.fr


Musée Balzac Saché, Indre-et-Loire Yes, the brilliant Maison de Balzac may be in Paris, but the oft-overlooked Musée Balzac in Saché is where the celebrated writer stayed to pen part of Le Père Goriot and the start of Illusions perdues, which makes it an essential stop for fans and curieux alike. Poke around the caricature room, the original manuscripts room, the printing workshop, a space devoted to Rodin’s Balzac, and the man’s bedroom itself. French and English are spoken, and there are plenty of activities to keep the kids entertained if you are travelling with the brood. www.loirevalley-france.co.uk


Musée de la Bande Dessinée Angoulême, Charente


The genre of the Franco-Belgian comic strip is quite different from, and totally independent of, English-language comic book culture. DC Comics and Marvel Comics are ubiquitous in the USA (and widespread in the UK), and it may sometimes seem as though Japanese Manga is taking over the world, but the French-Belgian school is certainly no poor cousin. You don’t have to be an aficionado to know all about Tintin, Astérix and the Smurfs, and many of us (or at least those of a certain age) will be at least passingly familiar with the likes of Lucky Luke and Gaston Lagaffe, but if you want to delve deeper still into this world, you will be well- advised to take advantage of Angoulême’s Comic Book Museum. www.citebd.org


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IMAGE © MUSÉE DU CHAPEAU


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