THE GUIDE MUSEUMS 2020/21 France Today’s favourite museums CLASSIC


One thing the French love to do is educate themselves while they’re having fun. Art, antiques, history, literature – whatever your particular penchant, you won’t be intellectually disappointed. With the swanky art galleries of Paris, the war museums on the north coast and the numerous nods to history’s best-known figures, France provides ample opportunity to engage your brain. Go on, get those little grey cells working.


Nice museums


The Nice region is home to a trio of art galleries dedicated to three great artists with strong links to the French Riviera. In Nice itself is the Musée National Marc Chagall which contains the world’s largest publicly-owned collection of Chagall works. Don’t miss two architectural features that Chagall created


Juno Beach Centre is both informative and extremely moving, making it a must-see


specially for the building: the stained glass windows in the concert hall and the mosaic overlooking the water feature. Head southwest, along the coast to Biot, and you’ll soon come to the Musée National Fernard Léger, with its sensory overload of vibrant colours. Finally, in Vallauris, is the Musée National Pablo Picasso in the


Chapelle La Guerre et la Paix. Picasso himself lived here in the late 1940s and early 1950s musees-nationaux- alpesmaritimes.fr


Juno Beach Centre Courseulles-sur-Mer, Calvados For the D-Day landings of 1944, Juno was the name given to the stretch of coastline from


Courseulles through Bernières to Saint-Aubin. The taking of Juno Beach was the responsibility of the Canadian forces, and the Juno Beach Centre celebrates their heroism. As well as presenting plain facts about the war, this museum intimately touches upon the real lives of the 45,000 Canadian soldiers who died, through photographs, film, first-hand accounts and stories passed down through the generations. Tragic, but at the same time essential viewing. www.junobeach.org


Maison de Balzac 16th arrondissement, Paris


The creator of the vast collection of interlinked novels known as La Comédie humaine, Honoré de Balzac is considered one of France’s greatest ever writers. And it was in this building – where modern-day bookworms can admire various


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Le MusVerre


Au cœur de l’Avesnois, un lieu incontournable de l’art contemporain verrier.


In the heart of Northern France, an essential place for glass contemporary art.


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Musverre


Sars-Poteries musverre.lenord.fr


Musverre


Sars-Poteries musverre.lenord.fr


IMAGE © SHUTTERSTOCK Crédit œuvre/photographe : Dale CHIHULY, Mandarin Orange Basket With Flint Lip/Ph. Robin — Graphisme : www.polysemique.fr Crédit œuvre/photographe : Karen LaMonte, Seated dress impression with drapery © Ph. Robin — Graphisme : www.polysemique.fr


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