MUSEUMS 2021 THE GUIDE


The magnifi cent 70m-long Bayeux Tapestry is a thrilling bande dessinée in its own right


almost clinical white settings. Autumn 2021 exhibitions include paintings by former punk rocker Nina Childress, works by German artist Georg Baselitz, fantasy illustrations by American artist Henry Darger, and multimedia works by Bauhaus husband-and- wife team Anni and Josef Albers. www.mam.paris.fr


Musée de la Gendarmerie Nationale Melun, Seine-et-Marne Dive headfirst into France’s police history with a trip to Melun’s astonishing Gendarmerie Museum, less than an hour’s drive from Paris. The immense glass display cases are set across 1,200m2


of museum space,


featuring 44 mannequins dressed in old police uniforms from across the years, plus there are weapons, figurines, paintings, photos, badges and insignia. Arresting stuff. www.gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr/ musee


Musée Bayeux Bayeux, Calvados It’s the original comic book. The magnificent 70m-long Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidered bande dessinée documenting the events of the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Its blood, gore and medieval battle scenes have amazed and terrified viewers for centuries. If you can’t make it in person, there is a brilliant digital version that can be viewed online. www.bayeuxmuseum.com


Abbaye de Flaran Valence-sur-Baïse, Gers


Founded in 1151, this wonderful Cistercian abbey – one of the best preserved in France – is now a cultural centre staging all sorts of events throughout the year, ranging from exhibitions and concerts, to conferences, courses and workshops. Visitors will enjoy the ancient monastic building itself as well as the lovely gardens surrounding it.


While there’s an impressive permanent exhibition, there are always excellent temporary shows passing through. www.patrimoine-musees-gers.fr


Musée d’Orsay 7th arrondissement, Paris If there’s a holy trinity of classic French museums, the Musée d’Orsay is surely bedfellows with its Parisian peers, the Louvre and the Musée d’Art Moderne. Filling the former Gare d’Orsay, this ode to 19th- and 20th- century art is seriously top- drawer, with a collection that respects multiple media, art movements and celebrated painters. There’s plenty here to indulge the art connoisseur, and admirers of architecture will enjoy the station’s arched ceiling and ornate gold clock. Running into 2022, there are exhibitions on French cinema at the dawn of the 20th century, and Signac’s role as an art collector. www.musee-orsay.fr


Musée du Louvre 1st arrondissement, Paris Is this the world’s most famous museum? It’s certainly the largest and, thanks to the Mona Lisa, it houses arguably the most famous painting every created. It also claims to be the most visited museum on the planet. Standing sentry on the Seine’s Right Bank, its shimmering glass pyramid and labyrinth of galleries and staircases across three wings and four floors amount to one of the planet’s top cultural sites. Aside from La Joconde (as the Mona Lisa is known in French), other highlights include the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Raft of the Medusa, Liberty Leading the People, and (controversially) plenty of Napoleonic war booty. Its 380,000 exhibits cannot be viewed in a whole week, let alone a day – so you’ll need to arrange repeat visits if you want to see it all. Perhaps French Post- Impressionist painter Paul ❯❯


Aug/Sep 2021 FRANCE TODAY ❘ 131


IMAGE © S MAURICE – BAYEUX MUSEUM


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14