THE GUIDE MUSEUMS 2022 The Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mère-Eglise offers a chance to see some classic WWII aeroplanes
landing beaches, in a village called Sainte-Mère-Eglise. Poignantly, close to the museum is the belfry on which American parachutist John Steele famously became snagged on June 6, 1944. Despite being taken prisoner by the Germans, he escaped and rejoined his division to fight on. Aeroplanes on display at the museum include a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, a Waco glider and a Piper Club Grasshopper.
www.airborne-museum.org
Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection Billionaire businessman François Pinault is one of France’s most avid collectors of modern art. His interest was first piqued in the early 1970s and over the ensuing decades there followed multiple purchases of artworks in Cubism, Abstraction, Minimalism, and later contemporary painting, video, sculpture, photography, installations and performance art. Nowadays much of his vast collection is regularly exhibited at the Bourse de Commerce, in Paris’s 1st
arrondissement, a
building which is worth a visit in its own right. Pinault also has
140 ❘ FRANCE TODAY Aug/Sep 2022
two galleries in Venice. A membership card gives you access to all three galleries, plus exhibition openings and guided tours. A must for lovers of modern art.
www.pinaultcollection.com/en
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 as well.
www.patrimoine-musees-gers.fr/ le-reseau/abbaye-de-flaran
Musée d’Orsay 7th arrondissement, Paris If there’s a holy trinity of classic French museums, the Musée d’Orsay must surely be included 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, while admirers of architecture will enjoy the station’s arched ceiling and ornate gold clock. Running later this year there are exhibitions on Scottish photographer Thomas Annan, Spanish artist Mariano Fortuny y Marsal, French animal painter Rosa Bonheur (all 19th
century),
and the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch.
www.musee-orsay.fr
Musée du Louvre Paris, Île-de-France 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 ever 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 France’s – and one of the planet’s – top cultural sites. Only a museum as world-
renowned could inspire an act of vandalism as bizarre as that which happened earlier this summer when a man in a wheelchair, disguised in a wig and makeup, threw a cake at the Mona Lisa. Fortunately the painting was undamaged, thanks to the protective glass. Aside from the Mona Lisa (or La Joconde, as she’s known in French), other Louvre 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 Cézanne summed it up best. “Keep good company,” he said. “That is, go to the Louvre.”
www.louvre.fr
Musée de Normandie Caen, Calvados
Housed in the illustrious Château de Caen, built in 1060 by William the Conqueror, this Norman museum explores a wealth of subjects from antiquity to artisanal crafts, and religion to relics. Over the summer and into the autumn, there are guided tours of the castle, exhibitions on archaeology and Norman cinema, and night-time visits.
www.musee-de-normandie.caen.fr
Le Fonds Hélène & Édouard Leclerc Pour la Culture Landerneau, Finistère Established in 2011, this contemporary arts foundation – backed by the famous French food giant – in Western Brittany is on the site of a former Capuchin convent and where France’s very first Leclerc hypermarket used to be. Already during its short history, the foundation has staged exhibitions on the likes of Miró, Giacometti, Chagall, Picasso and Moore. The current exhibition is on French visual artist ❯❯
IMAGE © AIRBORNE MUSEUM
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