Paris Passy And Auteuil (16ème)

Musée D’Art Moderne De La Ville De Paris. The magnificent Palais de Tokyo (see Sights) is home to one of the world’s foremost museums of modern art. Though the collection is smaller than that of the Centre Pompidou, it is free and less touristed. One room is dedicated to Matisse’s enormous La Danse Inachêvée, which was executed with the help of a brush attached to a long bamboo pole. Other rooms are organized around significant movements—New Realism, Fauvism, and Abstraction, to name a few-and showcase works from the likes of Modigliani, Vuillard, Braque, Klein, and Picasso. The museum has fantastic special exhibits of both contemporary art and retrospective displays. There is also a cafe, which opens onto a terrace in the summer. (Palais de Tokyo, 11 av. du Président Wilson, 16ème. Iéna. Follow av. du Président Wilson with the Seine on your right. ☎01 53 67 40 00; www.mam.paris.fr. Open Tu-Su 10am-6pm, last entrance 5:45pm; W night open until 10pm for special exhibits, last entrance 9:45pm.Wheelchair-accessible. Admission to permanent exhibitions free; special exhibits admission varies, expect approximately €4.50-7 for contemporary art and €6-9 for retrospective exhibits, large families, seniors, under 27 €3-6; under 13 free. For guided tours, call ☎01 53 67 40 80.)

Musée Marmottan Monet. Housed in the former hunting villa of the Duc de Valmy (later the private home of Jules and Paul Marmottan), this hidden museum holds Impressionist treasures, started from the personal collection of Dr. Georges de Bellio, former physician to Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley and Renoir. All of the patients have works showcased here, as do Morisot, Gauguin, Daumer and Caillebotte. But it’s called the Marmottan Monet for a reason: the basement has the collection’s centerpiece: wall-sized paintings of the Impressionist’s waterlilies, weeping willows, and wisterias. Meanwhile, the mansion, with its intricate furnishings and elaborate decor, is a sight in itself. (2 rue Louis-Boilly, 16ème. Muette Follow directions to the Jardin Ranelagh, and walk through the Jardin; the museum will be visible on the right side of rue Louis-Boilly. ☎01 44 96 50 31; www.marmottan.com. Open Tu-Su 10am-5:30pm; last admission 1hr. before closing. €8, seniors and students under 25 €4.50, under 8 free; including temporary exhibit €9/5.50. Audioguide €3.)

Maison De Balzac. Honoré de Balzac hid from bill collectors (under the pseudonym of M. de Breugnol) in this three-story hillside maison, his home from 1840-47. In this tranquil retreat, he completed a substantial part of La Comédie Humaine, and wrote many other famous works, such as A Dark Affair. Visitors can see the desk and beautifully embroidered chair where Balzac supposedly wrote and edited for 17 hours a day. (He is quoted as saying, “To work is to wake at midnight, write until 8am, lunch for a quarter of an hour, work until 5pm, have dinner, go to bed, and start again the next day.”) In the fantastic Manuscript Room, you can observe his excruciating editing process. View over 400 printing block portraits of his characters, organized into genealogical sequences, in one of the last rooms. Information plaques are in both English and Japanese. (47 rue Raynouard, 16ème. Passy. Walk up the hill and turn left onto rue Raynouard. }O1 55 74 41 80; www.paris.fr/musees/balzac. Open Tu-Su 10am-6pm. Last entry 5:30pm before closing. Permanent collection free. Guided tours and temporary exhibits €4, families and seniors €3, students under 26 €2, under 12 free. Call for schedule.)

Musée National Des Arts Asiatiques (Musée Guimet). The clean grey and white lines of this architectural marvel display a beautiful collection of Asian art from 17 different countries and spanning over 5 millennia. Over 45,000 works in stone, metal, paper, and canvas serenely occupy a five-floor maze of rooms organized by country and era, from China’s Wei Dynasty to India’s Gupta Era, from 12th century Vietnam to 14th century Tibet. The Riboud Gallery, a dazzling display of decorative objects and jewelry from Mogul India, is a highlight. Don’t miss the lovely rotunda on the second floor and the lacquer screen room on the top floor. To get the full experience, rent a free audioguide, which provides explanations of the historical and religious significance of selected pieces. Just around the corner, the annexed Panthéon Bouddhique, 19 av. d’Iéna packs in more art from Japan and China and has a tranquil garden out back. (6 pl. d’Iéna, 16ème. Iéna. ☎01 56 52 53 00; www.museeguimet.fr. Open M and W-Su 10am-6pm; last entrance 5:45pm. Wheelchair-accessible. Admission to permanent collection €6.50, ages 18-25 and all visitors on Su €4.50, under 18, disabled persons and all visitors on the first Su of the month free. Temporary exhibits €7, ages 18-25 €5; combined tickets €8.50/ 6. Free audioguide in 8 languages.)

Musée De La Mode Et Du Costume (Museum Of Fashion And Clothing). The elegant Italian Palais Galleria, in which the museum is housed, was originally conceived in 1892 as a repository for the Duchess of Galliera’s sizable collection of Italian Baroque art, which was sent to Genoa instead. Now the Palais holds an even larger collection of the quintessential Parisian art form: clothing. With 30,000 outfits, 70,000 accessories, and a relatively small space in which to display them, the museum rotates exhibits to showcase various fashions of the past three centuries. This is the place to go for the history of Parisian chic, written in beads, brocade, and bouclée. (In the Palais Galliera, 10 av. Pierre, 1er de Serbie, in the pl. de Tokyo, 16ème. Iéna. Walk down either av. du Président Wilson or av. Pierre 1er de Serbie with the Eiffel Tower to your right. The museum entrance is in the center of the Palais and can be reached from the pl. de Rochambeau side. ☎01 56 52 86 00. Open Tu-Su 10am-6pm; last entrance 5:30pm. Admission depends on exhibit: €7, students and seniors €5.50, ages 14-26 €3.50, under 14 free. Availability of audioguide depends on exhibit. For guided visits, call ☎01 56 52 86 20. MC/V over €15.)

Musée De La Marine (Museum Of Naval History) . Contructed to commemorate the evolution of France’s relationship with the seas, this museum is more interesting than you might think, though it is only a must-see for serious sailors. Large model ships of astounding detail, exhaustive exhibits on the French Navy in the two World Wars, and impressive maritime equipment from the days of Napolean and Louis XIV make for a diverse experience. A few real boats from the 17-19th centuries are anchored here, including a lavishly-embellished golden “dinghy” built for Napoleon in 1810, which takes up an entire room. Oil paintings of stormy sea battles and French ports round out the collection. (17 pl. du Trocadéro, 16ème. Trocadéro. In the Palais de Chaillot, immediately to the right of the entrance. ☎01 53 65 69 69; www.musee-marine.fr. Open M and W-Su 10am-6pm; last entry 5:15pm. Admission to permanent collection €6.50, students, academia, large families €4.50, under 18 free. Joint admission to permanent and temporary exhibits €8, students €6, ages 6-18 €4, ages 3-6 €3. AmEx/MC/V over €15.)

Fondation Le Corbusier. The foundation is located in Villa La Roche and Villa Jeanneret, both designed and furnished by the Swiss architectural master Le Corbusier (1887-1965); it might not blow you away unless you are an architectural guru. Villa Jeanneret houses the foundation’s scholarly library, but the real attraction is the reduced geometry, understated curvature, and creative spaciousness of Villa La Roche’s interiors, which reflect the architect’s maxim that “a house is a machine you live in!” (Villa La Roche 8-10, sq. du Docteur Blanche, 16ème. Jasmin. Walk up rue de l’Yvette and turn left on rue du Docteur-Blanche and left again at no. 55 into sq. du Docteur-Blanche; go down to the cul-de-sac and ring the bell inside the gate at your right. ☎01 42 88 41 53; www.fondationlecorbusier.asso.fr. Open M 1:30-6pm, Tu-Th 10am-12:30pm and 1:30-6pm, F 10am-12:30pm and 1:30-5pm, Sa 10am-5pm, last entry 15min. before closing. Admission €4, students €2. Groups of 10-15 €2, under 14 free. Groups must reserve ahead. Library in Villa Jeanneret (on your right before end of cul-de-sac open by appointment only, specify the Villa when calling. Book consultation free, archive access €3/1.50.

Musée Georges Clemenceau. The museum, oddly hidden through a courtyard behind an unassuming residential facade, thoroughly documents the life of revered and vilified journalist and statesman Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929). Publisher of Emile Zola’s J’accuse, Prime Minister of France, and the much-criticized negotiator of the Treaty of Versailles, Clemenceau lived here from 1895 until his death in 1929. The museum contains personal mementos (letters to his wife, clothes, etc.) as well as official documents (newspaper articles, war propaganda, books, etc.). Those who are not French history lovers need not make it a point to visit. Ring a doorbell for access to the museum. (8 rue Benjamin Franklin, 16ème. Passy. ☎01 45 20 53 41. Open Tu-Sa 2-5:30pm; closed Aug. Last entry 30min. before closing. Admission €6, ages 12-25 €3, under 12 free. Free audioguide.)

Musée Du Vin. Located in the cool, subterranean corridors of the renovated 15th-century Passy Monastery, which once produced one of Louis XIII’s favorite wines, the Musée du Vin is appealing more for its symbolic role than anything else. With whimsical (and occasionally creepy) wax models, the museum meticulously recreates the life cycle of wine from vine to verre, highlighting each French wine, from Champagne to Bordeaux to Grand Marnier. The content of the museum is dry but exhaustive; the hundreds of objects on display date to the 18th century, including wine bottles, corkscrews of all shapes, and agricultural implements. After the tour, you may have to remind the receptionist to give you a free tasting. If that whets your appetite, a wine-heavy lunch is available in the adjacent restaurant. (Rue des Eaux, or 5-7 pl. Charles Dickens, 16ème. Passy. Go down the stairs, turn right on pl. Alboni, and then right on rue des Eaux; the museum is at the end of the street. ☎45 25 63 26; www.museeduvinparis.com. Open Tu-Su 10am-6pm. Admission including 1 glass of wine €9, seniors €7.50, students €7, under 15 free. MC/V.)

Musée De L’Homme. This anthropology museum has been considerably reduced: its entire ethnology collection was moved in 2005 to Musée du Quai Branly. However, there are still a handful of exhibits on the human life cycle, centered on everything from birth control to physical differences among peoples. With most exhibits directed at children, this museum might only be worth the price of admission for the typically intriguing temporary exhibits, conferences, and films. (17 pl. du Trocadéro, 16ème. Trocadéro. In the Palais de Chaillot, on the right-hand side if you’re facing the Eiffel Tower. ☎01 44 05 72 72; www.mnhn.fr. Open M and W-F 10am-5pm, Sa-Su 10am-6pm, last entry 1hr. before closing. Wheelchair-accessible. €7, under 26 €5; under 4 free. Films in the afternoon Tu, Sa, Su. MC/V.)