Things to Do in France

Far from being a museum dedicated to pools, Musée La Piscine in Roubaix is in fact an arts museum houses in a former indoor, Olympic-sized swimming pool. This somehow peculiar location was chosen because it features an outstanding art deco interior, having been built in 1927. The swimming pool remained in use until 1985, and was given a second life as an arts museum in 2000. Musée La Piscine holds items that date back from 1835, most of which were collected from a textile factory that once stood next door. Elements of literature, science and fine arts were added to enhance the collection of historic textiles and to form an extensive exhibition dedicated to the fruitful alliance between applied arts and industry. Some of the most famous paintings and sculptures found at La Piscine include works from Rodin, Picasso, Claudel, Gérôme, Stark, van Dongen and other contemporaries – which, of course, are complimented by the architectural marvel that is La Piscine.

Founded during the French Revolution in 1793, the Museum of Natural History, or Musee d'Histoire Naturelle, took over the grounds of Louis XIII’s Royal Medicine Plant garden and prevailed under the guidance of naturalist pioneers Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck and Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Despite once rivaling the University of Paris’ scientific research departments, the museum is now best famed for its educational collections, focusing its research on environmental studies and preservation work.

Today, the vast museum complex is split into three different areas – a Paleontology museum, a Taxonomy wing and a Geology museum. The Museum of Paleontology is renowned for its prolific collection of bones and fossils, including a spine-tingling display of dinosaur skeletons and a lifelike collection of exotic taxidermy. Next up, the Taxonomy division focuses on plant life, with indoor and outdoor exhibits featuring a herbarium, containing around 8 million plant specimens, a small zoo and aquarium and some of the city’s most spectacular botanical gardens stretching over 26 hectares, including tropical greenhouses, a manmade labyrinth and a colorful rose garden. Finally, the Geology section houses a wide range of interactive exhibits alongside the acclaimed Gallery of Mineralogy.

Housed in the former hunting lodge of the Duke of Valmy, a lavish 19th-century mansion in Paris’ 16th arrondissement, the Musée Marmottan, or the Marmottan Monet museum, is as impressive from the outside as it is inside. Founded around the vast Napoleonic era art collection bequeathed to the Academy of Fine Arts by Jules Marmottan, the museum opened its doors back in 1934 and has since amassed an incredible compilation of works by some of the world’s finest artists.

The museum’s permanent galleries feature paintings by Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas and Édouard Manet, alongside celebrated works by Camille Pissarro, Paul Gauguin and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and a host of other renowned names. Most unique are a collection of illuminated medieval manuscripts and a showcase of Flemish primitive paintings. Even the décor is a work of art, with plush furnishings and precious antiques dotted throughout the elegant salons and stunning views over the neighboring Jardin de Ranelagh, or Ranelagh Gardens.

The museum is most acclaimed for housing the world’s largest collection of works by iconic French impressionist, Claude Monet. Donated by the legendary artist’s son, Michel Monet, after his death in 1966, the Monet collection is displayed in a specially designed basement gallery, elaborately decorated in homage to the Orangerie des Tuileries gallery. Key pieces include the 1892-96 ‘Cathédrale de Rouen’ series, a striking depiction of the London Houses of Parliament and ‘Impression, Soleil Levant’ (Impression, Sunrise), credited for giving name to the Impressionist movement.

The Musée Nissim de Camondo is more of a portal into the past than it is your run-of-the-mill museum. It is housed in the Hôtel Camondo, not a hotel but a home built in 1911 in the style of the Petit Trianon at Versailles on the strict instructions of its owner, Comte Moïse de Camondo. Comte Camondo was a Parisian banker with a penchant for 18th-century art and furniture, and his home was a kind of showcase for his extensive collection. Today the Musée Nissim de Camondo is kept just as it was when he lived there, and it's a fascinating tour of life in the early 1900s as well as French design in the 1700s.

The majestic Grandes Écuries (Great Stables) at Château de Chantilly were designed by French architect Jean Aubert in 1719 for the eccentric horse lover Prince Louis-Henri de Bourbon. They are a masterpiece of neo-classical architecture and are still the largest stables in Europe, with stalls for 250 horses as well as kenneling for dogs. The stables have a circular manège (riding school) where equestrian shows are held daily and are also home to the revamped Musée Vivant du Cheval (Living Museum of the Horse), which re-opened in 2013 and is one of the few museums in the world dedicated entirely to horses. Displays examine the historical relationship between man and horse through times of war and peace and are crammed with equine portraits and sculptures, gaily painted carriages, carousel horses and racing trophies – but the highlight of any visit is the chance to get up close and personal with several rare breeds of horses and ponies.