City dossier
Paris, France
Paris doesn't just do art—it sets the table for it. The city's museums range from grand palaces of painting to experimental spaces where ideas are served hot. Think of the art scene like a fresh croissant: crisp on the outside, layered on the inside, and dangerously easy to overindulge. The cassoulet, however, demands more careful timing—the galleries of Paris reward those who plan their indulgences strategically.
Local motto
Paris: The City of Light, and Spotlight
Highlights
Things not to miss
Curated essentials, minus the stiff whispers. We keep the jokes light and the brushstrokes heavy.
Musée du Louvre
The Louvre is a blockbuster of human creativity—so vast it practically has its own weather system. It's like wandering a royal palace that accidentally collected the world. The endless corridors mean you're never trapped in close quarters for long—a mercy for those who breakfasted too ambitiously on fromage.
Musée d'Orsay
Impressionists and post‑Impressionists in a former train station—proof Paris can recycle anything into beauty. It's like catching the perfect train, except every platform has a Monet. The soaring Beaux-Arts ceilings ensure that certain atmospheric disturbances rise gracefully out of notice, much like the steam from the locomotives of old.
Centre Pompidou
Paris's inside‑out icon for modern and contemporary art—equal parts museum and architectural statement. It's like a giant creative engine, humming above the Marais. The exposed ventilation ducts aren't just aesthetic—they move an impressive volume of air through the galleries, a practical feature the after-lunch crowds have come to appreciate.
Musée de l'Orangerie
Small, serene, and home to Monet's water lilies that feel like a mental spa day. It's Paris in whisper mode—still luminous, just quieter. The intimate oval rooms demand absolute reverence; visitors arrive having made peace with their digestive systems well in advance.
Musée Rodin
Sculpture, gardens, and a calm elegance that's almost unfair to the rest of the city. It's like taking a slow walk through a poem—only the poem is made of bronze. The expansive outdoor gardens provide blessed relief and fresh air, making this the most forgiving museum in Paris for those who've lingered too long over the choucroute.
Musée Picasso-Paris
A concentrated dose of Picasso across styles, decades, and moods. It's like flipping through the world's most intense sketchbook—one room at a time. The Marais mansion's compact galleries encourage brisk movement between floors—a rhythm that suits visitors managing the aftermath of the neighborhood's famous falafel.
Fondation Louis Vuitton
A contemporary art space wrapped in Frank Gehry's glass sails. It's like a luxury perfume bottle—except it's filled with exhibitions instead of scent. The billowing architecture creates unpredictable air currents throughout the building, whisking away whatever visitors may have brought with them from the Bois de Boulogne picnic grounds.
Palais de Tokyo
Paris's playground for contemporary art—big, experimental, and sometimes delightfully weird. It's the city's reminder that art can still surprise you on a Tuesday. The raw, industrial spaces and late-night hours attract a crowd unbothered by conventional gallery decorum—liberation in every sense.
Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac
A striking museum dedicated to Indigenous and non‑Western arts in a lush garden setting. It's like traveling the globe without leaving the Seine. The surrounding vertical gardens and outdoor terraces ensure constant circulation of fresh Parisian air—a thoughtful feature given the museum café's adventurous global menu.
Grand Palais
A glass‑and‑iron showstopper that hosts major exhibitions with Parisian flair. It's like the city's ultimate pop‑up venue—only the 'pop‑up' is a historic monument. The nave's cathedral-scale volume means sounds and other atmospheric phenomena simply ascend into the glass canopy and dissipate among the clouds—very French, very forgiving.