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Petit Palais – Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris
Type: Architecture, Art Museums, Free Attractions, Museums
10Best Says
The building itself entices with its gilt-framed doors that open up from its sweeping entranceway there on Avenue Winston Churchill, just steps from the Champs-Elysées. Because its neighbor across... Read More
The building itself entices with its gilt-framed doors that open up from its sweeping entranceway there on Avenue Winston Churchill, just steps from the Champs-Elysées. Because its neighbor across the street, the Grand Palais, tends to get all the attention and the big name exhibitions and shows, it sort of just humbly waits to be noticed.
One would never assume that entrance is free to the museum, but it is. Its temporary exhibits require a purchased ticket, but its permanent collections, featuring the history of the city as represented by French paintings and furniture, is a draw. As is, quite simply, the 1902 building that is flanked by the Seine and Pont Alexandre III on one side and the Champs-Elysées and the Grand Palais on the other.
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EXPERT TIPS BY:
Paige Donner
Paris Local Expert
- Free Things to Do: "The permanent exhibits here offer free entry year round. The sweet little garden café in its inner courtyard is a not-so-obvious choice to sit and refresh oneself."
- Best for Free Things to Do Because: Perched regally across from the Grand Palais, the major domo of Paris museums with its big marquée art exhibits and annual Chanel couture shows.