A visit to Paris will always be incomplete without a tour of the Louvre Museum. However, if you are a museophile and love to breath in history and art, France's capital offers more than just the iconic Louvre.
Make sure to add these historic museums to your bucket list to see history with your own eyes.
The Orsay Museum (Musée d’Orsay) is most visited museum in Paris, after the iconic Louvre. It has the largest collection of impressionist artworks and is home to the historic paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas. This museum, which was opened to the public in 1986, is home to some of the most world-famous paintings like Van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhône and Coquelicots by Monet.
The Orangerie Museum (Musée de l’Orangerie), situated in the beautiful Tuileries Garden, was built in 1852 to serve as a green house to orange trees in the winter season. This museum house Claude Monet's famous Water Lilies series (Nymphéas), that he had donated to the state back in the 20th century. Known for being massive in size, the eight panels of the series are exhibited in two oval rooms that had been designed by the painter itself.
Founded in 1882, the Grévin Wax Museum (Musée Grévin) is among the oldest wax museums in all of Europe. This very popular museum doesn't hold historic artefacts or legendary paintings but you should definitely pay a visit. From celebrities to historical moments, you can pose with some of the most famous people in the world! However, do not miss the Hall of Mirrors that is placed in this museum.
The Picasso Museum (Musée Picasso) is located in the Hôtel Salé and was built back in the 17th century. With a stunning Baroque building, this museum was opened in 1985 and houses more than five thousand pieces of art by legendary Spanish cubist artist, Pablo Picasso. Besides paintings, the museum also has a collection of sculptures that makes this place all the more iconic. Picasso's famous artworks such as Self Portrait and the famous Homme à la guitare are all exhibited here.
This museum, marked by its unique modern architecture that houses modern and contemporary art, stands out from the rest. The Centre Pompidou is located right in the centre of Paris. The one-of-a-kind building was designed by architecture Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers and the museum has a large collection of artworks by famous artists like Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali, Matisse, Joan Miro and more.