Paris for Free: The Cognacq-Jay Museum in the Marais

A hidden treasure in the Marais: the Cognacq-jay museum
Cognacq-Jay Museum in the Hotel Donon
Cognacq-Jay Museum in the Hotel Donon – Paris Marais

One of my B&B owners has just introduced me to a very secret and charming museum in Paris located in the heart of the Marais only one block away from the Picasso Museum and nevertheless off the beaten track and hardly ever visited: the Cognacq-Jay Museum. This Museum is specialized in the 18th Century and shelters a lot of beautiful works made by famous French painters such as Boucher, Fragonard, Greuze, or Italian ones: Canaletto, Guardi, … The entrance is free and the collections are exhibited in a superb ‘Hôtel Particulier’ of the Marais area, the Hôtel Donon: Two more reasons to visit the Cognacq-Jay Museum!

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Best Places to Visit in Paris on the European Night of Museums 2015

The 11th edition of the European Night of Museums is taking place next Saturday (16 May 2015) in more than 3,000 places all over Europe. In Paris and the Ile de France more than 130 Museums will exceptionally be open until Midnight on that day and most of them have created special shows or cultural events on this occasion. An opportunity not to be missed to discover for free at an unusual time and in unusual ways some of the most beautiful Parisian museums!

Here is my Top Five for your night visits: The first Three should not be too crowded ; the remaining Two, the Musée Picasso and the Musée du Quai Branly, may attract more visitors as they are more famous, but their programme for the European Night of Museums is really appealing! All the museums will be open until midnight on 16 May 2015 (10pm only for the Palais Galliera).

The Musée des Arts et Métiers
Musee des arts et metiers Paris
Musee des Arts et Metiers – Paris Marais area

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Art Liberté – du Mur de Berlin au Street Art: a Free Exhibition in Paris

A new free exhibition has just started in Paris. It is called: ‘Art Liberté – du Mur de Berlin au Street Art’ and takes place in the Gare de l’Est which is the Parisian train station from which depart most of the trains towards Germany. The exhibition is focused on three different ways to discover the Berlin Wall, all three exhibited in and around the Gare de l’Est.

  • On the square in front of the station: 30 original pieces of the Berlin Wall and 3 Trabant (The mythical car of the GDR) have been painted especially for the exhibition by famous international street artists. Among those artists Thierry Noir is the first one to have painted on the ‘wall of shame’ in 1984… causing the growth of street art in Europe in the eighties.
  • Inside the station: Pictures of the works painted on the Berlin Wall during the eighties are exhibited in the Hall d’Alsace where one can also see a movie called ‘Ephemère’ telling about the history of the Wall.
  • In the rue d’Alsace, on the west side of the station: a mural painting which is 47 meters long has been made by the same street artists and will stand there for a couple of years and not only for the duration of the exhibition.

Everything is colourful, free and really worth the visit! Until 8 July 2015 in the Gare de l’Est in Paris.

Christine Bokobza – Good Morning Paris B&B – www.goodmorningparis.fr