The Petit Palais was built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, like its neighbour the Grand Palais, on avenue Winston Churchill. It became a museum in 1902. Designed by Charles Girault, it is based on a trapezium shape and is made up of four wings around a semi-circular garden bordered by a richly decorated peristyle. The architect achieved a successful blend of traditional and modern architecture which is evident in the natural flow of visitors around the building and in the bold openings he created onto the Champs-Elysées gardens and inner courtyard garden.

Edouard André and Nélie Jacquemart loved 18th century paintings, which the upper classes were rediscovering after having long judged them to be excessively frivolous. The decadence of the 18th century is illustrated in this gallery by two oval compositions by François Boucher, Venus Asleep and The Toilet of Venus, two examples of a sophisticated erotic art.

Having inherited the collections of the musée du Luxembourg, created in 1818 to house state purchases from living French artists, the musée mational d'art moderne-centre de création industrielle now contains Europe's leading collection of modern and contemporary art. It is also one of the largest in the world, with over 100 000 works dating from 1905 to the present day

Anxious to account for contemporary life, Impressionism favoured the representation of human figures in their daily surroundings and captured the “modern” man in his routine activities, both in cities and in the countryside.

Permanent home of Monet’s Les Nympheas

Fashion lovers of all ages should plan a visit to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs to see two diverse exhibits.

Start with "Barbie" a light-hearted and whimsical tribute to the doll who was first launched by Mattel in 1959.  Barbie was not a doll to be cuddled and cooed at; rather she was a fashionista!  The whole objective was to get the doll and then build her wardrobe.  Over the years Barbie became the darling of the Who's Who of fashion designers as witnessed by the showcases filled with outfits designed by the likes of Chanel, Dior, YSL and Oscar de la Renta amongst others

Although it has been successively refurbished, this studio-museum has nevertheless remained faithful to its original double identity as a place for living and creating, a fact highly appreciated by visitors who are attracted by the atmosphere it radiates. It is one of the rare sculptors’ studios - along with that of Antoine Bourdelle – which has managed to be preserved in Paris, bearing witness to the Montparnasse of artists.