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open from 13.00 to 18.30, on weekends and public holidays from 10.00 to 19.00. Website: www.grevin.com
Probably every tourist has heard of London’s Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. And not everyone knows that in Paris there is its French counterpart – the Grevin Museum. At the entrance you take a brochure (available in Russian), which will become your guide to the exhibition. The museum was built in 1882, the facade of 1900 is decorated with a bas-relief by the sculptor Bourdelle. The interior is made in the marble-gold style, the visitor is immersed in different times, eras, worlds. You will see sculptures of famous personalities – from French kings to the Madonna and Mireille Mathieu. Of particular interest is the exposition dedicated to the history of France – for those who know France or study it, it will be extremely interesting.
Entrance ticket for adults – 21 euros, for children from 6 to 14 years old 13 euros.
MUSEUM PUPPET – MUSEE DE LA POUPEE
Address: Impasse Berthaud, 22 rue Beaubourg, metro Rambuteau,
open from 10.00 to 18.00 all days of the week except Monday.
The museum has a collection of dolls and “babies” of French production made of porcelain from 1860 to 1960, collected by two collectors – Guido and his son Sami Odin. Dolls are presented in the interior of the era of their creation. The changes that have taken place over time in dolls are interesting – the “Parisians” of the 1860-1870s are distinguished by the face of an adult and clothes that copy the fashion of that time. Only after 1880 did the dolls take on a baby face, and even later baby dolls appeared.
Entrance ticket for an adult 8 euros, children from 3 to 11 years old 4 euros
MUSEE DE LA MAGIE
Address: 11 Rue St Paul 75004 Paris, metro station: Sully – Morland. Website: www.museedelamagie.com
The Paris Museum of Magic (French: Musée de la magie) introduces visitors to the history of magic; it has a unique collection of magic props, posters and engravings, from ancient magicians with their devices that were used to call spirits, to modern day illusionists.
The journey into the world of sorcery, wizardry and magic begins with a small performance in the museum theater, where you will see 15 magical illusions. Spells are pronounced in French, but don’t worry, not knowing French will not be a problem, since all the actions of the magician will be clear without translation. After the performance, the magician will tell the story of magic, then you can continue your independent acquaintance with magical collections. One of the halls contains a collection of optical illusions, some of them are interactive, for example, by a system of mirrors your image is introduced into the optical illusion.
In the same building there is also a second museum – the museum of entertaining automatons (Musée des Automates), website www.museedesautomates.fr. For convenience, each machine has its own button on the remote control. Pressing – and the units begin to move, often very funny and unexpected.
The cost of visiting both museums (for both): adults 12 euros, children 3-12 years old 9 euros.
FRANCE IN MINIATURE – FRANCE MINIATURE
Address: 25, routeduMesnil (BdAndré Malraux) 78990 Elancourt, website: www.franceminiature.com.
The motto of the park is “Walk through France with the steps of a giant.” Of course, it was impossible to collect all the sights in such a limited area, but here in just a few hours you can see the most famous places where the history of the country was made. Normandy is adjacent to the central part of France, and from the Gulf of Saint-Tropez it is a stone’s throw to Nancy. Each step is equal to tens of years and hundreds of kilometers. The miniature depicts not only world-famous architectural masterpieces, but also memorable places associated with famous people – national heroes, kings, politicians, writers, artists, etc. Moreover, the location of the exhibits in miniature France corresponds to their actual location. Therefore, at the entrance it is better to immediately arm yourself with a map of France – miniature or real.
Miracle Park was created by the famous master Dan Olman. Alsatian by origin, living in Lyon, he turned the miniature into a real art. Each tiny exhibit presented here is made up of several hundred tiny pieces. The creation of the park required huge financial investments and time costs. For example, it took more than 2,000 hours of work and about 500,000 francs to reproduce in the layout of Chambord Castle. A model of the Stade de France near Paris features 50,000 spectator figurines, all hand-painted. The complete implementation of the Versailles Garden project took about a year. And parts of the Eiffel Tower, located in the central part of the park, were collected… from a helicopter! Bad weather often causes tangible damage to small masterpieces in the open air, so you constantly have to monitor their condition, sometimes restore, and then redo it. Some objects have not yet been brought to full perfection: somewhere there is not enough greenery and flowers, in some church the bell tower has not been completed, and on the balcony of some castle, maybe a little princess will soon appear.
The cost of entrance tickets is 20 euros per adult, 14 euros per child,
opening hours from 10 am to 6 pm or 7 pm depending on the season, there are periods when the exposition is closed.