Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
be open Tue until 21:00; July-Aug 10:00-19:00, may be open Tue until 21:00; Oct-March
10:00-17:00, closed first Mon of month Sept-May, last tickets sold 30 minutes before clos-
ing, cafeteria, tel. 01 44 42 38 77 or 08 10 11 33 99, www.invalides.org .
Getting There: The Hôtel des Invalides is at 129 Rue de Grenelle; Mo: La Tour Mau-
bourg, Varenne, or Invalides. Bus #69 from the Marais and Rue Cler area also takes you
there, or it's a 10-minute walk from Rue Cler.
▲▲▲ Rodin Museum (Musée Rodin)
This user-friendly museum is filled with passionate works by the greatest sculptor since
Michelangelo. Note that the museum will likely be undergoing a major renovation during
your visit. Expect some statues to be moved around and some rooms to be closed altogether.
The gardens remain open. To compensate for the closures, the museum has added a few
rarely displayed pieces to its exhibits.
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) sculpted human figures on an epic scale, revealing through
their bodies his deepest thoughts and feelings. Like many of Michelangelo's unfinished
works, Rodin's statues rise from the raw stone around them, driven by the life force. With
missing limbs and scarred skin, these are prefab classics, making ugliness noble. Rod-
in's people are always moving restlessly. Even the famous Thinker is moving. While he's
plopped down solidly, his mind is a million miles away.
Rodin worked with many materials—he chiseled marble (though not often), modeled
clay,castbronze,workedplaster,paintedoncanvas,andsketchedonpaper.Heoftencreated
different versions of the same subject in different media.
Rodinlivedandworkedinthismansion,rentingroomsalongsideHenriMatisse,thepoet
Rainer Maria Rilke (Rodin's secretary), and the dancer Isadora Duncan. The well-displayed
exhibits trace Rodin's artistic development, explain how his bronze statues were cast, and
show some of the studies he created to work up to his masterpiece (the unfinished Gates
of Hell ). Learn about Rodin's tumultuous relationship with his apprentice and lover, Ca-
mille Claudel. Mull over what makes his sculptures some of the most evocative since the
Renaissance. And stroll the gardens, packed with many of his greatest works (including The
Thinker, Balzac, the Burghers of Calais, and the Gates of Hell ). The beautiful gardens are
ideal for artistic reflection.
Cost and Hours: €9, under 18 free, free on first Sun of the month, €1 for garden only
(possibly Paris' best deal, as many works are on display there), both museum and garden
covered by Museum Pass, audioguide-€6; Tue-Sun 10:00-17:45, Wed until 20:45, closed
Mon;gardenscloseat18:00,Oct-Marchat17:00;lastentry30minutesbeforeclosing,man-
datory baggage check, self-service café in garden, near the Army Museum and Napoleon's
Tomb at 79 Rue de Varenne, Mo: Varenne, tel. 01 44 18 61 10, www.museerodin.fr .
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