Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Study the architecture: nine pavilions (houses) per side. The two highest—at the
front and back—were for the king and queen (but were never used). Warm red brick-
work—some real, some fake—is topped with sloped slate roofs, chimneys, and another
quaint relic of a bygone era: TV antennas.
The insightful writer
Victor Hugo
lived at #6—at the southeast corner of the
square—from 1832 to 1848. This was when he wrote much of his most important work,
including his biggest hit,
Les Misérables
. Inside you'll wander through eight plush rooms
and enjoy a fine view of the square (free, fee for optional exhibits—usually about €7,
and usually not worth paying for; Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, closed Mon, last entry at 17:40,
audioguide-€5, 6 Place des Vosges; Mo: Bastille, St. Paul, or Chemin Vert; tel. 01 42 72
10 16,
www.musee-hugo.paris.fr
).
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Carnavalet Museum (Musée Carnavalet)
At the Carnavalet Museum, French history unfolds in a series of stills—like a Ken Burns
documentary,exceptyouhavetowalk.TheRevolutionisthehighlight,butyougetagood
overview of everything—from Louis XIV-period rooms to Napoleon to the belle époque.
Though explanations are in French only, many displays are fairly self-explanatory.
The Revolution section is the best. No period of history is as charged with the full
range of human drama: bloodshed, martyrdom, daring speeches, murdered priests, eman-
cipated women, backstabbing former friends—all in the name of government “by, for, and
of the people.” To find this section, enter and turn right at the information counter, then
turn left and go up the steps at the end of the room. Walk through the red hall to the next
room where you'll see stairs leading to
La Révolution.
You'll see paintings of the Estates-General assembly that planted the seeds of demo-
cracyandamodeloftheBastille,thehatedprisonthatwasthesymbolofoppression.Read
the “Declaration of the Rights of Man.” See pictures of the ill-fated King Louis XVI and
Queen Marie-Antoinette, and the fate that awaited them—the guillotine. You'll see por-
traits of all the major players in the Revolutionary spectacle—Maximilien de Robespierre,
Georges Danton, Charlotte Corday—as well as the dashing general who would inherit the
new democracy and turn it into dictatorship... Napoleon Bonaparte.
Cost and Hours:
Free, fee for some temporary (but optional) exhibits, Tue-Sun
10:00-18:00, closed Mon; avoid lunchtime (11:45-14:30), when many rooms may be
closed; audioguide-€5, 23 Rue de Sévigné, Mo: St. Paul, tel. 01 44 59 58 58,
