The best museums France

Inaugurated in 1982, the Naïfs Art Museum of Nice came into being thanks to the donation of Anatole and Renée Jakovsky, art critics. This museum gathers a collection of naive art works from the th century to the present. Set in St. Helena Castle, former residence of the perfumer François Coty, paintings, sculptures, drawings and posters, express the unique vision of known and less famous artists throughout the world.

Created in the mid th century, from the work of the two nice naturalists, Jean-Baptiste Vérany and Jean-Baptiste Barla, the museum is the first museum established in Nice. Over one million specimens of zoology, botany and geology are currently on reserve. Since the reopening of the large hall, the museum presents the exhibit «Throw the Ink, Stop in Céphalopodie around the World of Cephalopods». The library is rich in 80 000 books that can be consulted by appointment.

The MAMAC is a kind of castle composed of four towers adorned with grey marble and linked between them through transparent bridges, works by architect Yves Bayard. Here you can admire the works of the recent school in Nice and the European and American avant-garde from the 1960 s to the present. Inaugurated on June 21, 1990, this imposing museum brings together a permanent collection of works from the movement of new realists and American pop art. The local movement of the Ecole de Nice is particularly enhanced with artists like Yves Klein, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Ben or Caesar and Arman whose famous cuts adorn the museum entrance. Inside, the first level is devoted to permanent exhibitions and the second to temporary exhibitions.

This small museum on the second floor of the monastery (entrance to the right of the church entrance) traces the history of the Franciscans and Clares, since the creation of their congregations by Saint Francis and St Clare in the th century, until today.

The museum presents a collection of archaeological remains found for the most part in the seabed of the Mediterranean from Marseille to Nice. The entrance ticket entitles access to the thermal baths, the access of which is monitored in order to preserve the site at best. (Arenas for them, are in free access to the entrance to the garden of the Arènes Arena) Discover the Roman thermal system with the system of tépidarium, caldarium and frigidarium and all life that took place until the th century in Nice.

This magnificent Villa Belle Epoque reopened its doors on 1 March 2008. Its theme: the history of Nice from Bonaparte and Napoleonic Empire (1793-1815) until the Thirties. Sculptures, paintings, graphic arts, furniture, and art objects. A trip in the exceptional time.

・ Avenue Jean-Doctor

Near the Observatory's cave. In a way, this museum recounts the prehistoric history of the Côte d'Azur, which was inhabited by reindeer, mammoths and brontosaures before being by men. A collection of Homo sapiens, illustration of the different phases of periods of prehistory. This museum is very interesting, in that its content is perfectly understandable even by non-specialists. This collection was mainly driven by excavations carried out in the region.

In this beautiful Baroque chapel you can admire the th century collection of sacred art by Barbara Piasecka-Johnson, a rich patron and collector. An anonymous Spanish school has painted the apostles in tormented attitudes under very cloudy skies. Saint Sebastian, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, by Zurbaran and Rubens, give the opposite impression of invincible strength. A madone of Cantarini expresses with emotion his maternal love.

The southern wing of the palace houses a museum of Memories Napoleonic. This set of more than a thousand objects and documents presents to the visitor precious or rare pieces (Napoleon busts by Canova and Houdon, flag of the island of Elba), curiosities (insignia, objects picked up on the battlefields). A collection of historical archives of the palace, including precious and authentic documents, such as the Charter of Independence signed by Louis XII, as well as modest and pious memories (earth of the tomb of the emperor in St Helena), all of which have a great power of evocation. A spacious mezzanine is reserved for the past of Monaco. The most remarkable archival documents where famous names of history, are associated with that of Monaco are present. Also included in this part of the museum is a collection of medals and decorations as well as a large series of maps, engravings and ancient paintings depicting Monaco through past centuries.

This charming, green pedestrian path brings to the fore - for the delight of art lovers, especially contemporary art lovers - artistic works, such as gifts or orders. Among other things, you can admire works by artists of renowned international artists such as the international painter Armand Pierre Fernandez (Cavalleria Club), the Marseille sculptor César Baldaccini (Le Fist, 1921-1998), the painter of Colombian sculptor Fernando Botero (Adam and Eve), the Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj, and so on. 40 ha) and fans of soccer will finish this walk at the Louis II stadium.

This princely collection shows all the series issued since the first stamps of the principality issued in 1885 under the reign of Charles III. You will also find many very rare stamps, currencies (before the euro, hit by Monaco and the numismatists wrenching).

Located just a few metres from the port of Fontvieille, this princely collection brings together over 250 models and objects from the sea from antiquity to the present. Some were built by Prince Albert I towards 1875. Among the most beautiful: the imperial gondola made for Napoleon I, Missouri, a model of the American battleship on which General MacArthur received the surrender of the emperor of Japan on 15 August 1945.

Furniture, tools, these testimonies of the past, which the inhabitants of the region bring, enrich the museum every day to rebuild the collections previously exposed in the halls of the castle of Castanet. Gradually, local heritage revives, thanks to a passionate association.

This museum of sacred art, the only one of its kind in the region, is one of the highlights of Pont-Saint-Esprit. Located in the Maison des Chevaliers, a 12th century building, it presents, in a very successful museographic dimension, ceremonial rooms, 14th and 15th century frescoes as well as a superb collection of religious goldsmithery. One passes from one era or civilization to another without chronology, with the artistic expression of the sacred as the guiding thread.

In the heart of an exceptional landscape, the access to the abbey founded by William of Orange and classified today as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is through the cloister. The museum is located in the former refectory of the monks. Its collections bring together pieces from the old abbey and cover fifteen centuries of sculpture, since the Gallo-Roman era. An amphitheater allows visitors to travel through twelve centuries of history thanks to a 17-minute film and a virtual reconstruction allows visitors to imagine the cloister as it was in its original state.

Really interesting this small village museum that seeks to revive life in the Poitou in the th century. Managed by volunteers who are concerned about the public, there are various thematic rooms. The first is reserved for caps (more than one hundred exhibition) and embroidery in the Poitou. Another represents a paysan peasant interior (the pelebois are the inhabitants of the corner called that at the time because surrounded by forest, they often'peel from wood '). There is also a traditional shopping basket, a laundry barn and its mannequins, a stable containing the tools and objects of rural and artisan life, a period classroom. For groups (from people), possibility to make a guided tour with tasting of regional products.