The best museums France

Don't hesitate to ride your bike (or climb in your car) on a Saturday, to take six small kilometers towards Thomery (via Saint-Mammès Submarine village that is really worth a stop), and visit the castle of By and the atelier of Rosa Happiness. A realistic, animal-friendly painter, his international success and slant him by the court of Napoleon III allowed him to buy this beautiful castle of the th century when she decided to leave her Parisian workshop too run, to "go to the birds". Once in his land, she was a firm and zoo, whose animals were used as models for her compositions. An exciting visit and an opportunity to discover the fanciful life of this short-haired Amazon, which smoked Havana, to whom Buffalo Bill offered a Sioux ornament, and who had to ask the Prefecture every six months to dress in man!

Established under the Terror in the former Jacobin convent, the Auch museum is one of the oldest in France. Spread over three levels, it holds more than 20,000 objects. The Museum of the Americas is the second largest collection of pre-Columbian art after the Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac Museum in Paris. This collection started thanks to the interest of a certain Guillaume Pujols, an Auscitain exiled in South America with a passion for archaeology. He brought back about a hundred pieces from his travels. When he became curator of the Auch museum in 1911, he decided to exhibit them to the public. He bequeathed to the museum his magnificent pre-Hispanic collections from Peru and Mexico and Latin American sacred art. Don't miss the Mass of Saint Gregory, a painting made with feathers in Mexico City in 1539. The museum's second collection features works that span the period from antiquity to the Middle Ages. The works from Ancient Egypt come from a bequest by Charles Palanque. Also of note is a monumental statue of the Emperor Trajan and a superb 11th century carved ivory oliphant. The museum does not forget local history with the arts and popular traditions of Gascony, nor the fine arts. The museum's collection comes from the collection of works of art found in State buildings and the homes of emigrants in the Gers. But perhaps the most attractive paintings are those of the Italian painter Mario Cavaglieri, who captured the soul and light of the region.

The Atelier-Musée du Chapeau houses a permanent exhibition, a temporary exhibition space (one exhibition per year), a production workshop, a hat fashion training centre, a resource and documentation centre, reserves, an event space, five designer workshops, a shop and a restaurant. The new museography presents all the stages of the production chain of the luxury felt hat from rabbit hair. Machines in operation, hat making, video testimonies of the workers of the time, reconstituted workshop. The museum's collections cover chronologically and thematically the female and male headgear from the 18th century to the present day. Ecclesiastical hats with the hairstyles of great chefs (Bocuse, Troisgros...), not to mention the authentic headgear worn by famous women and men such as Grace Kelly or François Mitterrand, rub shoulders with the rooms of the houses Paco Rabanne, Nina Ricci, Dior, Saint Laurent Paris, Hermès, Jean-Paul Gaultier, as well as a unique series of hats from the 1970s to the present day from Pierre Cardin, Jacques Pinturier, Marie Mercié, Stephen Jones... A unique place!

On the site of the former convent of Les Cordeliers, 3 areas with different services harmoniously coexist. Inside, a university training centre, the European University of Fragrances and Flavours, with restricted access. And the Artemisia Museum (named after a family of plants) which offers a dive into the secrets of medicinal and aromatic plants (agri-food and/or cosmetics) in Haute Provence (and particularly the Lure mountain, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its exceptional biodiversity.) through 7 interactive discovery areas. Various exciting workshops, for young and old, around the plants of the region are offered throughout the year (upon prior registration) and since 2018 a plants and well-being workshop in July and August. The Convent of the Cordeliers, itself the successor of one of the first Franciscan priories in Provence dating from the 13th century, was occupied until the end of the 18th century. Restored from 1963, the exterior of the convent can be visited free of charge all year round. To see the Cordeliers gate (14th century), the last vestige of the six gates that the fortified enclosure had.

Come and live an adventure in the heart of science, following in the footsteps of a brilliant scientist through an interactive and sensory visit in the dwelling and the gardens. Discover Réaumur's study, the history of the thermometer, travels in the ^18th century, the natural history cabinet, the reading room, the laboratory, a place for experiments. The gardens also offer treasures of curiosities... Free or guided visits, animations all year long, exhibitions, scientific workshops.