TESSED MUSEUM

The Musée de Tessé boasts a rich pictorial collection, as well as sumptuous objets d'art and furniture. A map will help you locate the museum's various rooms. The painting collections feature works from several schools: French, Italian, Flemish and Dutch, from the ^15th to the ^20th century. The Sienese and Florentine Primitives form a major sector of the collections, as do ^17th-century paintings, particularly French and Italian Caravaggesque. Highlights include works by Philippe de Champaigne, Willem Kalf and Louis XV's secretary. Upstairs, you can contemplate a series of paintings illustrating Paul Scarron's Roman comique. But in the basement, after descending the many steps, you'll be in for a big surprise: the Egyptian tombs of Nefertari (favorite wife of Pharaoh Ramses II) and Sennefer (governor of Thebes) have been reconstructed. You'll also see some very fine objects on display. You'll never tire of returning.