Musee Jacquemart-Andre

September 8, 2015

This museum is in fact the one-time home of an obscenely wealthy (apparently) couple, Edouard Andre and Nelie Jacquemart, who were avid art collectors.  I didn't make it there during my first stay in Paris--but I recently read that it was used as Gaston's home in Gigi, so I was rather keen to have a look.

I was able to get there via a fairly direct route on the bus, which is generally more fun than the Metro, if slower (sometimes a lot slower).

Entering the museum, I was a tiny bit puzzled, because you enter near the front but then have to go way around the back to actually get into the house.  But the staff were helpful.  Here is the back of the house (too big to fit in the frame):

and the entire back area was encircled with a driveway and wall, thusly:

The audioguide was very clear and informative, and it was included in the price (12 euro).  (I've found that, in places where the audioguide is extra, they don't push it on you-- you have to ask!  Often, they are very worthwhile, so it might pay to ask.)

The first room you enter is a portrait room.  This was by far the smallest portrait, but it has a cat!

The portrait room leads to the "grand salon" -- but just in case it was not grand enough for a particular occasion, the walls between these rooms were hydraulically controlled such that they could be withdrawn into the floor... I found this mind-boggling, especially for a 19th century house.

Another of the many rooms was the "tapestry room".  The audioguide pointed out that Andre owned the tapestries before the house was built, so the room could be specially tailored to fit them.  So practical!  (There were at least two other tapestries, not seen here, on the adjoining walls.)

One of the most impressive areas, though, was this staircase, atypically placed at one end of the house rather than in the center.  If I recall correctly, the architect had been passed over in the selection of who was to design the Opera Garnier (featured in my previous blog!)-- and the first thing I thought when I saw the staircase was how it reminded me of the ones in the opera house.

This is, of course, mirrored on the other side:

Looking down from the landing above:

Here we are looking down into the music room from the gallery above, where the musicians would be situated:

There was a lot of art in the house, and serious art, e.g. multiple Rembrandts and Botticellis.  Here is the ceiling of one of the art-displaying rooms:

Yow.  And finally, here is the front of the house, which I didn't get a good look at until after I had exited.  It is set back from the rest of the buildings on the street, so as to distinguish itself even more!

And speaking of the street--Boulevard Haussmann--too big, too many cars, hard to cross!  I did pass by the embassy of Burkina Faso, which was interesting-looking.  But in general I was glad to get back to my more humble 5th arrondissement neighborhood.