Unusual Paris Museums and Galleries

Musée Grévin

10 boulevard Montmartre, 75009 Paris
Tel: 01.47.70.85.05
Website: http://www.musee-grevin.com

Métro: Grands Boulevards lines 8 or 9
Bus: 20, 39, 48, 67, 74, 85
(If you are travelling on an open bus tour, get off at stop 38 in front of the Hard Rock Cafe)
Open: Monday to Friday from 10.00 am to 6.30 pm (last admission at 5.30 pm)
Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and school holidays from 10.00 am to 7.00 pm (last admission at 6.00 pm)
Entry: Adult: €17.50 Children (6-14): €10.50 Students : €15.50
Discounted rate for adults (families with 3 children or more, unemployed persons, senior): €15 Discounted rate for children: €9

In the 1870's there was no such thing as TV or cinema newsreels; so a journalist called Arthur Meyer thought of making 3D wax dummies of the famous people who featured in "Le Gaulois", his well-known daily newspaper. He asked Alfred Grevin (1827-1892) who was a talented cartoonist, sculptor, and designer of costumes for the theatre, to help him and the rest is history.

Like Madame Tussaud's in London, the Musée Grevin shows waxwork figures representing in minute, realistic detail today's celebrities and those of the past (they claim their waxwork of Marat is sitting in the authentic hip-bath in which he was assassinated). The museum displays 6 thematic areas with some 300 personalities, including 80 new celebrities from June 2001.

You walk through various scenarios surrounded by the figures, such as the Elysee Palace, with a meeting of the heads of states: George W. Bush, Jacques Chirac, Vladimir Putin, Abdulaye Wade, King Mohammed VI and King Juan Carlos. Further on, Rodin, Picasso and Dali are working together in an artist's studio. They've even got a "theatre lobby" where Julia Roberts is listening to Elton John play the piano; Madonna, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger are talking around a table with Leonardo di Caprio - you get the picture!

Some of the most famous works in the Grévin collection are : Albert Einstein, Charles De Gaulle, Mahatma Gandhi, Michael Jackson, John Paul II, Elvis Presley, Alfred Hitchcock, Marylin Monroe, General Charles de Gaulle, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Ray Charles and Jean-Paul Gauthier, but they're always adding someone and switching the displays around.

Another attraction is the Palais des Mirages (Hall of Mirrors). This was created specially for the 1900 World Fair and has just been renovated; it opened in April 2006.

The average visit takes around 1-1.5 hours.

It's perfectly straightforward to visit the museum on your own, but if you want to book ahead and avoid queuing at the box office you can book online with our partner Viator here (they give a more details of the exhibits on that page).

"Be a star for a day, able to get near famous people and discover new faces in the audacious staging that celebrates the unique atmosphere of Paris."

Next page : Musée d'Arte et d'Histoire du Judaisme