The Cluny Museum

Back to Paris in Spring for this post! The final museum that we managed to fit into our trip was the The Cluny Museum, officially the National Museum of the Middle Ages.

My overwhelming reaction to this museum was disappointment. This was mostly as a result of the fact that the 'Lady and the Unicorn' tapestry, star exhibit and something I really wanted to see, had just left the week before we visited on a long term loan to Japan. Gutting. Here is a photo (taken by my boyfriend!) conveying my dismay at this fact. I'm a big unicorn fan.

However all was not totally lost. We plugged in our audio guides, and spent a long time wandering round all the medieval rooms (of which there were many). I probably wouldn't advise a visit unless you've got a decent interest in the middle ages - you can only deal with so many stones/tapestries, and I'd probably say it's not great for children (although not having children I didn't make a particular note of provisions for them like trails or audio guides).  The museum itself is in a building that used to be the townhouse of the abbots of Cluny, which makes for some relatively interesting architecture as it was originally built in the 14th century. There's also a Roman bath underneath, although this was unfortunately shut when we visited.

Anyway here are some shots of the museum! I didn't get any pictures of the outside of it, but that's pretty and medieval and you can find it on google!

Hubert took this photo, not me. His camera is good. 

I like the way that the sculptures are displayed, especially the way that they look against the exposed brickwork behind them, 

Again, Hubert's photo.

Big fan of vaulted ceilings. 

There are lost of medieval features that are built into the building, some of which I guess 

are probably original, but lots brought from Parisian churches.