Paris for Art Lovers: The Artsy Traveler's Guide
Paris has over 130 museums. Most visitors crowd into three of them.
Paris for Art Lovers: The Artsy Traveler's Guide is a 68-page guide for the traveler who already knows that the small museums are better, that a Thursday evening vernissage beats a hop-on hop-off bus, and that the real Paris reveals itself when you slow down and look closely.
Written by Carol M. Cram, novelist, founder of Art In Fiction and Artsy Traveler, and host of The Art In Fiction Podcast. I've been visiting Paris museums since 1970, and this guide contains everything I wish someone had handed me then.
What's Inside
Part One: The Museums
The Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre, done strategically, plus nine smaller museums most visitors never find: the Cluny, the Orangerie, the Rodin, the Marmottan, the Zadkine, the Gustave Moreau, and the Maillol among them. Each with a visiting strategy, what to see, full ticket and transit details, and recommended novels drawn from the Art In Fiction database of 2,600+ books.
Part Two: The Artsy City Beyond Museums
Vernissages and free gallery openings, concerts at Sainte-Chapelle and the Philharmonie, an evening at the Palais Garnier or Opéra Bastille, Sennelier, Shakespeare and Company, the bouquinistes, and the particular art of the Parisian café.
Part Three: Planning Your Paris Art Days
The city divided into four walkable zones with a color-coded map, so you spend your days in front of the art instead of underground in the Métro.
Part Four: Practical Paris
Where to stay, how to get around, when to visit, and how to book tickets without losing half a day to queues.
Appendix
Museum trackers, a reading list organized by museum and venue, concert notes, and space to record your own discoveries.
Bonus, included free: The Perfect Artsy Traveler Day in Paris
A single carefully designed itinerary from a quiet morning on the Île de la Cité to an evening concert at Sainte-Chapelle. One reader used it to discover the Notre Dame concert series after a dozen trips to Paris.
At $9.99, the guide costs less than a single Louvre ticket, and it will save you considerably more than that in queues, backtracking, and museums that weren't worth your afternoon.
This is not a guide that tells you to see everything. It's a guide that helps you see the right things, at the right pace, with the right novels in your bag.
Instant PDF download.