Last weekend marked the 5th anniversary of the re-opening of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. To celebrate, they offered a buy one, get one free deal on ticket entrance (normally 9€) and set up 10 special interactive displays encouraging visitors to experience the museum in a new way.

There are three locations for the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. My friend and I decided to go to the one on rue de Rivoli.

The plaque just inside the entrance reads, “Les Arts Décoratifs: là où le beau rejoint l’utile…” (roughly: where beauty meets function.) Spread over six floors, this museum is an eclectic mix of treasures, spanning from medieval times to the present. According to the museum, collections include items showcasing the art of living, decorative arts, design, fashion and textiles, advertising and graphic design.

The museum itself is a maze of rooms, hallways, staircases and elevators. There are arrows on the floor, presumably to lead you along the way, but my friend and I seemed to be going against them as often as we were with. It was actually quite fun.

It’s hard to concisely sum up what we saw, since it ranged from vintage to contemporary, beautiful to functional, with a healthy sprinkling of everything in between.

Most rooms are organized by time period, from art nouveau (which I love) to art deco (which I loathe) to the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, all the way up to today.

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