Musee de Cluny & Musee du Louvre

Courtyard at Musee de Cluny, with gargoyles

 This morning I went to Musee de Cluny - The National Museum of the Middle Ages which houses the collection that was started by Alexandre Du Sommerard (1779-1842).  The buildings that the artifacts are located in are pieces of art themselves.  The first building is the only Gallo-Roman monument surviving in Paris, the "northern thermal baths' of Lutetia.  The second building is the Hotel de Cluny, built in the late 15th century, was the first example of a Parisian private mansion . Flamboyant Gothic style can be seen in the facades of the courtyard and chapel.  This morning the gargoyles in the court yard were still dripping rain from their mouths.  The Musee de Cluny is the home of the noted Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, which were purchased in 1882.

Manuscript from the collection of the Louvre

In the afternoon I viewed the objects from the Middle Ages and the Medieval structure that are part of the immense Musee du Louve collection.  I was able to bypass the long ticket lines with my museum pass, after waiting in the long security line.  One of my favorite pieces in the Middle Ages collection was a richly adorned manuscript.