Musee de la Marine museum in Paris
The Musee de la Marine is the maritime museum located in the Palais de Chaillot at the Trocadero Gardens with its fabulous views to the Eiffel Tower, and contains thousands of incredible objects, models, navigation instruments and much more from the 17th century through to present times.
About the Musee de la Marine
Also known as the Musee National de la Marine, this is anchored at the Place du Trocadero and has a unique collection including the rowing boat of Napoleon Bonaparte I, plus there are temporary themed exhibitions conducted that relate to sailing, navigation and water, such as one that was dedicated to light houses.
There are numerous models of old frigates and sailing ships on display and the first one you will see is a scale model of the Ocean, which is located at the entrance to the maritime museum, and when walking around this museum you will find that the collection dates back to King Louis XV of France.
In fact, it was King Louis of France that was provided with some model ships, and he had these installed within the Louvre for students of the Naval school, but a naval museum was short lived and many years later Napoleon had several model ships installed within the Grand Trianon at the Chateau de Versailles.
It was only in 1827 that a naval museum section was installed within the famous Musee du Louvre Museum, but again this was short lived, as from 1937 when the new Palais de Chaillot was built, the permanent naval collection was transferred to this new building, which is where it is still located today.
Now, getting back to the Musee de la Marine Museum, you will be able to see many more models on display such as the frigate named Flore, that was originally housed in the Grand Trianon, armaments that would have been installed on ships such as cannons, paintings and much more.
In fact you can trace the history of the French navy and the naval dockyards from the 13th century onwards with maps, navigational instruments, etc. However, there are also several rooms within this naval museum that are devoted to the modern French navy and contain themes such as fishing, boating, underwater exploration, even aeronautics, etc.
So it is here that you can discover one of the oldest maritime museums in the world, but because of the diversity of the permanent collections on display, the Musee National de la Marine is also classed as one of the most significant maritime museums in the world as well.
Access to Musee de la Marine
You can find this museum within the Palais de Chaillot, which is also home to other museums in Paris such as the Musee de l’Homme, and its location is idyllic being by the Jardins du Torcadero Gardens, the Paris aquarium called Cineaqua and of course the Eiffel Tower.
The Musee de la Marine is open on a Monday and Wednesday through to Sunday from 10am through to 6pm, however, this museum in Paris is closed on a Tuesday and on National French holidays such as 1st May.
As of 2017, the cost of entry is €10 including the temporary exhibitions, or just €8.50 for the permanent collections, however there is a reduced rate available for children aged between 6 and 18, which is the cost including the temporary themed exhibition at the time, yet some people can gain free entry to the permanent collections on display at the Musee de la Marine Museum, but last entry is no later than 5pm.
An audio guide is also available within the price of entry in French, English, German, Spanish and Italian, however, this is a cost of €2 if you have free access for any reason, plus you can also have a guided tour of this Paris museum, but these do need to be booked in advance.
In addition to this the museum itself is accessible to the disabled, although there is no access to the toilets, but you can also book a wheelchair, yet this does need to be arranged in advance by telephoning +33 (0) 1 53 65 69 53.
There is also a document available for the temporary exhibitions in large type for the sight-impaired and for the hearing impaired you can even have a guided tour with French sign language.
And situated within the 16th Arrondissement of Paris close to the River Seine, the nearest Metro station is the Trocadero stop serving lines 6 or 9, whereas if you are travelling on the RER, then you would need the Champ de Mars - Tour Eiffel stop on the opposite bank that serves the RER C Line.
Other forms of public transport in Paris that would get you to the Musee National de la Marine include the bus on numbers, 22, 30, 32, 63, 72 and 82 or the Batobus water transport system by the Pont de Iena close to the Bateaux Parisiens dock for River Seine cruises.
