Rare and precious,
Small and beautiful museums ......... . .
A cornucopia of cultural treasures with an impressive collection of fine, contemporary and decorative artworks, as well as history and archeology, reflecting the wealth of this small European city. These two museums are within walking distance of one another, and are easily visited for a memorable hour or two. They prove, once again, that extraordinary things often come in small doses
ACCESS TO THE PERMANENT COLLECTIONS IS FREE WITH THE BORDEAUX METROPOLE CITY PASS. THE PASS ALSO INCLUDES PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AND GUIDED TOURS. WWW.BORDEAUX-TOURISM.CO.UK
◆ Musée des Beaux-arts
The recently renovated Musée des Beaux Arts boasts a worldclass collection that includes masterpieces by Delacroix, Rodin, Bonheur, Corot, Matisse, Rubens and Bordeaux artists Odilon Redon, Albert Marquet and André Lhote. Children and adults alike will be mesmerised by the immense, dramatic paintings like Benjamin Constant’s Moroccan Prisoners, Alfred Smith’s ‘The Embankment of Bordeaux’, Rosa Bonheur’s ‘Treading the Wheat in Camargue’, Eugene Delacroix’s ‘Greece on the ruins of Messolonghi’, and Theodore Gudin’s ‘The Act of Heroism by Captain Desse, from Bordeaux, towards the dutch ship Columbus’.
20, cours d’albret, 05 56 10 20 56 www.musba-bordeaux.fr
Open every day from 11 am to 6 pm
Closed Tuesday and Bank Holidays.
◆ MADD - Musée des Arts Décoratifs et du Design
The Museum of Decorative Arts & Design is housed in Hotel de Lalande, a re-markable example of how the Bordeaux aristocracy lived during the period of the Ancien Régime. The collection is rich and varied, including furniture, ceramics,
glass, silver, musical instruments, miniatures, table settings, giving a faithful and inspiring presentation of French decorative arts at the time of the French Revolution.
39, rue Bouffard, 05 56 10 14 00, www.bordeaux.fr/p63910/musee-des-arts-decoratifs
Open every day from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Closed Tuesdays and Bank Holidays
Tickets €3 - €5, free entrance for young people under 18 years old, pass holders, handicapped visitors, and for everyone first Sunday of the month.
◆ Musée de la Création Franche
This unique museum has given itself the mission of supporting living artists working outside the mainstream. The art is called art brut or outsider art. The museum is located in a leafy park in Bègles, not far from the ring road or ‘boulevard’ that delineates the city of Bordeaux.
58, avenue Maréchal-de-lattre-de-tassigny,
33130 Bègles, 05 56 85 81 73, www.musee-creationfranche.com
Open March through October 3 to 7 pm,
November through February 2 to 6 pm
Free entrance.
◆ Musée des Douanes
The Musée des Douanes is like a grand cabinet of curiosities set in the magnificent, arched hall of the original customs building built between 1735 and 1738 for the General Farm, the customs system used prior to the French Revolution. It showcases thousands of objects, including opium pipes, a real stuffed lion, historical uniforms and weapons, tools and models, the brigades’ registers recounting their investigations, as well as lovely works of art - a painting by Claude Monet ‘Cabane des Douaniers’ and a drawing by Salvador Dali. The archives date back to 1603 storing official proclamations by the King of France.
1, quai de la Douane, + 33 (0) 5 56 48 82 82, www.musee-douanes.fr
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. Tickets €1.50 to €3; under 18s free; free to everyone the first Sunday of the month.
◆ CAPC - Musée d’art Contemporain de Bordeaux
The museum of contemporary art was created in a colonial warehouse forty years ago to showcase the work of emerging artists with a permanent collection with 1,300 works by 190 artists, including Robert Combas, Annette Messager, Mario Merz and Richard Long.
7, rue Ferrère, 05 56 00 81 50, www.capc-bordeaux.fr
Open Tuesday, Thursday to Sunday 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, Wednesdays 11:00 - 8:00 pm. Closed Monday and Bank Holidays Tickets €2 - €6.50, free entrance with Bordeaux Metropole City pass and every first Sunday of the month (except in July and August), free entrance for young people under 18 years old.
◆ Centre Jean-moulin
This museum is devoted to the Second World War and has an interesting and sometimes poignant display of objects from the French resistance and Allied Forces. There is also an extensive collection of archival documents open to students, researchers and historians.
Place Jean-moulin, 05 56 10 19 90
Open Tuesday to Sunday 2pm to 6 pm, closed Monday and Bank Holidays
Free entrance.
◆ Musée d’ethnographie
The museum has a collection of 6,000 objects from around the world, mainly Asia and from the 19th Century. Most of the collection comes from the old Trocadero Museum in Paris. Many of the objects were gathered by French explorers and colonists. Université de Bordeaux, Bâtiments E,
3 ter, place de la Victoire, 05 57 57 31 61,
Open Monday to Thursday from 2 pm to 6 pm,
Friday 10 am to noon
Free entrance.