Paris free of charge

January is the month for bargains : at the time of sales in department stores, let yourself be tempted by the Parisian cultural offer that knows how to put its great diversity within reach of all budgets.

You should know that access to the permanent collections of the museums of the city of Paris is free all year round. You can of course be interested in the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, the Petit Palais or the Cernuschi Museum - with its superb collection of Asian art-, but why not take the opportunity to visit charming and little-known museums such as Balzac's house- a peaceful place on the old hillsides of Passy today offering a clear view of the Seine and the Eiffel Tower-, or the Bourdelle Museum- the former workshop of the sculptor who was closely linked to Rodin-, or the Musée de la Vie Romantique- a house surrounded by rose bushes which was inhabited bby the painter Ary Scheffer- without forgetting the Musée Victor Hugo, the poet's former home opening onto Place des Vosges.

Some private museums such as EDF Foundation- with exhibitions of contemporary art playing with industrial light- or the Fragonard Perfume Museum are also admission free. This also goes for the Fluctuard barge, docked near the Eiffel Tower, and dedicated to Street Art artists.

The major Parisian museums open free of charge on the first Sunday of each month. In complete freedom, you can thus visit the Musée d'Orsay- which brings together 19th century masterpieces- and its annex, the Musée de l'Orangerie; the Centre Pompidou, which traces the history of modernity and living art- its annex, the Brancusi workshop, can be visited free of charge throughout the year ; the Musée Picasso or the Musée Rodin, without forgetting the Musée des Arts et Métiers focused on the history of technical progress. But regarding the Louvre- the largest art museum in the world-, free admission is now settled for the first Saturday of the month, at night. 

National monuments such as the Arc de Triomphe, the Pantheon (with its impressive Foucault pendulum), the Conciergerie and the Sainte Chapelle are also free of charge on the first Sunday of each month during the winter.

And if you have a collector's temperament, you will certainly like to stroll through the art gallery districts in which you can enter with peace of mind. Do not miss the rue de Seine, in Saint-Germain-des-Près, and stop for an aperitif at the famous Palette. While in the Marais, you can discover, in the courtyards of private mansions, the exhibition spaces of the Perrotin, Thaddaeus Ropac, Daniel Templon, Agnès B galleries for an initiation to contemporary art.