Musée Guimet

When we walk to our closest outdoor market, we walk by the Musée Guimet.  Musée Guimet is one of the largest collections of Asian art outside of Asia.  Émile Guimet (1836-1918), a Lyon industrialist created a museum dedicated to the religions of Egypt, classic antiquity, and to Asian countries.  He traveled the world and collected as he went.  Other collectors and travellers added their Asian objects to the collection.  He brought his collection together in Lyon in 1879 and transferred it to the current location in Paris in 1889. The Museums of France took over the museum in 1927.  French explorers continued to contribute to the collection until 1945.  In 1945, a huge reorganization took place and the Musée Guimet swapped some of its Classical pieces for some of the Louvre's Asian pieces.  The museum was redone in 1996.  Inside the museum is a library and an auditorium; the museum's goal is to be a center of Asian research and understanding in Europe

 

.Pierre signed the girls up for a tour about Indian Gods last Wednesday.  Sylvia decided she would rather go on a play date.  Lillian and I dropped Sylvia off and walked over to the museum. 

The instructor began by talking about the Hindu trinity of Brahma,Vishnu, and Shiva.

 The tour was for kids from 5-10.  Lillian was the oldest kid in the group.  It was an hour and a half lecture.  The woman in charge was very animated and kept the kids interested, but it was a long time to sit and listen.  She did have cool props.

The museum is large and Lillian and I only saw a few rooms that were included in the tour.

I would like this cool chest that holds all of the teaching materials.

 

There is a temporary exhibit at the museum on the history of tea.  Our favorite part was smelling all the tea.  We got to have a little taste, too.

I feel like I just saw a tiny bit of this museum.  I look forward to going back soon.