Discovering More About the Ancient Elixir AKA: Everything Wine
Of course, Paris has some of the world’s most incredible and well-known museums There’s the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay and Musee de l’Orangerie as well as many other incredible museums and attractions. Although I recommend going to all of these unbelievable places, one of the things I’ve learned from my travels is to allow time for the smaller hidden gems that I find walking the streets of Paris. Enter Musee du Vin. (For those of you who don’t know French, that’s the Wine Museum…the most sacred of beverages in France, so of course we had to go.)
My husband and I got off the elevator of our hotel in Paris one day and an employee asked if we had visited the Musee du Vin yet. We had already been at this hotel for four days so I had gotten to know this young man through various conversations. (My advice to you is strike up conversations with many staff members – not just at the concierge desk. You will have more opportunities to “practice” the language, learn of hidden treasures in the area, and meet new people from different parts of the city who are excited to tell you about their favorite places to go).
I replied that we had not (neither of us had even heard of it) but would be interested in learning more. We decided to go that day since we had the afternoon free. We were told it was not far from the Eiffel Tower, right in the heart of Paris, which you think would make it easy to find, but low and behold, we being directionally challenged, got lost several times (which is kind of part of the fun).
We finally walked into a wine shop and asked for directions – surely someone THERE would know where it was and we were right. We walked down some street stairs, turned a corner or two and there it was in what appeared to be a residential area.
The Musee du Vin is housed in an enchanting 15th century vaulted cellar made of limestone that was mined between the 13th and 18th centuries. You can even see fossils of ancient animals and shells in some places. Just this alone was amazing for history’s sake!
As we approached the inside, it was very quaint, neither fancy nor modern, which was part of its charm. It looked like it should – a very old wine cellar.
The small staff was very helpful and friendly and there were very few guests – which was very refreshing after a few days of being around large, noisy crowds. We purchased the audio guide option and found this helpful to navigate through the museum’s permanent collection (which was quite immense). Everything you ever wanted to know about the history of wine and the process of making it was here --relics, machinery, tools, artifacts, etc.
In one hall there were displays of primitive to modern processes of wine making with information on all the interesting, curious, and bizarre instruments that go with it.
Another hall showed how wine storage has evolved through trial and error over the years.
You can also see how the ways to open a bottle has changed – and in some cases, has not really changed at all.
A highlight for me was seeing a very ancient festive wine “glass”.
Of course, there are the whimsical and fun items like this “Le Raseur”. A gauge once used at taverns to tell patrons they “had consumed enough and it was time to go home”.
A glass of wine (or grape juice) is included in the general admission fee at the end of your tour (it kind of pays for itself in my mind). We both opted for a glass of nice sparkling wine and had a great conversation with a one of the staff member there. Somehow our last name came up and he showed us a bottle from a winery in France that shares our name. We had heard of this place but have not had a chance to visit (yet). It was a great ending to a fantastic tour.
Large and elaborate museums are fabulous and plentiful in Paris (and any city for that matter) but sometimes it is nice to mix it up with the small and less crowded museums. Some are just a little hard to find but it isn’t half bad when you end the visit with a glass of sparkling wine. Sante!
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