That 'Favorite Museum' Thing -- On Second Thought

Maybe I wouldn't say that the Musée des Arts et Métiers is my favorite museum in Paris.  Suzie and I visited the Picasso Museum today, and afterwards I was thinking, of all the museums and exhibits I've been to in the last six months, which did I enjoy the most?  The answer sort of surprised me -- the most enjoyable experience, perhaps because I wasn't expecting anything from it, was the exhibition at the Pompidou Center called Le Futurisme à Paris, a fascinating look at the beginnings of "modern" art.  The layout, the works selected, the space, everything worked, and the exhibition was small enough to be digestible in a reasonably short period of time.  And apart from the exhibition, the permanent collection at the Pompidou Center is in itself fantastic, as is the space in which it is housed.

So I'm tempted to say that is my favorite museum, except, of course, that Paris is also home to the Louvre, which is one-of-a-kind (but almost too much to contemplate in one, two, three, five, or maybe even ten visits), and the Musée de Orsay, which has a wonderful collection of Impressionist paintings housed in the most gorgeous, practical, goes-perfectly-with-the-art space you will ever see.

Personally, I enjoyed the Pompidou Center and the Musée de Orsay for the art, and the Louvre more for its incredible collection of ancient artifacts (to stand before the monolith containing the Code of Hammurabi is worth the trip by itself, for me anyway).  If you are in Paris, try to make it to all three if you can, and plug in the Musée des Arts et Métiers if you are a nerd like me.

I almost forgot ... the Picasso Museum was interesting, but definitely doesn't make the top five.  The works seems a little incongruous in the old "hotel" that houses them, and there are more enjoyable (to me anyway) works of Picasso in other Paris museums.