Paris1972-Versailles2003

I drove by here a lot as was one of my easy entry to Paris from Versailles where we used to live, The area having wonderful historical monuments and restaurants is now coming up to be known as for many years was an off the beaten path trail of my eternal Paris, This is my fav 16éme arrondissement ,and as I found me several pictures in my cd rom vault figure propice to do a post for you and me. Therefore, let me tell you about the Palais Galliera, fashion museum of Paris !!! Hope you enjoy it as I.

Located on Chaillot Hill, the Palais Galliera, is a neo-Renaissance style building located in the 16éme arrondissement of Paris. It is accessible via 10 Avenue Pierre-Ier-de-Serbie. It is served by the RER C at the Pont de l’Alma station. Metro Alma-Marceau and Iéna on line 9  Boissière on line 6, and bus lines 32, 63, 72, 80, 82, and 92 , It is located between Rue de Galliera and Rue Maria-Brignole. My road warrior rides into Paris from my dear Versailles many times took me by here coming on the A13 autoroute de Normandie ,to the the BP by Porte de Muette up Avenue Henri Martin passing by Place du Trocadéro into Avenue du Président Wilson,passing muséé Guimet (see post) ,and continue on Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie I needed to park by metro Passy 19 rue de Passy about 7 min walking,

The Musée Galliera located in a mansion of the duchess de Galliera,that was built between 1878 and 1894 ,and now the Musée de la mode de la Ville de Paris, It has a lovely garden that we enjoyed fully, on the lawn you can have a picnic, great spot indeed. The museum, founded through an initial donation has been constantly changing since the 19C, as seen through its ever-growing collections, its different locations and its cultural offering. Exhibitions devoted to the colorful dresses and intimacy of Frida Kahlo, the extravagant wardrobe of the singer Dalida or that of the elegant Countess Greffulhe, inspiration for Marcel Proust, retrospectives celebrating 1950s couture or the houses of Lanvin, Dior and Chanel… The Galliera Museum lives to the rhythm of fascinating temporary monographic exhibitions, big names in couture, fashion personalities or thematic periods, types of clothing, games of influence, which always create an event. The restaurant “Les Petites Mains” located in the garden, on the side of the west wing of the peristyle, offers you a pleasant gourmet break before or after visiting the museum. Worth a stop indeed !

Through its exhibition-collections with frequently renewed themes, the museum showcases part of its collections made up of nearly 200,000 works, among the most important in the world in this field, and tells a history of fashion from the 18C to the present day. In addition, its program of temporary exhibitions allows visitors to discover different approaches to fashion, between artistic creation and sociocultural phenomenon, and to explore its major figures. The museum is open to the public during temporary exhibitions, three per year on average lasting approximately four to six months each. It brings the history of fashion back to life during prestigious temporary exhibitions, allowing the public to discover part of a rich collection of 90,000 pieces: the sumptuous clothes of the 18C ,and 19C as well as the works of the great couturiers and designers preserve the memory of three centuries of fashion. Jewelry, walking sticks, hats, shoes, bags, fans, gloves, parasols and umbrellas complete the collections, with also archives of photographs such as those of Henry Clarke, received in 1997. During the summer of 2021, a permanent collection is installed for the first time, in the recently converted basements. It presents a history of fashion from the 18C to the present day, with the creation of a bookstore-boutique and a café. Funded by the fashion house Chanel, the “Gabrielle Chanel” galleries have since doubled the exhibition space. The basement galleries, made of red brick and cut stone, increase the museum’s surface area by 700 square meters. In addition, a workshop room for cultural and educational activities was initiated on the garden level. The 5,000 square meters of the building were renovated, the balusters were consolidated and the facades were repointed.

A bit of history I like tell us that the Duchess of Galliera decided to build a museum there to house her art collection, which she wished to bequeath to the city of Paris. The donation was made by authentic deed signed on October 31, 1878 before Maître Delapalme, notary in Paris: of a triangular plot of land measuring 17,600 square meters (189 376 sq ft) along the Avenue du Trocadéro, to establish the museum and a square; of the land necessary for the construction of two roads separating the museum and the square. The Duchess undertook to build the museum and the square at her own expense. The presidential decree of August 30, 1879 accepted the donation. The two streets included in the donation were named Rue Maria-Brignole and Rue de Galliera and were classified as public roads. On June 22, 1886, Jules Grévy and Georges Clemenceau convened the Chamber of Deputies, which adopted a law requiring the heads of families who had reigned in France and their direct heirs to leave the country. The Duchess was outraged by this law but, unable to reverse her donation of the museum, she decided to abandon the legacy of her collection to the city of Paris; it was, in the meantime, kept at the Palazzo Rosso and the Palazzo Bianco in Genoa. The Duchess died on December 6, 1888, before the construction was completed. The following year, in May 1889, her heirs deposited the money with the Paris city tax collector to complete the work. On December 26, 1889, the city council decided to honor the donation made on October 31, 1878, and to receive the museum and the square only after the work was completed. The heirs of the Duchess of Galliera completed the work; it was finally finished on February 27, 1894, and the city of Paris received the Brignole-Galliera Museum and the square on July 1, 1894. In the 1920s, the city of Paris decided to create a museum of costume and accessories based on the collection of Maurice Leloir, which was exhibited at the Carnavalet Museum from 1907, then at the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris from 1955 to 1971. Finally, the Palais Galliera became the Museum of Fashion and Costume in 1977.

The official Palais Galliera : https://www.palaisgalliera.paris.fr/en

The Paris tourist office on the Palais Galliera-Museum : https://parisjetaime.com/eng/culture/palais-galliera-musee-de-la-mode-de-la-ville-de-paris-p3569

There you go folks, you are set to go. And a lovely area of Paris for walks and wonderful Haussmannien architecture. Again, hope you enjoy the Palais Galliera, fashion museum of Paris !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!