Fragonard Museum, Paris

  

 - darkometer rating:  4 -

 

The Fragonard Museum, or Musee Fragonard, which is part of Paris's veterinary university Ecole nationale veterinaire d'Alfort (ENVA for short), is a medical exhibition with anatomical exhibits including preserved bodies (not only animals, humans too, including one on an equally preserved horse-back), i.e. it falls into the category of 'dead on display'.

 

This museum is not very well known to the tourism world, and I would have been totally unaware of the place too had it not been for a suggestion as an off-the-beaten-track dark attraction on the mailing list of dark-tourism.org.uk on Jiscmail in early 2010. So when I next went to Paris in March 2011 my plan was to pay this museum a visit too. Unfortunately, however, I didn't make it there in time before too close to closing time and so had to abort the plan. Well, next time definitely.

 

This is why I can only present the museum in a short stub here. But at least it's covered and I can give you some practical information:

 

Opening times: Thursdays and Wednesdays 2 to 6 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

 

Admission: 7 EUR (concession 5 EUR), including an audio-guide in French or English.  

 

Location: just beyond Paris's south-eastern city limits, but reachable by Metro (line 8 to Ecole veterinaire de Maisons-Alfort) or even by boat, on the new Vogueo line which departs from Gare d'Austerlitz every 15 to 20 minutes (3 EUR per ride), which is obviously the most scenic way of getting there if the weather plays along. From the landing stage take the path to the little rue Nordling past a church and on to Avenue de General Leclerc, which is also where the metro station is. At the big intersection just to the west of the metro station turn left into Avenue de General de Gaulle and walk down it about a hundred yards to get to the entrance gate of the veterinary school.

 

Google maps locator:[48.8142,2.4214]