Musée Nissim de Camondo

The weather today was sunny one minute, rainy the next.  This afternoon during a sunny patch, I went to the Parc Monceau to read and enjoy the outdoors.  But within an hour or two the clouds became threatening, so I started walking towards a Metro.  Along the way it started pouring, but as it happened I was just across the street from the Musée Nissim de Camondo, so I went in.

The museum and its contents were a gift to France from Comte Moïse de Camondo, a Jewish banker who lived in the house until his death in 1934.  A wealthy man with a passion for the 18th century, Camondo collected furniture and objets d'art from that period and built this stately mansion just off Parc Monceau to display them.

Camondo had intended to pass the house and artwork to his son Nissim, but Nissim was killed in an air battle during World War I.  Moïse Camondo's daughter Béatrice did not want to inherit the house or the art, so Camondo left it to the Musee des Arts Decoratifs .  Sadly, Béatrice, her husband, and their children were sent to Auschwitz by the Nazis during WWII and became victims of the Holocaust.  There are no surviving members of the Camondo family.  It is truly a tragic story.

The marble staircase is the focal point as you enter the museum.

The interior space is very grand and formal

Each room contains lush tapestries and rugs, period paintings, and priceless antiques, such as this rolltop desk in the Huet Salon.

The garden looked lovely, even in the rain.

Since I was by myself, I seized the chance to take a self-portrait.

The china cabinet contains a set of Buffon porcelain decorated with a variety of birds.  This is the room where the Comte preferred to take his meals when he was dining alone.

Camondo admittedly neglected his small library, preferring instead to surround himself with art instead of books.

This pink office was my favorite room in the house.  I loved the satin covering on the walls and the tasseled cords holding the paintings.

From the upper floor the view of the garden is stunning.

Comte de Camondo's bedroom.  The three-sided bed dates from the late 1700's.

On the lower floor is my second favorite room in the house -- the kitchen.  Imagine cooking a meal in this immense oven...

...or on this enormous stove.

Of course, if you were living in a place like this you probably wouldn't set foot in the kitchen anyway since you'd have servants to do the cooking and cleaning.  All in all, I was glad that the rain gave me a chance to explore this beautiful museum.  It is an elegant reminder of a graceful past, and a beautiful gift to the people of France.