Museum of Hunting and Nature

A wonderfully bizarre mix of art and taxidermy with a theme that ranges from 'anti' to 'agnostic' on hunting, with an underlying commentary on social power structures (which may or may not be my own imagined extensions). You will see a seemingly random and whimsical assembly of paintings, sculptures, books, audio-visual and tactile exhibits, and taxidermied animals from both the 'hunter' and 'hunted' sides of the equation collected in a random yet very visually pleasing way. Fascinating place, and your kids will think so too! Highly recommend if you are in the area and have a couple of hours to spare/invest. Also one of the few places in Paris with good A/C (if you are of the 'running hot' variety). Beautiful post cards, cool bird whistles and original art, jewelry and books in the boutique/gift shop.

Dont ask me why i liked it but I loved it. It feels uncomfortable but its portraying a real aristocratic hobby activity. Uncomfortable truths. Its a little morbid but beautiful at the same time. The kind of museum that IS an experience. Also loved the pieces of Edi Dubien, beautiful fit. Its small quirky and so elegant and thought provoking

This is a bizarre museum (with a sense of humor) - lots of weapons and dead things and paintings of hunts, in a wonderful old building. Weirdly, I really liked it! There was a stuffed boar with a pink tutu. Photos of old Planet of the Apes movies in the monkey room.

THE BEST MUSEUM I've visited. The museum feels like you're in a zoo where time standstill. The whole place is so beautiful and elegant, every animal is so subtly placed in the museum, it's just fascinating. You can actually open certain drawers to look into the artifacts. And above all of that the staff is so good (very gentle) at this museum, I mean if by mistake you miss some part of the museum they'll help you see it and make sure you see all the good things in there.

It’s quirky, but if you’re fine with taxidermy, you’ll appreciate how this museum mixes modern art with the stuffed animals. Tickets are just over 10 Euros and it took us an hour to go through, enjoying every room. The signs are in French.

A jewel of a museum. Located in the heart of the Marais it is housed in a 17th century “hotel particulieur” by the great architect Mansart. Stuffed with dead animals from around the world and an impressive collection of guns, the museum provides a window into a favourite pastime of the French aristocracy. This is exactly what a museum should be. Beautiful, thought-provoking, elegant.

Completely out of the mainstream mindset : dead animals, guns and paintings of hunters and dead animals. I let you imagine how weird it can look at first in today’s world. Yet it is a brilliant ‘must see’ place in Paris. Always good surprises to discover. Mix of tradition and fun cutting edge modern arts. I love it (much better than the neighbouring Picasso museum)

A very strange museum which isn’t for the faint hearted. A mix of old and new, taxidermy animals and contemporary art related to nature. I enjoyed it but didn’t feel great about the whole theme. Most of the museum is accessible but there is a small area at the end that is accessed with stairs. Has a gift shop. Free first Sunday of the month, I went on this day and didn’t have to queue.

It's quirky, but if you're fine with taxidermy, you'll appreciate how this museum mixes modern art with the stuffed animals. Tickets are just over 10 Euros and it took us an hour to go through, enjoying every room. The signs are in French.

Strange but wonderful. Loved this little gem in the Marais! Located in beautiful mansion with historically styled rooms that have a flair of modern and plenty of taxidermy. I loved the playful aspect of this museum and the amazing art - even enjoyed some of the modern pieces. Don't overlook this place for a super memorable and very fun experience

Exquisite! This fun-sized museum was my absolute favorite in Paris. Some of the others are so large and daunting (I won't name names, but it starts with an "L"), one can feel exhausted just trying to experience them in their entirety. But not the Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature. Located in the Marais neighborhood, and surrounded by cute little shops and cafes, this museum may look a little unassuming from the exterior. But don't let that fool you! Inside is the most beautifully curated collection of items representing mankind's relationship to the animal world. Each room was an installation, with so many details including sounds. There were often interactive buttons and drawers that slid out of displays, so make sure you notice all the details. One can easily see the entire collection in about two hours, as I stated before it is quite manageable. On the day we went, it was not crowded at all. Beautiful paintings, gorgeous antique furniture, plenty of taxidermy and quite a few other surprises await you. (I don't want to ruin it! In conclusion, if you find yourself in Paris and want a somewhat surreal, extremely beautiful experience inside a 17th century mansion, the Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature is for you!

I loved this quirky and fascinating museum in the Marais neighborhood. It is such a refreshing break from the art museums, which can feel a bit stuffy after a while. Right near the Jewish quarter, the farmers market, and a ton of shops, it is in such a prime spot for a fabulous, full day. You learn all about the evolving relationship between humans and animals, especially dog. There's a huge emphasis on hunting, how the sport has changed even for English royalty, and how dogs have transformed are lives (for the best!) There's a ton of taxidermy, even a talked head, and gorgeous art of animals that are hundreds of years old. The museum building itself is this stunning townhouse that used to be a home with a beautiful English garden in the back. 5 stars!!!!!!!

Ok, I think I scored some points with my teenage son when I brought him here. Hands down the coolest musée! We loved every moment of our time spent here. If you are looking to visit Paris and incorporate some smaller incredible places into the mix, I'd highly suggest Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature. The entire place is stunning, a surprise around each and every corner. The beauty and detail that went into each space, room, cabinet etc. will not be lost on a single soul. A must!!!! in my opinion.

This place was the coolest. I'm so glad that we decided to go visit a lesser known museum and we could beat the crowds and lines! And a ticket is only 8 euros. My husband is a fan of all things odd and off the beaten path so he really wanted to make a stop in. The museum features lots of mounted animal heads, beautiful paintings, and old weapons. It's really an examination of mankind's relationship with nature and animals. I'm not really a fan of hunting personally but it was fascinating to see different practices/customs involving it throughout the ages. There are signs in both English and French to give context to artifacts displayed in each room, which we were grateful for a I know only the most basic French words. My favorite exhibition was the room that featured antique dog collars and a history of dog ownership/companionship throughout the ages.

I am your average art person, with little appreciation for anything outside of classics like Picasso, Renoir, Monet, etc.. If you like art that is outside of the box, look no further. The rooms are amazing and the history of the house would be fascinating (an old mansion) but most attention is set towards the random animals located throughout, weird sculptures and artifacts (I think?) and rooms full of guns, buttons and bullets. The taxidermy room (pictured) is impressive, especially as a hunting enthusiast but it gets lost in all the other oddities inside. Thankfully it's only 6€ so it's not a huge loss and was a good time for those of us a sense of humor. The only reason I give it 2 stars is: there's talent here for sure, but I don't get it personally. And it's right down the street from the best pizza in town (Tiaglos).

If David Lynch curated a museum, I suspect it'd be along the lines of the Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature and I mean that as high praise. The owls are not what they seem. This museum was one of the highlights of my entire trip to Paris. Admittedly, I was skeptical. I mean, a vegetarian animal lover walks into a hunting museum, it sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, right? But, it was awesome. Each room was so well curated and thought provokingly designed that the museum felt as if it it was a single body of art. An art gallery more than a museum. I was in awe looking at sculptures made of feathers, ceilings of owls, monkeys at dining tables, bleeding Bambis, and regal hunting dogs. I want to go back right now. If you are looking for something off the beaten path, go here!

Unique and superb. The musee de la chasse et de la nature, what a french mouthful, is a brilliantly reinvented small old museum of hunting. A private museum that originally just dealt with, the possibly unpopular, subject of hunting - with an array of hunting weaponry and stuffed heads. Now it, stunningly, mixes up these subjective exhibits with modern installations and contemporary pieces by the likes of Jeff Koons and Mark Dion. This is a unique example of a museum. Small, perfectly formed, closed on Mondays and not free. Superb.

Very cute place. Besides the cool taxidermy and old hunting gear, the museum is just set up in an interesting way; everything is very artfully done. Not a must-see on your trip, but definitely something to shake up a boring afternoon. A pleasant afternoon for the student-reduced price of 4€50.

My god, this was fantastic, a dream for any taxidermy enthusiastic mixed in with a love of historical hunting paintings and weaponry. I wanted to set up shop in every room that I passed through and have a huge steak, frites and kir royale ! I got quite a few decorating ideas as well. The room with the owl heads on the ceiling, well if that doesn't wow you - there is something wrong with you ... I will definitely come back here on my next trip and recommend it to all my friends making a visit to Paris.

Cultural History with a Dose of Surrealism The curators of this museum have produced a complex mix of cultural history and surrealism. Historically, the museum celebrates the role of hunting in French history. This is significant, as hunting is an important marker of the aristocracy and landed gentry, so these artistic representations are statements of class standing. What this means is that there are lot of pictures of horses, hounds, pheasants, and foxes. All well and good. As you go through the museum, however, it dawns on you that there is more going on. I would compare it to eating some kind of hallucinogenic drug and having its effects slowly kick in. The museum is more than just another museum. You wander into this one room with a bunch of stuffed trophy animals. Fine; there is a big bear and some ferocious stuffed tigers or mountain cats. Then as you walk around you hear the sound of deep grunts and snarls of some really big animals. A little scary, really. It reminds you that when living those animals were very big and very ferocious. I wouldn't want to confront one in the forest. The room gets weirder, however. As you complete your tour of the animals and start to head out, you notice that the mounted boar's head high on the wall seems to be moving. Its mouth moves and its eyes roll as it grunts. It doesn't look real, but it isn't ridiculous either. Very strange. What was in that brownie I ate? Then it's off to more paintings of pheasants and a display of old hunting rifles. But a small, dimly-lit side room beckons. An owl's head mounted on feathery shoulders stares down at you. Methinks this is not just another trophy mounting; it is more of an animal spirit, and the beady owl eyes are not at all human. It is a bit otherworldly, and not in a friendly way. Looking up at the ceiling, there are all kinds of owl heads up there. The darkness of this little room feels even darker. And then you notice that the framed painting on the wall, which portrays some kind of hunting party, differs from the other paintings in the museum. Here a pile of naked ladies writhing "sur l'herbe" is the object of aggressive, leering attention of forest creatures (kind of like centaurs, but there is probably a more accurate word.) More like Sabine women than cucumber-sandwich eaters. I am thinking that there is a dark side to Nature, too. This dark side exerts its force on men and women, a pagan, inhuman, bestial force which draws us into the dark forest. Wow. But wait, there's more! In a second dark little room, the figure of a man is behind mesh wire. He is made of dark bark and looks convincingly like half-man and half-tree. The lighting is a bit gothic, and I don't recall that he had a face. This being a European museum, the man is naked, and his man-parts are right there, with a roll of bark leaving no doubt that this creature is male. No problem, we have all seen Michelangelo's David. But wait, there is something different here. That roll of bark - it seems to be pointing up, not hanging down. Nature, uninhibited, right there. Not only is this man-creature creepy, he's got something he wants to share with you. One should keep one's virgin daughter from going into the room unaccompanied, just in case that bark man comes alive. What this museum says to me is that the forest and the animals are more than trophies and class signifiers. They partake of a deep, dark world of spirits and forces and temptations that touch our humanity in ways that we may deny or may have forgotten but which nonetheless still resonates. That museum offers a glimpse in the deep darkness of the forest. P.S. If you liked this museum, you might like: "The Beast" ("La bete"), a 1975 French erotic fantasy horror film by Walerian Borowczyk.

Ok - I am a HUGE fan of taxidermy (not so much of hunting) but love being able to look at animals up close. This small museum has room after room of interesting animals (Yes - you can stand and get your photo taken right next to a Polar AND a Grizzly Bear - how cool is that!). The gun and sword collection is unbelievable. The architecture and light fixtures are unique and wonderful. You can visit the entire museum within 1-2 hours. Take a cab if you are not comfortable with getting lost because it is on a small street. When we went, we basically had the entire place to ourselves. Be sure to visit the Owl room (the entire ceiling is covered with Owls and feathers). Take a look at my photos - going to post a couple of the museum it is that great!

Wonderful eclectic but spot-on museum with collections of antique taxidermy intermixed with newly curated, totally hip exhibits. Catch the George Shiras photography show-- it's fantastic.