It also houses an incredible collection of firearms and associated paraphernalia, beautifully decorated powder horns, shooting sticks, restorative flasks etc. It is a museum dedicated to hunting and its associated trappings including hunt and nature associated art, ranging from classical through to modern installation pieces. It has been described, according to Wikipedia as quirky, astonishing, strange and eclectic . This had been recommended by my colleague Tilly Collins who described it as a truly extraordinary experience. On the Sunday we made our way to a great oddity, The Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, just opposite the National Archives in rue des Archives. Vandalism on a grand scale but yet again, an indication of the fascination that insects seem to have for people once safely dead. What was perhaps more distressing for me, was the large number of magnificent and detailed entomological prints on sale that had been removed from nineteenth century books and were being sold individually for anthing between €10-€20. There were the odd sets of themed boxes, such as a collection of carabid beetles, but without proper labels, so again entomologically worthless. Oddly enough there were on this occasion, a plethora of insect collections, mainly single boxes of mixed insects, badly pinned, and very inadequately labelled. On the Saturday we made our way to the flea market at Porte de Vannes where we were faced by the usual collections of what I call junk. An interesting example of the way insects fascinate artists and, when presented in a non-threatening way, can be appreciated by the public, although of course as an entomologist, I would much rather they were appreciated in situ and alive. If you are ever in Paris, a visit to Chardon is well worth the effort. The art work in the gallery, including the Goliath beetle was the work of Christine Arzel K which unfortunately, I am unable to reproduce here. A truly bizarre sight, but fascinating at the same time. There were also insect paintings, some of which included butterfly wings and most amazing of all, a Goliath Beetle, which had been taken apart and then partly reconstructed using fine wire. That aside, the displays were magnificent in a very Victorian way, reminding me of the very popular song-bird cabinet in the Natural History Museum, London. They ranged from stuffed and mounted mammals through fairly standard pinned insects to beautifully arranged and displayed Lepidoptera (all as far as I could tell correctly named, although of course not equipped with collection and determination labels as entomological purists would demand. The owner, Gregori Ferret, very kindly ignored the copious amounts of water that we were dripping on his floor, and invited us to come in and view the works of art. The rain, rather than easing off, got heavier, and we looked for a convenient shop to shelter in as luck would have it we found ourselves in the rue des Filles du Calvaire outside a shop-cum- gallery, called Chardon. We had arrived, courtesy of Eurostar at about lunchtime, checked into our hotel and then started out for a walk. The weather, despite it being pretty much the last week in May, was far from ideal in fact on the Friday, if it had been warmer, swim-wear would have been the appropriate attire for the day. Enjoy The Facts.My wife Gill, and I, have just returned from a long weekend in Paris, where we spent what used to be called the Whitsun Bank Holiday.
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