A short hand-in-hand stroll from the Pigalle district, in the Nouvelle Athènes neighbourhood, you’ll find the Musée de la Vie Romantique (Museum of the Romantic Life), housed in a lovely old mansion. This is where the Dutch painter Ary Scheffer lived from 1830 and it’s an ideal place to visit on Valentine's Day.
A gathering place of French intellectual and artistic life
This Parisian pavilion with its distinctive green shutters is a place steeped in history. It was a rendezvous for key figures of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe and found its fullest expression in early 19th century France. Ary Scheffer set up a studio in which to work and a studio-salon where he would entertain his artist friends each Friday.
Exciting exhibitions
Enter the intimate world of the museum by discovering the permanent exhibition devoted to George Sand, whose real name was Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, a female novelist, memoirist and socialist. Here you can see this influential writer’s furniture, paintings, souvenirs, jewellery and other memorabilia!
The museum’s other major exhibition is, of course, dedicated to Ary Scheffer and features his paintings of landscapes, contemporary history subjects and portraits as well as works by his contemporaries.
A stroll and a snack break in the garden
The studios of Ary Scheffer's house, one built for working, the other for socialising, adjoin a lovely garden of roses and lilacs; a peaceful haven where you and your loved one can take a romantic stroll. In summer it’s a pleasure to enjoy tea and a snack while relaxing on the old wrought iron benches in the shade of the trees. On Valentine's Day, if the weather is a little cool, you can still savour sweet moments together in the charming conservatory of the tea room with its green wrought iron tables and chairs and welcoming atmosphere.
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For further information:
Hotel des Arts Montmartre, a charming and comfortable hotel in Montmartre