Art Nouveau in Paris and Nancy

There are a few Art Nouveau restaurants where you can see interiors. Located just across blvd Montparnasse from the tower, the old Montparnasse 1900, now operated by the infamous Chartier chain, has a magnificent Art Nouveau interior. Le Pharamond in the 1st is another example. The renovated Samaritaine interior is Art Nouveau. Maxim´s is Art Nouveau and once allowed visitors into its Art Nouveau museum. I think that now the museum is closed. Visit the dome at Galeries Lafayette on blvd Haussmann, the Grand Palais in the 8th (now closed for Olympic/Paralympic events).

In the 6th arrondissement, every building on rue Huysmans was constructed in the Art Nouveau style. Many of the interiors have been altered from the original as residents prefer more contemporary styles. Perhaps one of the greatest loses was a location of an Art Nouveau restaurant on the corner of rue Saint-Benoît and rue de l'Abbaye, last known as le Petit Zinc, an amazing Art Nouveau interior. Unfortunately, le Petit Zinc changed hands, the owner gutting it, about 5 years ago, and building something completely different.

If you watch the auctions at Drouot, you will occasionally see amazing Art Nouveau masterpieces by Emile Gallé, the Daum brothers, and others.

https://drouot.com/

I am sure other posters can offer additional suggestions of Art Nouveau examples in Paris.

@Tocard, thank you for your thorough answer and sharing your first-hand knowledge.

I have not been in there but isn't Le Train Bleu Restaurant at the Gare de Lyon also Art Nouveau?

In spite of the "advice" to "google it" I don't find any tours that actually go inside buildings other than the department stores Tocard listed.

Thank you, Tocard and Pam. It is sad to hear about the demolition of Art Nouveau interiors. I have read that there is a Guimard interior installed at the Petit Palais. It is a little surprising that the city has not done more to preserve others. Especially compared to Brussels and Barcelona where some are open to visit. I am hoping to enter at least one in Nancy.

Oh! I forgot about the Musee Carnavalet. There is an interior there that is Art Nouveau designed by Mucha for Fouquet's Boutique.

https://www.carnavalet.paris.fr/le-nouveau-parcours

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Fouquet

I don't recall the Guimard interior at Petit Palais but I will go look for it next time, lol. They had a wonderful Sarah Bernhardt exhibition last year with so many posters by Mucha. My mind might still have been on them and not noticed other things!

Both Carnavalet and Petit Palais are free (except for special exhibitions) so it's easy to pop in just to see a few specific things.

I'm so glad you asked this question. My next trip to Paris is coming up and I always like a treasure hunt, hahaha!

On that previous trip I also tracked down two or three Corbusier buildings around Paris and burbs. Had to research locations myself 50 years ago, but maybe there is a map on-line now ..... if you want another treasure hunt! Although they are more obscure sites of interest only to a limited audience of architects.

Thank you for the question! I love the Art Nouveau architecture and am hoping to see more of it next time I am in the area. (I am bookmarking this.). My husband & I picked up an Art Nouveau walking map in Nancy at the TI shop and enjoyed an afternoon exploring the nearby neighborhood, taking a tram/bus to reach it. We didn’t go inside any of them - mostly residential homes now.

It sounds like you are just interested in Nancy as a day trip, but if you decide to stay overnight, check to see if they are still doing their amazing illumination music show at night projected at Place Stanislas. Most of the towns project them onto the cathedral facade, but this one is a 360 degree in the square and quite good!

Thank you, Jean. If we stay overnight in Nancy we will definitely try to attend that show.

The Lavirotte Building, an apartment building at 29 Avenue Rapp in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, was designed by the architect Jules Lavirotte and built between 1899 and 1901. The building is one of the best-known surviving examples of Art Nouveau architecture in Paris.

I just copied and pasted this from wiki. If you're in the vicinity of the Eiffel Tower, it's worth the detour. You can look at it on google streetview.

We did a day trip to Nancy from Strasbourg to see the architecture. It was a nice walk from the train station to the sites on my list.

We saw the Art Nouveau Museum, which was fantastic: https://www.nancy-tourisme.fr/en/offers/art-nouveau-museum-nancy-en-2036924/

We also saw Villa Majorelle, an art nouveau house you can walk through: https://www.nancy-tourisme.fr/en/offers/villa-majorelle-nancy-en-2036960/

Place Stanislaus is a gorgeous square as well: https://www.nancy-tourisme.fr/en/discover-nancy/place-stanislas-and-the-unesco-world-heritage-site/

If you make a loop from the train station of these 3 areas, you will also transit by a lot of really nice art nouveau buildings to admire from the outside.

You'll also walk by this basilica, which is worth a stop in for the stained glass: https://www.nancy-tourisme.fr/en/offers/basilique-saint-epvre-nancy-en-2037179/

Stay overnight in Nancy! It's much to nice to try and see in a day.

The TI office is on the Plaza Stanislaus. You should stop in.

Hotel D'Haussonville is my preferred overnight stop. Parking is bad, but that's pretty much true of every French city.

Eat at Restaurant des Frères Marchand or L'Arsenal.

Do visit the Musee Beau-Arts.

The little garden behind the aquarium is really nice.

Thank you, Valerie and KCG! That is all very helpful information.

My personal recommendation in Nancy is the Hotel de Guise, which is in a lovely 17th century building in the old town. Try eating at A La Table du Bon Roi Stanislaus, which specialises in the French-Polish hybrid cookery in the area during the 18th century.

Also in Paris there is a good art nouveau collection at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, which is an annex of the Louvre with separate ticketing and its own entrance.

The Maxim's collection was closed during the pandemic due to confined spaces and still hasn't reopened. The website is still up though, so keep an eye on it in case it does.

Thanks to all who contributed to this subject, We ended up spending 2 nights in Nancy, which was just about right. It is too far from Paris to catch trains for a day trip. Plenty of time to walk the Art Nouveau and visit the Villa Majorelle, as well as see the sound and light show during its last week of the season. Be careful in the train station, though. While I was looking around the station a man approached my wife and asked her for money. She said, "No," Several minutes later we heard a woman shouting and running through the station. When we turned to look we saw a man dash out of the station just ahead of her. We assume he also asked her for money and when she got out her wallet to give him some he grabbed the wallet and took off!