France Museums and insignia shops to visit while in Paris?

[achern]

Gents,

I am going to be in Paris next week on a non-working trip and might be able to pop into a few shops and military museums while I am there.

Do you have any museums or insignia shops to recommend me? Please let me know, all ideas are appreciated.</p>

Thanks!

Alf

[Schießplatzmeister]

Hello Alf:

Here are two "must see" places to visit in Paris:

Musee de L'Armee

Musée national de la Légion d'Honneur

Have a wonderful trip!

[TacHel]

Accross the street (rue de Rivoli) from the Louvre is a nice building called les antiquaires du Louvre, awesome shops in there but beware, the prices are quite high!!

A bit further up the Jardin du Palais Royal, perpendicular to rue de Rivoli, walk up the gardens, keep to the left along the esplanade, you'll come up to a series of small militaria shops that deal in just about everything.

Edited September 20, 2011 by TacHel

[Markus]

Hello Alf,

Paris has some nice medal stores. As Tachel mentioned, the Palais Royal has a couple of medal shops. Bacqueville (This maker of medals and medal dealer has been in business since 1790.) is at 7 & 8 Galerie Montpensier, Palais Royal. This is an arcade type area that used to house some of the famous medal makers of Paris. Kretly, Halley and chobillon used to have shops here.

Galerie Numistique. 4 Galerie de Montpensier. Palais Royal. A medal dealer that has a few stores around Europe.

Maison Platt. 49 Rue de Richelieu. I have never been to this store but I have heard many nice things about it. It is located one street over from Palais Royal.

The medal dealer across from the Lourve in the les antiquaires shopping complex is Patrice Reboul's shop.

http://www.patricere...tegoryItem=2966

His shop is well worth the visit in that he has a huge collection of orders and medals. Be forewarned that his prices are pretty steep, but if there is something you must have, it is worth it.

Napoleon's grave is housed in a chapel at Hotel Des Invalides. This complex also has the army museum. There are sections of the museum that have old armor and weapons, Napoleon era uniforms, medals and battle plans. You can buy one ticket to see everything in the property.

Have fun!

Markus

[Markus]

A closeup of Patrice Rebouls shop display. Large variety of international and French medals.

[Markus]

Napoleon's grave.

[Markus]

Original cannons from Napoleon's French Empire days in the Army museum courtyard.

[Veteran]

Hello

I addition to the information given, may I add that the Legion of honor Museum (Musée de la Légion d'honneur et des ordres de chevaleries) is an absolute must. It is open Wednesday to Sunday inclusive in the afternoon. Expect to spend a couple of hours there. Don't forget to pull the drawers under the display windows....The material displayed is unique, recently enriched by loans from the Spada Collection. French AND other countries orders and medals are on view. UNIQUE; Entrance is free and they have a nice shop near the entrance.

If you are interested in XIXth century art, just walk across the piazza and go to the Musée d'Orsay.

Close to Napoleon's tomb is the Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération with a lot of orders & medals related to WW2; They are open afternoons but better check opening hours;

Hope you enjoy your visit

Veteran

[Bilco]

Hi Alf - I'm told that the Marche aux Puces de Vanves - flea market at the Porte de Vanves - is good for medals. Open on Saturday and Sunday.

Bill

[Bison]

Hi Alf

Two supplementary recommendations.

Pay a visit to Jean Christophe Palthey, 1 rue Pierre Fontaine, 75009 PARIS, "Galerie Histoire et Curiosités"

This is one of the best in Paris. You will be surprised by the treasures in it and the knowledge of Mr Palthey.

http://www.phaleristic.com/

And don't miss "la Maison Platt", 49 rue de Richelieu, 75001 PARIS, another very good one. It is not very far from Le Palais Royal and Le Louvre des Antiquaires.

http://maisonplatt.com/

When I go to Paris, my patrol itinerary goes always by these two mandatory way points, with le Musée de la Légion d'honneur and la galerie du Palais Royal.

Another good but very expensive area is "Le Village Suisse", near the Ecole Militaire. Especially: "Aux Soldats d'Antan"

http://www.auxsoldatsdantan.com/

Anyway, this tour is far more pleasant and enjoyable than to go to Les Puces where all the tourists and subsequent pickpockets are.

Regards

Bison

Edited September 24, 2011 by Bison

[achern]

Thank you, everyone, for your kind suggestions. I made it to Patrice Reboul's shop and marveled at the display, and the prices too!

[TacHel]

I'm glad you didn't bother walking all the way to Maison Platt... He won't even let people in the door! I have no idea how this guy can stay in business...

[PKeating]

I never have any trouble getting into Maison Platt. They're not over-friendly, I'll grant you that, but they are 'correct'. The prices are a bit high for some of their stuff. I won't even tell you what they wanted for an early 1813 EK2. Some of the Colonial Medals are over-priced. He had a postwar Koufra clasp, probably Arthus Bertrand, on a classic "Free French" medal for over €400. OK, it's rare. For a laugh, I took one of my rarer Koufra ensembles with me the next time, a Gaunt issue, complete with British-made clasp and riband. "How much would you give me for this?" "Um, well, these are fairly common, you know. €30?" "Thanks". I put it back in my pocket. He asked me how much I wanted. So I said that common as it was, it must be much rarer than the postwar French-made one he had up for more than €400.

Yeah, I know. Futile. But funny all the same.

PK

[TacHel]

I never have any trouble getting into Maison Platt. They're not over-friendly, I'll grant you that, but they are 'correct'.

PK

Really? I got about 3 feet in when the "gent" ran out from behind his desk looking at me like I had busted through a locked door or front window, bluntly and ever so coldly asked what I wanted, when I mentioned a few items from his "3 day old catalog" he said everything was gone. When I ask if I could have a look around he asked me to leave claiming he was very busy. Within a short minute of walking in, and after a 20+ minute walk to get there, my wife and I were looking at each other in utter amazement, back out on the sidewalk... We talked with other militaria dealers in a few km radius and according to them, this is the norm there.

I informed Markus of this via PM prior to his trip there a few months ago, upon his return he described his personal experience there as quite similar to mine.

[PKeating]

Oh, I don't disbelieve you! But sometimes there are some women there and they're OK. But he is «un peu spécial, pour ainsi dire», wouldn't you say? Well, yeah, you would, cos you got the "get off my farm" treatment. They have some nice gear sometimes. I was drawn by an Ordre de Travail (Vichy) priced reasonably at around €1,000 a while back. But I hesitated and it went. The Koufra clasp for €400 was a bit OTT given that it could have been made anytime from 1944 to 1994. Anyway, sorry you had that experience. The man in question, if he's the one I baited over the clasp, is a bit odd.

P

[edited a grammatical error/typo]

Edited November 2, 2011 by PKeating

[TacHel]

"Un peu spécial, pour ainsi dire" est un peu trop poli! Le mec est fada!

English Xlation: "Quite right old boy... Cough cough..." ;)

[Markus]

I had exactly the same experience with the odd man at Maison Platt and am grateful that TacHel gave me the heads-up warning about this guy so I wasn't shocked. He buzzed me in and panicked as I proceeded to walk towards him saying, "Stay right there! Do not come any further!" I showed him my list of orders I was interested in and he said, " No do not have, good bye!" Maybe he was robbed in the recent past, since he is so jumpy. I could not see any medals what so ever on display, so it was a total waste of time. On the bright side, I would have to agree with Bison in that Jean Christophe Palthey, 1 rue Pierre Fontaine, 75009 PARIS, "Galerie Histoire et Curiosités" is one of the best shops in Paris. I purchased two breast stars from him and really enjoyed his expertise and selection of medals.

Markus

[Veteran]

That used to be one of the best places this side of the Herring-Pond. The Platt people and their Kampmann descendants were perfectly delightful; I owe them some items in my collection I would never have bought if they had not guided me; They are now my pride.

It's a pitty.

The catalogues are still quite good, though.

Veteran

[TacHel]

That used to be one of the best places this side of the Herring-Pond. The Platt people and their Kampmann descendants were perfectly delightful; I owe them some items in my collection I would never have bought if they had not guided me; They are now my pride.

It's a pitty.

The catalogues are still quite good, though.

Veteran

When's the last time you were able to actually purchase an item from one of their catalogs? I've been trying in vain for over 4 years... :banger:

[Veteran]

I frankly cannot remember ..... since I have been shy or the place for a very, very long time.