My Recent Trip to Paris: Art, Literature, + Maritime History

I have recently returned from a short trip to Paris, and am sharing my highlights. The weather was warm, and I managed to visit a couple of parks, but below am focusing on the museums, including the Maison de Balzac, found at the 16th arrondissement, and which I have been wanting to explore for ages because I love Balzac’s work. It is hard to tell which of Balzac’s novels is my favourite, though – Le Père Goriot has great characterisations, Lost Illusions and The Black Sheep are masterpieces of dramatic contrast, & Eugénie Grandet is compact, but emotional, and has a special place in my heart. Maison de Balzac Exhibits at the Maison de Balzac This is the place where Balzac lived between 1840 and 1847 under an assumed name to avoid his creditors. At this place, he also wrote many of the books in La Comédie humaine series. It contains his reference library (Balzac was a voracious reader and possessed around 5000 books), his study and kitchen, and the Madame Hanska room, devoted to a Polish noblewoman who corresponded with Balzac for seventeen years, and was his wife during the last months of his life. There is also a room with figurines from Balzac’s books (the whole of La Comédi...