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Erik1964
Fairly new museum, dealing with World War 1. It tells a story with a lot of insight in the human aspects of the war. With a lot of artefacts and a lot of explanation in French, German and English. Slightly disappointing perhaps: in the exhibition there are some well preserved vehicles and guns on display, however they lack to tell a story. Nevertheless, this museum is definitely worth a visit when you are in the region Ile-de-Paris.
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MZTParis
A visit to the Great War Museum - Le Musée de la Grande Guerre - is a most interesting experience: a lesson of the folly of mankind.Inaugurated on November 11, 2011 by France’s then President, Nicolas Sarkozy, the museum is a glass structure of 7000 sq.m. (75347 sq ft) on a plateau 5 kms (3.1 miles) north-east from the centre of the town of Meaux, 41 kms (25 miles) north-east of Paris. (Meaux is pronounced ‘mo’.) Meaux is easy to get to from Paris. If you do not have a car, I recommend you buy a Mobilis day transport ticket at your starting point in Paris. The ticket is sold by Zones: Meaux falls in Zone 5 (the highest) and will cost you €16.60. The ticket is not cheap certainly, but it will be valid until midnight for all Métro (underground),bus and Transilien trains. This means that it will also be valid from Meaux to the museum and back to Meaux.The train to Meaux leaves from Paris’s Gare de l’Est and it is the Transilien P train you need to take. It will take about 30 minutes to Meaux. Over the weekend there is just one train per hour to Meaux and two per hour weekdays.The bus you have to take at Meaux is the M6 and it leaves from in front of the station and its end destination is indeed the museum. There is no way you will get lost because the bus stops beside a huge white memorial which was offered to the French by the Americans in 1936 in homage to WW1’s fallen - the Liberty Weeping monument by the American artist and sculptor, Frederick MacMonnies (1863-1937)When you descend the bus you walk back the way the bus had come and towards the flags. You will in fact see the museum alongside the road. Reaching the flags, you are at the museum.The museum is open every day but Tuesday, and opening hours are: October to April – 10 am to 5.30 pm; May to September – 9.30 am to 6.30 pm.It will cost you €10 to go in and should you be 65 and older you will get a €3 discount.You must allow yourself 3 hours for the visit: this is from the time you leave Meaux station and return to it at the end of your visit. (The bus ride takes about 10 minutes and it is pleasant as you will see something of the outskirts of Meaux.)The museum has more than 50,000 items all connected with the Great War: most of these were donated by the French Great War historian, Jean Vernet. You will see a field hospital, a field kitchen, a messenger pigeon vehicle, bunkers, trenches, uniforms, rifles and ammunition and so much much more.Do know that the museum is almost always packed with visitors. When I was there so was a coach-load of young men from a private Catholic school who were accompanied by a young priest in a long cassock. Neatly dressed, hair short and manners impeccable, they were no problem at all, but I know that if one happens to be there with a group of school children, a visit can be quite noisy.There is a café on the ground floor – one has to pass it on one’s way out – which has very basic things like baguette sandwiches or pies and coffee. And as it has a captive clientele the prices are rather steep. At around 4.30 pm the staff starts packing up as the café keeps the same opening hours as the museum. Also, if you go to the café after 4 pm then you may well find that there is little left to eat.Meaux itself is a charming town. If you go on a Saturday you can wander through the town's open-air market which stretches across several of the old stone bridges over the Marne River. Yes, Meaux is on the Marne: it divides the town's old town into a Northern Quarter and a Southern Quarter.You can also visit the cathedral.Do take not that the town has few cafés and no bistros like in Paris. There are restaurants yes but they will not serve you just a coffee or a drink. There is also a restaurant on the river but this too will politely (and not so politely too) tell you that they serve only meals. So, if you want a drink and you see a café ahead of you, do not think that there will be others because there won't. You better go in and sit down.
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Zebra_4456789
This is a really nice museum dedicated to WWI. There is a lot of equipment in here, to include a plane, truck and artillery gun, recreation of a trench and barracks, and a lot of uniforms. I thought this was really well presented and I would make a return visit. Give yourself about 1 hour to 1.5 hours. There is a neat timeline movie that runs when you first enter. Be sure to watch it all, it runs in a loop. Parking is on site and there is a food court for a snack.
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FaithfulinFrance
My colleagues and I teach in a bilingual, multicultural school in the western suburbs of Paris. The First World War is an important part of our history program, so last month we took our ninth-graders on a field trip to this museum. For homework, I asked my students to write up their impressions of the museum, so the comments you read here have been taken from the essays of 62 fourteen-year-olds! The kids all loved the museum, using words like "awesome", “fantastic”, "rich", “informative”, and "fascinating" to describe their experience. What impressed them the most was the museum's hands-on approach, along with its "tactile" exhibits--they all loved being able to handle objects from the war and to really "feel" what the war was all about. A couple of kids specifically mentioned that the museum is so well laid-out that you have no trouble imagining the era’s zeitgeist or the true horror of the war. Another said she realized how “recent” the war is, and not “quite so distant”. Of particular note were the “exhaustive” exhibits that revolved around a soldier’s daily life, the weapons, an interactive naval battle and the uniforms--arranged so that one could feel as if s/he were actually marching alongside the soldiers on their way to battle. Additional popular highlights were the exhibits on propaganda, the “gueules cassées”, artificial limbs, and vehicles (such as the famous Battle of the Marne taxi). A short film about camouflage techniques and tricks was another big hit. In short, 99% of the students said that the museum is a “must-see” and worth the trip. All in all, the kids clearly learned a lot and it was a day well spent.However, I must add a word regarding the awful attitude of some of the museum staff towards younger visitors. I’d be the first to admit that my students are not perfect angels and I know that some of them were boisterous during their visit. However, I was shocked by the language and tone of voice used by some of the staff to address (my) students that day. In one case, I was walking past when a hands-on exhibit--a uniform jacket--fell down as one of my students inspected it. A guard immediately rushed over, yelling that the young man had deliberately pulled the jacket off the wall. Even more absurd was that the guard and I then got into a “he-did-it-on purpose-no-he-didn’t” verbal scuffle over the presumed guilt of this kid. What an absolute waste of time and a blemish on an otherwise perfect field trip!
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AndrewJ793
I am not a historian, however, I have undertaken some extensive reading concerning the BEF involvement up to the second battle of Yepes.Therefore, I was disappointed to discover that the exhibition was really only a collection of artefacts, whilst given no insights to the progress of the war and the deprivations endured. The only new insight that I gained was the French believe that WW1 was direct result of Prussian invasion in 1870 when great chunks of French territory were taken.In fact I would have given the museum only 2 stars if the temporary exhibit relating to the BEF had closed. Since the main exhibit has very little to offer a visitor from the UK.
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Zaniskull
Most of the exhibits are supposed to be the property of one man. The French Government constructed the building to display the artefacts. There is a comprehensive collection of uniforms and machinery etc. The history of the war is displayed in an open book at most of the exhibits and videos are on a loop at various points. Well worth seeing.
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Jclynes
We had a few days in Paris and decided to visit this museum on the first day a Monday afternoon as it seemed so interestingSo firstly getting there – on the face of it quite easy – train from Gare de L’Est to Meaux – you get the tickets by platforms 16/17 (where the trains depart) – probably easier to use the machines – waited ages at the counter – we picked up a timetable there also - there is only one train per hour at 51 past the hourOutside the station you need to find bus “M6” which is easy to find and the final stop is the museum which is easy to see, but there is only one bus per hour – there did appear to be other buses going to the museum, but not sure if they take a longer route. One other reviewer talked about walking but it’s quite a long way.They give you a plan of the museum which is worth looking at, to make sure that you see everything, and don’t miss the final special exhibition on the British contribution, on the way out which we nearly walked past !Our only complaint was that most of the captions apart from the introductions to the various sections were only in FrenchIt took us 2.5 hours to see everything so do leave enough time, and be warned if you bring your own lunch there is nowhere inside to eat it – the café people don’t like you using their tablesThere are free lockers as you go in for bags / coats etcOther write-ups talked about school parties – yes there were a number of these, but they were a reasonably small size and did not disrupt our visit.On our way back we walked round Meaux and visited the Cathedral which is worthy doingSo well worthwhile a visit
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gerrygilly
During our recent trip to Paris with friends we kept up our tradition of one cultural event each year. This time we selected this museum to visit. The website gives good travel options. We got train from Gare de L'Est (about 25/30 mins) then a bus from outside station (not very frequent). Remain on bus to the end of the line.The exhibition is very well laid out with good information in three languages on most exhibits. It gives a good flavour of what soldiers and indeed civilians had to endue during this tragic period. I like odd pieces of information and was struck by the data on the volume of letters and parcels delivered by the French (?) Postal authorities each day - amazing. - look out for it.The variety of combatants from all over the world was also very interesting. It really was a "World" War.
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AnnG557
this museum is the result of one local man's collection. There are many, many uniforms from all nations who participated. Of special note are vehicles that played an important part in the war such as the Paris taxi that took soldiers to the front, the mobile kitchen and the pigeon carrying trucks. One thing to note, this place is widely popular with school groups so it can get crowded and noisy. If this is a concern, consider visiting on the weekend b
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CJeremyL
We were a party of 46 family members that I was guiding in conjunction with a battlefield tour of where one of their relations had been killed 100 years earlier. It was quite the best museum we had come across in our 3 days touring Ypres and the Somme. From the time we entered this impressive site, glancing over the shoulder at the sound of galloping hooves and gun fire to our rear, the attention of all was guaranteed from teenagers to octogenarians. The displays were outstanding. The only drawback was the queue for food but there is an email address where you can discuss/place food orders in advance - lecafedesheros@gmail.com. The girl's name is Francoise. Allow at least an hour for the museum.
