Le Musée Nissim de Camondo is a display of the private collection of Moise de Camondo, a rich collector who donated his home to France upon the death of his son Nissim who was in the military. Moise was very interested in the style of the 18th century, even though he lived in the early 20th century, and the decorations of his house reflect this.

Porcelain on display in the museum.

Much of his furniture came from old royal collections, and many of the pieces have an interesting history. What was truly surprising about this house was the striking contrast between the 18th century style of the furniture and the 20th century amenities. The bathrooms were all done in tile, and had running water and toilets. They even contained heated towel racks, a product that is still common in bathrooms today. The juxtaposition between these two worlds was intriguing and serves as a testament to the goals of Moise.

The house of Moise de Camondo sits on the Parc Monceau, which we visited after the museum. The park was originally built to bring together many different cultures of the world. Each country or culture was represented in the décor and the goal was to have people think and mediate upon the word. The park was remade under Napoleon III and Hausmann, but it is still a very interesting place to walk around.

On the edge of the park we saw the house of the creator of Meunier chocolate, which used to be the greatest produce of chocolate in France. Meunier was an apothecary who first started selling chocolate to help customers take their foul-tasting medications. The company was eventually acquired by Nestle and is thus not as common today as it was many years ago. (-Alona and Tess)