Mark your calendars! Nuit des Musées, the free, not-to-be-missed evening that celebrates art and culture in the heart of museums from dusk onwards, is back on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Paris and the Île-de-France region. A unique opportunity to discover the permanent collections and temporary exhibitions from another angle, in an atmosphere that is often different and surprising. On the program for this exceptional night, museums offer special activities, artistic performances, screenings, lectures and guided tours. Nuit des Mus ées is a truly immersive experience, bringing together enthusiasts and the curious to experience art in an original and entertaining way.
Nuit des Musées 2024 highlights the finest Parisian institutions, as well as the cultural treasures nestled just a few transilien stations away from the capital. One of these, the Musée de la batellerie et des voies navigables in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine ( 78), located on the banks of the Seine, is an emblematic site ofFrench river history. The building is entirely dedicated to the world of boatmen, the men who for centuries transported goods on France's rivers and canals. With models, tools, photographs and period documents, the museum takes you back in time to the days when barges and scows reigned supreme on the waterways. It also invites you to discover the trades, traditions and skills that have shaped the history of river navigation in France.
Never heard of it? Take advantage of thenocturnal event to drop in and take part in the free activities!
Why are we so drawn to water that we want to jump in at the slightest opportunity? Because the pleasure of water is innate in human beings, and bathing takes us back to our origins. And if today, the sea and its beaches are particularly attractive for enjoying the pleasures of water, we've forgotten that before being salty, the water of our first water sports was fresh.
The exhibition is organized by the Musée de la Batellerie de Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, which is once again stepping outside its walls to offer you the chance to discover its riches: among the almost two hundred items on display you'll see a wealth of illustrations, including engravings by Daumier, photographs, drawings, caricatures and even tickets for floating baths, the ancestors of our swimming pools. Through this exhibition, we learn that rivers, in the last century and up to the 1950s, were the privileged space where entire generations learned to swim, fish, canoe and take part in water sports. At the turn of the century, people went to the river beaches around Paris, just as they do today to Deauville. Having your own canoe, steering your own boat, swimming, fishing in the open water, having lunch on the grass, drinking and dancing in the guinguettes - that's what Sundays in the countryside were all about, just a stone's throw from Paris. It's also thanks to the rivers that mankind has received a nautical education and invented increasingly sophisticated technical means, from angling to water sports and canoeing, all with the aim of increasing their pleasure and sensations on the water.
Frédéric Delaive
Free tours of the inland waterways museum.
This year, the museum welcomes two musicians from the George Gershwin municipal conservatory: saxophonist Louis Hognon and trumpeter Hyacinthe Ameline.
They will perform 4 mini-concerts: 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm.
Self-guided tours of the large Gothic cellar and its collection of boats
Dates and Opening Time
On May 18th, 2024
Location
Inland waterways museum
3 Place Jules Gévelot
78700 Conflans Sainte Honorine
Access
Line J Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
Prices
Free
Official website
www.musee-batellerie-conflans.fr
