What it\u2019s like inside<\/p>\n
The opening show, Exposition G\u00e9n\u00e9rale, draws on the spirit of the building\u2019s past, referencing the exhibitions of the latest designs held by the pioneering Grands Magasins du Louvre, which was among the first buildings to have steam-powered lifts. <\/p>\n
Fitting, then, that one of the big show pieces is the giant textile work Muro en Rojos, by Olga de Amaral, made with hundreds of pieces of rust-coloured cloth woven with horse hair and emulating the Bogota rooftops of the artist\u2019s home city. It\u2019s dizzyingly wonderful.<\/p>\n
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Muro en Rojos by Colombian artist Olga de Amaral<\/p>\n
ALAMY<\/p>\n
This is not living room art. It has a message, though there is much beauty in the telling. Take the illustrations of animals by the artists of the Gran Chaco forest in the north of Paraguay, which is thought to have the highest deforestation rate in the world \u2014 they are full of charm, displaying a love of nature. Or the corridor of birdsong by Bernie Krause, Night Would Not Be Night Without the Cricket, a sound piece from 5,000 hours of recordings. It\u2019s transporting. While in Damien Hirst\u2019s thickly daubed Wonderful World Blossom, the paint is applied so chunkily, it looks good enough to eat.<\/p>\n
I was inspired, too, by the story of Sally Gabori, an Indigenous Australian artist who started painting in 2005 when she was in her early eighties. With it, she found a way to explore her heritage and homeland, Bentinck Island off the northern coast, which her people were forced to leave in the 1940s. She created almost 2,000 canvases before she died in 2015.<\/p>\n
When I come across the sculpture of a woman carrying a baby under her coat plus two carrier bags of shopping, I feel instant recognition. Woman with Shopping by Ron Mueck was inspired by a scene he saw on the streets of London. It \u201ctells a silent story of fatigue\u201d, the caption says. There is nothing silent about it. She is the embodiment of \u201cknackered mother\u201d. <\/p>\n
I sympathise with one onlooker who can watch no more of the data-driven installation Exit, which visualises the displacement of people as well as the impact of floods and deforestation via billions of scattering dots on a map of the world that spans a cinema screen. \u201cIt is too depressing,\u201d she announces. Thought-provoking, too.<\/p>\n
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The gallery can be difficult to navigate in places<\/p>\n
MARC DOMAGE<\/p>\n
Criticisms? It\u2019s easy to get lost and extremely difficult to find your way back to a work you may have liked to revisit. I can\u2019t always find explanations for the art to hand either.<\/p>\n
Tips? It\u2019s apparently quietest on a Tuesday and a friend agrees this is also the day the Metro dulls down. Maybe that\u2019s when the French WFH.Wo<\/p>\n
\u2022 23 of the best boutique hotels in Paris<\/a><\/p>\n I have a lot to digest come lunchtime. The nearby Caf\u00e9 Plume on Rue St Honor\u00e9 is reassuringly full of locals, some with carafes of red wine at tables for one. A couple of women are smoking on the terrace, one in a fabulous multicoloured coat with an image of Frida Kahlo on the back. The Parisians are still reassuringly Parisian (mains from \u00a315, cafeplume-paris.fr). <\/p>\n I\u2019m staying at the handily located and thematically appropriate Drawing Hotel, on Rue de Richelieu, a five-minute walk from the Fondation Cartier. There\u2019s a tempting Merci shop next door and I have to practise some self restraint not to purchase a candle in the shape of a garlic bulb or a baguette. <\/p>\n The Drawing Hotel, meanwhile, has an art concierge and each floor displays works by a different artist. There is a rooftop terrace, tucked up for winter.<\/p>\n Les Sph\u00e9rades water fountain by Pol Bury at the Palais-Royal<\/p>\n ALAMY<\/p>\n When I walk through the Palais-Royal (minutes away) on a Friday evening it\u2019s full of gleeful life, being used as a playground, with children scampering around the humbug bollards. <\/p>\n Even though it\u2019s central Paris<\/a>, there are authentic (and inexpensive) restaurants. \u00c0 l\u2019\u00c9pi d\u2019Or on Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, less than a ten-minute walk from my hotel, is your quintessential bistro. Tiny, rammed, moody lighting, moodier service, but you\u2019ll forgive it all for the food and the atmosphere. Charcuterie, perfectly dressed salads, classic croques, rice pudding (two courses from \u00a325). <\/p>\n The next day I stomp my way around a further five galleries (exhibitions are a much less expensive pursuit in Paris compared with London). My theme is contemporary art but I allow myself a dip into the Palais Galliera fashion museum to see the embroidery exhibition \u2014 which includes a velvet Balenciaga gown twinkling with jewels and a shimmering corset by Aur\u00e9lia Leblanc (adults \u00a312, palaisgalliera.paris.fr). <\/p>\n By the time I\u2019m on the Eurostar heading home, I\u2019ve clocked up six galleries, 22,000 steps, one shopping trip to Monoprix (very good children\u2019s clothes) and two fantastic croissants. Best of all I\u2019ve seen a vast breadth of creativity and, thanks to the Fondation Cartier, work by people from places I had never heard of. Next time you\u2019re in Paris, you don\u2019t need to do all six, but give this exciting new space a go. <\/p>\n This article contains affiliate links that will earn us revenue<\/p>\n Jenny Coad was a guest of the Fondation Cartier (\u00a313; fondationcartier.com<\/a>), and the Drawing Hotel, which has B&B doubles from \u00a3205<\/a> (drawinghotel.com). Take the Eurostar to Paris<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/\/95a418cf-f864-43a6-ab8f-16da8ec04c7a.jpg\")
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