In 1862 a great French impressionism composer was born in St-Germain-en-Laye, a suburb of Paris. His birth house is now a museum (and the town’s tourist info center: 38, rue au Pain). Debussy is one of my most favorite composers and while I was in Paris I had to go visit this museum.
It was just about a 20 minute train ride from the center of Paris (RER A1 to the end of the line) and was very accessible.
The town has a castle called Château-Vieux, which Louis VI built in the 12th century. Louis XIV was born in St-Germain-en-Laye and he loved this castle.
It was just about a 20 minute train ride from the center of Paris (RER A1 to the end of the line) and was very accessible.
The town has a castle called Château-Vieux, which Louis VI built in the 12th century. Louis XIV was born in St-Germain-en-Laye and he loved this castle.
Now, back to the topic; here is the museum/tourist info center! It's within a five-minute walk from the train stop and the castle.
Debussy’s parents had a ceramic store here and the family lived here until Claude was two years old. The museum offers his personal belongings.
His family portraits and his own walking cane
His concert attire when he conducted
Collection of Asian art (French impressionism was influenced by Asian art) and other personal belongings
His manuscripts; you see how neatly he wrote? You can tell a lot about each composer by looking at their manuscripts.
His death mask
And apparantly he was obsessed with frogs! There were two big frog figurines in the museum.
