| The Palais de Chaillot was built in 1937 for the Exposition Universelle on a site that has been a ruler's favourite since Catherine de Médicis constructed one of her playpens there in the early sixteenth century. A bastardized modernist-Classical monster, it has acquired a forlorn air since the fire of 1996 and the decision to move the Cinemathèque to rue de Bercy. To add further insult, almost all of the Musée de l'Homme's (daily except Tues 9.45am–5.15pm; closed public hols; €5; M° Trocadéro) ethnographical collection has been moved across the river to Chirac's folly on quai Branly, leaving behind a depleted, old-fashioned version in the southern wing, which uses its dusty collection of tribal costumes, musical instruments and traditional tools and artwork to explain non-Western cultures. On the ground floor of the same wing, the Musée de la Marine (daily except Tues 10am–6pm; €7) traces French naval history using models of ships and their accoutrements. It's also home to the original Jules Verne trophy – awarded for non-stop round-the-world sailing – a hull-shaped streak of glass invisibly suspended by magnets within its cabinet. The northern wing of the palace is occupied by the Théâtre National de Chaillot, which stages diverse but usually radical productions under the central terrace. Planned for the same wing is the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, a combined institute, library and museum of architecture due to open in 2004. On the ground floor, giant plaster casts of sections of great French buildings will tell the story of French architecture from the Middle Ages through to the nineteenth century; upstairs will be the nineteenth- and twentieth-century galleries, with photographs, designs and original architectural models. The terrasse extending between the two wings is a popular hang-out for in-line skaters and souvenir vendors – and the place to plant yourself for the view across to the Eiffel Tower and the École Militaire.
| 
