Paris’s Pompidou is closing – visit these six overlooked museums instead

The Maison Européenne de la Photographie contains work from some of the world’s best-known photographers - (Quentin Chevrier)

The Centre Pompidou, Europe’s largest contemporary and modern art collection, is as fundamental to Paris sightseeing landmarks as the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay or even the Eiffel Tower. The building itself is part of the attraction; often compared to an oil refinery or a container ship, it shocked the public when it opened in 1977.

I’ve always thought it looks more like a hamster cage, with thousands of daily visitors scuttling up the tube-like escalators on the outside of the museum to get one of the best views of Paris’s rooftops from the third floor.