Ah, But Cost is Relative

The New York Times has an article in Sunday's paper called “Affordable Europe”. Writers panned across Europe collecting tips to assist Americans in saving a few dollars when paying for a hotel, having a bite to eat or attending a cultural event.

Naturally I turned to the list on Paris. And found this puzzling statement: “Museums in Paris are expensive”.

Both J and I were a bit surprised by this statement. Granted, we did not go into too many museums, be we did not find the ones we frequented to be any higher than some of the places we visited in the United States.

In the interest of a fairness I collected the admission costs for some of the major museums, zoos and monuments of New York, Pittsburgh and Paris. Inclusion in the list was based on where I have been or wanted to go, so it is rather biased.

New York:

• Bronx Zoo - $12.00
• Brooklyn Museum of Art - $6.00
• Central Park Zoo - $3.50
• The Frick Collection - $10.00
• Metropolitan Museum of Art - $10.00
• Museum of Modern Art - $10.00
• Three Words: Monet's Water Lilies
• Pierpont Morgan Library - $8.00
• My grandmother took me to the library as a high school student to see an exhibition of water color sketches. It was part of my birthday present in which she took me to all the major art museums in New York.
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum - $12.00
• The Statue of Liberty – $11.50 (Ferry)
• Whitney Museum of American Art - $10.00
• I loved the circus diorama.

Pittsburgh:

• Carnegie Museum of Art & Carnegie Museum of Natural History - $10.00
• The Dinosaur Hall is currently undergoing renovations.
• Carnegie Science Center - $14.00
• Children's Museum of Pittsburgh - $8.00
• Fallingwater - $16.00
• Absolutely beautiful building and well worth the price. The grounds are amazing.
• National Aviary - $8.00
• Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium - $9.00
• The Andy Warhol Museum - $10.00
• My favorite Pittsburgh museum. I love the silver clouds and the curators mount all sorts of interesting and politically relevant exhibits. Highlights so far have been Without Sanctuary and an exhibit on banned Editorial Cartoons. The exhibition of clown paintings was terrifying.

Paris:

• Arc de Triomphe - $10.00
• We toured the monument during an exhibition of photographs taken in the days leading up to the Liberation of Paris and the return of Charles de Gaulle. It was fascinating to see the same scene taken at the same moment from the perspective of different photographers. The film footage of de Gaulle re-entering the city made me cry.
• Catacombes de Paris - $6.00
• Very, very cool.
• Centre Georges Pompidu - $8.60
• We never made it inside. We got distracted by the fountain, the church and all the people. But the outside was worth the walk.
• Chateau de Versailles - $25.75
• We went to Chartes instead. It was free.
  
• Cite des Sciences et de L'Industrie – La Villette - $9.25
• Museum National D'Histoire Naturelle – Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes (Paris Zoo) - $7.50
• Musee Baccarat - $3.00
• Our attempt to visit this museum was proof that an out-of-date guidebook can be hazardous. Between the time the book was published and our trip the museum moved to a new location, near a set of Middle Eastern embassies. We finally found the place, only to discover that it was closed that day.
• Musee D'Orsay - $8.60
• I was charged the student rate. Yay!
• Musee du Louvre - $10.50
• I actually managed to visit the Louvre without seeing the Mona Lisa. I feel no shame, either.
• Tour Eiffel - $5.00 - $13.25
• Never went up. The line was two hours long and I can think of ten better things to do in Paris on a sunny afternoon than wait in line.