Museums of Palais de Chaillot

Begin your morning in the underground galleries of the Paris Aquarium beneath the Trocadéro Gardens, where 13,000 marine creatures — including 36 sharks and one of Europe's largest jellyfish collections — inhabit 82 tanks carved into a former 19th-century quarry. Step outside onto the sweeping esplanade of the Palais de Chaillot, a 1937 Art Deco masterpiece whose curved wings frame the most iconic frontal view of the Eiffel Tower in the city. Inside the palace's Passy wing, the Musée de l'Homme traces human evolution from the 7-million-year-old Toumaï fossil to modern civilization through 1,800 artifacts and interactive displays. Cross to the east wing for the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, the world's largest architecture museum, where full-scale medieval casts and a walk-through Le Corbusier apartment span nine centuries of French building design. Finish at the nearby Musée Guimet, home to 60,000 works of Asian art including Gandharan Buddhist sculptures and the finest Tibetan collection in Europe. All museums except the aquarium are closed on Tuesdays; booking aquarium tickets online in advance saves up to 20%.