Le Musée des Vampires — the Vampire Museum

This is as close as I got; the entrance to Le Musée des Vampires. (Click for larger version.)

14, Rue Jules David, 93000 Les Lilas
Phone: 01 43 62 80 76
Métro: Mairie des Lilas, Porte des Lilas
Website

The Musée des Vampires is a vampire museum just on the outer edge of Paris. It's a bit complicated to visit, especially for non-French speakers. I tried to visit the museum this afternoon and failed, but hopefully I'll be able to try again sometime soon.

By appointment only!

All of the sources I found online mention that the museum is open daily from 12:30pm to 8pm, but they don't all make it perfectly clear that you must have an appointment to visit. So, what they really mean is that you can make an appointment to visit between 12:30pm and 8pm.

Making an appointment is little complicated, as the main phone number listed (01 43 62 80 76) seems to never be answered; you just get a recorded message in French, listing the hours and also giving a cell phone number — 06 20 12 28 32 — which you can call to make an appointment.

Anyway, as you may have guessed, I did my research online and went to the museum without an appointment. I'd read that there was a tour at 12:30pm, so I arrived a couple minutes before, but found that the place was locked up.

I later did some deeper research online and was able to confirm that appointments are required, of course. I was also surprised to finally hit a few pages in English about the museum, as the majority of the info to be found is, understandably, in French. That makes me a bit optimistic that the guy who runs the place speaks English. So I think if you're a vampire fan and visiting Paris, the good news is that you'll probably be able to call that second phone number and make an appointment in English with the proprietor. I'm very eager to see this place myself and I definitely want to help make it as un-complicated as possible for other anglophones. So whenever I finally get to visit, I'll ask the guy if he's okay with people calling and making reservations in English, and I'll update this article with my findings.

The Musée des Vampires sounds and looks extremely cool from the info I've found online, and I hope I get to check it out someday soon! If you're interested in going, just make sure you plan your visit very carefully so you don't run into the same problems I did.

Getting there

As I mentioned, the Musée des Vampires is not technically in Paris! But it's very close and very easy to get to. The museum is located in Lilas, just on the edge of Paris, and is still accessible by the Paris Métro; it's just a 15-minute Métro ride from the center of town (I checked!). However, if your map of Paris only includes Paris proper, you might arrive at your Métro stop and find that you have no idea how to locate the museum. Here are some simple directions...

The closest Métro station to the museum is Porte des Lilas, but I recommend going one station further, to Mairie des Lilas, as the walk from there to the museum is much simpler. So, exit the Métro at Mairie des Lilas, and turn around to face the opposite direction that the staircase was going. You'll see the Mairie, the town hall, in front of you and on the left. Walk past the Mairie and keep going straight; you'll be on the Rue de Paris. In a couple streets, turn left on Rue des Bruyères. Walk straight for a few streets and turn right on Rue Jules David, and the museum is number 14, on the right. Now, the entrance to the museum isn't here! It's around back. Keep walking on Rue Jules David and take your first right, onto Rue Chassagnolle. Soon you'll see a small alley on the right, with an "M" and an arrow painted on the wall at the corner. The entrance to the museum is in this alley. Walk down the alley a bit, and you'll find a red door on the right side marked simply "Musée." You're there! Come, enter freely and of your own will... (If you have an appointment.)

Tickets and hours

Once again, the Musée des Vampires is open by appointment only. Appointments can be made for any day of the week between 12:30pm and 8pm. Tours (presumably only in French, but feel free to ask about English!) are available at 12:30pm, 3pm, 7:30pm.

Admission to the musée is €7.

Good luck!