Explora, the Permanent Exhibitions
Universcience · Since 1986, galleries renewed regularly
The two upper floors of the Cité are given over to Explora, a run of large themed galleries that together form the permanent exhibition. The photograph shows the first level with a helicopter hanging beside the walkway, a good sign of the scale on which the museum works. Each gallery takes a subject and surrounds you with it: the origins of the universe told with models, films and real meteorites; the workings of the brain and the senses; genetics and the living body; mathematics explained through puzzles and giant models; the physics of sound; light and optical illusions; energy, climate and the oceans; robots and artificial intelligence; and the story of innovation and industry.
The style is deliberately hands on. You are expected to press, pull, spin, listen and test yourself, and the best experiences are the simplest: standing in a room that plays with your sense of balance, hearing your own voice with a delay, solving a soap film problem with a wire frame. Look for the real objects among the interactives, which include historical instruments, aircraft, space hardware and industrial machines lent by manufacturers and research institutes. Explanations are in French and English throughout.
Explora has been rebuilt piece by piece since 1986, so that some galleries are only a few years old while others are due for renewal, and a large space is always reserved for temporary exhibitions that run for a year or more. The planetarium sits within this area on level 2, with an eight K laser projection system and shows on the solar system, black holes and the night sky, included in the ticket but requiring a reserved seat. Give Explora at least three hours and choose a handful of themes; trying to see all of it in one visit defeats even the most energetic families.
Did You Know? The Cité's planetarium projects its sky with ten laser video projectors, producing an image far sharper than the old star ball machines.
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