You must visit, when you are
in France, the «Musée des antiquités nationales» (M.A.N.).

First, for bad reasons : this is the only way to see the inside of one of the main royal residences in French History. Saint Germain is also this wide «jardin à la française»
by Le Nôtre, who also made Versailles’one, and its terrace and splendid view on the Seine and Paris Defense arch. Last, for the visitor who is fond of roman things, it is the opportunity to discover top signs of what happened before, from the prehistoric times to Iron age.

Then the 'good reasons' :
Saint Germain, on Emperor Napoleon III’s will, has made itself the window of the archeological remains of French Nation, specially galloroman ones.

De facto, we find there remarkable pieces, as Saint Romain en Gal (on the Rhone river shore, in front of Vienne) beautiful ceramics. The galleries consacrated to the steles and gallo-roman deities will delight the visitors interested in epigraphy or in the complex relations between local and roman gods, or simply in these modest marks of life or love carved on the stone.

A skilled and available staff welcomes you, and you feel that it constantly wishes more and more for its home. This wish has been translated in a quality web site, even if this last one is not so rich in pictures.

Obviously, the Musée is at one of the main crossroads in its life. Its collections look old, specially if we compare them to the more recent French departemental or foreign museums (cf. Quirinus Jan. 2007 article on Regensburg, Germany). On this point, we feel that the emergence of new museums in province, these last years, near the excavation sites, has largely dryed up the source where the M.A.N. drew its pieces. Moreover, the whole pedagogy, the clearness and the global approach currently adopted by the most recent institutions has not yet touched Saint Germain, which also suffers of a chronocial lack of staff. This lack drives the M.A.N. to close its galleries in rotation, specially the ones devoted to Roman Gaul. The Alesia/Alise Sainte Reine gallery is, at last, closed for restoration with no certain date for its re-opening - not before 2008, have we been told!

So, the galloroman part of St Germain museum lacks the means that would help it realizing the necesary restoration which would valorize, thanks to a new dynamic approach, what remains a great gallo-roman collection.

No doubt that French State
will care not waiting 2017 and the 150 years birthday of the museum creation by Napoleon III (1867), in order to give the M.A.N. the whole place that it deserves among Roman world museums.

Castle, place Charles de Gaulle - 78105 St Germain en Laye cedex - t° 00.33.1.39.10.13.00 - open. ev. day from 9 am to 5 :15 pm, except on Tu., and open from May 1st to Sept. 30th. On Sa. Su. and holidays, et jrs fériés from 10 am to 6 :15 pm - 4,50 euros, 3 euros under 25 and on Su. For all, free for the under 18, undemployed ppl and on the 1st Sun of every month. RER A, st. St Germain en Laye. Web : www. musee-archeologienationale.fr.

P. Memmius Albucius