The Mineralogy Gallery at the National Museum of Natural History here has been closed for a millllllion years. But now, it is open, and that is amazing.

I love the National Museum of Natural History above all and any others here. The Louvre? The Musee d’Orsay? Pass and pass. Whatevs! The natural history museum—hereafter referred to by its French acronym, the MNHN—is magic. Walk down the street at the right time, and you can look into its galleries from the sidewalk and see dinosaurs. Magic. And of course, the MNHN surrounds my absolute favorite place in Paris: the Jardin des Plantes. I love the Jardin des Plantes so much that I tried to find an apartment next to it—which of course was impossible, but I tried. It is the right first stop on anyone’s trip to Paris, unless that person is an ogre, or someone who objects terribly to loveliness and flowers and being happy.

Anyway: the Mineralogy Gallery has been closed literally since those dinosaurs roamed the actual Earth—but it reopened last month. I’m sorry these pictures are so terrible—it’s dark inside! And honest to goodness my camera was shaking because I was so happy to be there. Gems, minerals, gold, dinosaurs: Is there really a better way to spend the afternoon?

The Galerie de Minéralogie et de Géologie, 6€
10 – 5, closed on Tuesdays