Cité Nationale de l'Histoire de l'Immigration - Palais de la Porte Dorée

Cité Nationale de l'Histoire de l'Immigration - Palais de la Porte Dorée review

Immigration in New York is commemorated on Ellis Island, in Québec at the Musée de la Civilisation. So what of the Paris region? Well, there's Parc Astérix - proof that all Frenchmen are descendants of Astérix the Gaul, right? Wrong.

The French ministry of culture has finally chosen to celebrate the ethnological diversity of France's population and render homage to the immigrants that made the mighty Gaul what it is today with a spanking new museum - the Cité Nationale de l'Histoire de l'Immigration. Set in the stunning, colonial-themed Palais de la Porte Dorée (built in 1931 for the World Colonial Fair and the former home of many primitive arts exhibits now on show in the Musée du Quai Branly), the permanent collections trace over 200 years of history via a series of thought-provoking images (film and photography), everyday objects (suitcases, accordions, sewing machines and so on) and artworks that symbolise the struggles immigrants had to face when integrating into French society.

Look out for Bathélémy Toguo's giant bunk-bed installation, Climbing Down - a humorous take on the precarious accommodation in which some immigrants are forced to live; and don't miss the permanent exhibition area, Repères (bearings), that looks at why many immigrants chose France, the problems they faced upon arrival, and the way sport, work, language, religion and culture can ease integration. One of the most moving areas is the Galerie des Dons - a collection of personal memorabilia donated by individuals whose families came from foreign countries.

At the end, head downstairs to see some real-life immigrants from the animal kingdom. The palace's aquarium has been preserved and still displays a small collection of fish, turtles and crocodiles.