A stunning, romantic tribute to French art nouveau designer René Lalique, the Musée Lalique harbours a collection assembling exquisite gem-encrusted and enamelled jewellery, perfume bottles, stoppers and sculpture. Complementing it are flower and wooded gardens, making the connection, as Lalique did, between art and the natural world. Located in the Northern Vosges, 60km north of Strasbourg, the museum can easily be visited on a half-day trip by taking the train to Wingen-sur-Moder (€10.30, 37 minutes). Alternatively, it’s an hour’s drive.
Opened on the site of the former Hochberg glassworks in July 2011, the museum affords wonderful insight into how Lalique drew on sinuous, naturalistic forms (flowers, insects, foliage) as well as the curvaceous female form in his work.