| The excellent Musée Calvet, 65 rue Joseph-Vernet (daily except Tues 10am–1pm & 2–6pm; €6), and the impressive eighteenth-century palace housing it, has been undergoing gradual restoration and transformation for the past several years. Although several rooms on the ground floor remain closed to the public, the majority of the collection is now on display, beginning with the Galerie des Sculptures. A better introduction to a museum couldn't be wished for, with a handful of languorous nineteenth-century marble sculptures, including Bosio's Young Indian, perfectly suited to this elegant space. The end of the gallery houses the Puech collection with a large selection of silverware, Italian and Dutch paintings and, more unusually, a Flemish curiosities cabinet, painted with scenes from the story of Daniel. Upstairs is a fine set of seasons by Nicolas Mignard, whilst Joseph Vernet sticks to representing the different times of the day. Further down, Horace Vernet donated the subtle Death of Young Barra by Jacques-Louis David as well as Géricault's Battle of Nazareth. On the way out don't miss the Victor Martin collection, including Vlaminck's At the Bar, Bonnard's Winter Day and the haunting Downfall by Chaïm Soutine. The rest of the eclectic collection – from an Egyptian mummy of a five-year-old boy to intricate wrought-iron work, taking in along the way Gallo-Roman pots and Gothic clocks – is due to be on show again by 2004. Avignon's remaining museums are considerably less compelling. Next door to the Musée Calvet is the Musée Requien (Tues–Sat 9am–noon & 2–6pm; free); its subject is natural history and its sole advantage is in being free and having clean toilets. With little more to recommend it is the Musée Lapidaire, a museum of Roman and Gallo-Roman stones housed in the Baroque chapel at 27 rue de la République (daily except Tues 10am–1pm & 2–6pm; April–Oct €2, Nov–March free). Finally, at the Musée Vouland, at the end of rue Victor-Hugo near Porte St-Dominique (Tues–Sat: May–Oct 10am–noon & 2–6pm; Nov–April 2–6pm; €4), you can feast your eyes on the fittings, fixtures and furnishings that French aristocrats enjoyed both before and after the Revolution. There's also some brilliant Moustiers faïence, exquisite marquetry and Louis XV ink-pots with silver rats holding the lids.
| 
