The Musee des Arts et Metiers is Paris's great museum of invention, industry, and applied science. Its collection grew out of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, founded in 1794 to preserve scientific instruments and technical models.
Expect early aircraft, clocks, cameras, engines, measuring devices, machines, and design objects rather than paintings. The setting is part of the drama: some of the largest pieces stand inside the former priory church of Saint-Martin-des-Champs.