Paris:- Wednesday, 22. January 1997:- After playing hide and seek with me for a couple of weeks, the Musée de la Musique turned up in Monday's edition of Le Parisien. The paper reported that 3,000 visitors flooded the museum over the weekend; for its opening on Saturday and over Sunday.

I believe what I read in newspapers so I ride all the way out to the Porte de Pantin today to be a visitor too.

Coming out of the métro - on the Villette side - to the left is the - is the 'Conservatoire de Paris' building, in the big space in front is the Fountain des Lions with the Grande Halle behind - which is like a super-large modern 'Les Halles'-like stockyard of a building - and to the left, the new 'Cité de la Musique' or 'Musée' building, which swoops up to the boulevard Sérurrier, up at the Porte de Pantin proper.

The whole complex, with the Canal d'Ourcq slicing through it and including the Cité des Sciences, is called the Parc de la Villette - or simply 'Villette' for short. Remember this: the métro stop Porte de la Villette is for the 'Science' and the métro Porte de Pantin is for 'Musique.' If you get them mixed up, it is a long walk to the other one - but there is a covered walkway for the entire distance called the 'Galerie de la Villette.'

So much for geography; but I have to mention it because there is really a lot of it; 55 hectares in all.

'In the beginning there was the Conservatoire,' which may be as surprising to you as it is to me, but history often starts 'at the beginning.' The Conservatoire, for teaching and playing music, was started like a lot of things in France, by decree, on 3. August 1795. It was also decreed that there be a library and a collection of antique instruments, plus instruments to serve as - I don't know - for playing, I guess.

We skip blithely to the 1960's when 2,600 objects are in the collection and when Geneviève Thibault de Chambure and Georges-Henri Rivière decided to figure out how the instrumental museum could become the museum of music. In 1966 the 'authorities' rejected the Hôtel de Beauvais as a proposed location and it wasn't until 1979 when the Villette site was finally selected. To cut a long museo-bureaucratical story short, the purpose and scope of the new museum was fixed in 1991 - and the idea of including non-European music was added.

This morning, when I attempted to alert the museum of my intended tour, I was only able to listen to a robot - so I came out here without an engraved invitation. The result is I get no permission to take photos, and I do not intend to do the tour without this permission. Instead I get the press release the museum promised but did not send last week, and I get two of their 'archive' photos.

I do tour the public space and it is ample and high and quite zoomy, with a nice variety of materials used. There is a trick thing like a giant pinball bumper that you can 'play' sounds on and there are a couple of what look like antenne hanging from on high and one is vibrating, but I do not know if it is intentional. There are also interior windows to other interior spaces, and there is a little café bar too. To the right, outside the entrance, there is a large-looking café as well.

According to Le Parisien, and I confirmed this today, visitors who do the tour of the museum are given cordless headphones and as they pass the displays of the various instruments they hear the instruments played.

One of Le Parisien's readers said that these excerpts were too short and since there are many of them it is like an audio salad. One reason for brevity, is so that visitors keep moving along - because the museum tour has limited capacity. However, as soon as visitors depart, new ones are allowed to enter. I have seen this done at Beaubourg too, and like there, the queue area is covered.

The 'muséographique' program goes like this: Italian Baroque, Versailles court music, Parisian of the opera and 'salons,' public concerts, romantique orchestra, 'grand' opera, a 'universal' exposition and the 20th century - and all this is all about music from the 17th century to the present.

There is also a documentation centre, for both specialists and the general public. The museum's cultural service runs a vast variety of complete programs for every sort of visitor, and there is a 230-seat music hall, that has been treated to the latest in acoustical engineering and air conditioning.

Experience has shown that antique musical instruments do not stand up to being played by all comers. Antique instruments that are playable are used in concerts given in the music hall - and those that are too delicate to play, have faithfully copied replacements to cover for them.

I am not sure about this, but if you are an expert clavecin player and let the museum know you are coming about six months in advance, they might let you play one of their faithful copies, but the general public should forget trying this.

Looking at the musical program for the next two months or so, I do not recognize any names - names of composers, musicians or names of pieces. This looks like Serious Music City and if you are passionately interested in hearing this sort of music, I suggest you request a copy the program from the address pr contact numbers below.

There is one exception to the above - the 'Rita Mitsouko,' a group which will be appearing the 21, 22 and 23 February in the Salle des Concerts. Catherine and Fred are not your everyday pop-rock group.

For one thing, they've been around 15 years. For another thing, this Catherine can sing - not wispy little chansons - but stunning rock-arias in front of fantastical orchestrations; composed I imagine, by Fred, who usually stands fairly solemnly playing guitar and who occasionally puts on a light smile about once every 18 months if he hits a good lick or Catherine starts shattering crystal - but I suppose you know this.

The 'Rita Mitsouko,' doing their contemporary Americo-Afro- Euro reparatory, will be backed by the 'Fabulous Trobadors' from Toulouse, who do French folk-blues 'from the south,' from the Land of Oc. I do not think this is usual Cité de la Musique fare, so don't miss it.

I have been looking through past issues for the Salon de la Musique - but I find I covered it back in 1995, for The Paris Pages. This salon featured new instruments and included a lot of acoustic varieties, made by hand in France. If I remember correctly, 'music' is sometimes 'attached' to other salons.

For this year, I find 'Musicora,' the International Classic Music Salon - to be scheduled from 24 to 28. April, at the Cité de la Musique. The 'Music'Expo 97' may be attached to the Foire de Paris, held at the end of April. All this is beyond my calendar of coming events, so watch for updates in Metropole.

Information about the Cité de la Musique

221. Avenue Jean-Jaurés, Paris 19 Métro stop: Porte de Pantin - line 5, direction Bobigny. Bus lines: PC, 151 and the 75, from Pont Neuf.

There is underground parking beneath the Cité; the entrance is on the avenue Jean-Jaurés, by taking the interior road immediately after the bus stop at the Porte de Pantin intersection.

Opening times: from Tuesday to Saturday, from 12:00 to 18:00; Friday evenings until 21:30. Open Sundays from 10:00 to 18:00 and closed all day Mondays.

Information and Reservations: 01 44 84 44 84, or robot responses, 01 44 84 45 45. Locally also Minitel, code 3615 citemusique.

Permanent Exposition: same hours and days as the Cité; no entries allowed less than 45 minutes before closing. Reservations not necessary. Group visits only in mornings, only by reservation - tel. 01 44 84 46 46. Entry charges: under six years, free; from six to 18, ten francs; adults 35 francs - reduced, 24 francs. Visits with commentary: under six years, free; from six to 18, 20 francs; adults 59 francs - reduced, 48 francs.

The Cinéma au Musée: full price, 30 francs; reduced, 20 francs.

Salle des Concerts and Ampithéâtre du Musée - see programs on site, or contact the Paris Tourist Office, reservation service: tel.: 01 49 52 53 53. Information about groups, from the site: tel.: 01 44 84 45 71.

Entry tickets range in price from 20/35 france up to 170/200 francs. Tickets can be purchased three weeks before an event, directly at the Cité, or they can be ordered by phone up until 20:00, until 18:00 on Mondays and Sundays. Tel.: 01 44 84 44 84 (This is the 24-hour, daily 'robot' service.)

It is possible to attend rehearsals, if you have an entry ticket to the featured attraction. Reservation: tel.: 01 44 84 44 84.

Centre de Recherche et de Documentation; Tuesday to Saturday, from 12:00 to 18:00. Sign up be phone at 01 44 84 46 09.

Centre d'Information Musique et Danse; same hours as Cité, except closes 18:00 on Fridays. No entry charge. Minitel info codes: 3615 musique and 3615 danse.

Teacher's Mediathèque; from Monday to Saturday, from 12:00 to 18:00. Tel.: 01 44 84 46 77.

For most activities at the Cité de la Musique, there are various discount or multiple-entry formulas; and there are all-day family prices offering considerable savings.

Book shop - Boutique: same days and hours as Cité. No entry charge; info: tel.: 01 59 19 90 23.

Café de la Musique, open every day from 8:00 to 02:00. Tel.: 01 48 03 15 91.

Musée de la Musicque Web Site