The gilded salons here are important examples of Parisian baroque style, making the mansion a must-see for art historians. The mansion, now owned by the city, was built by Louis Le Vau in 1657, with decorations by Le Brun. Despite its name, the Hôtel de Lauzun was built for Charles Gruyn, a supplier of goods to the French army, who accumulated an immense fortune but landed in jail before the house was finished. In 1848 poet Théophile Gautier (1811-72) moved in, making it the meeting place of the Club des Haschischines (Hashish Eaters' Club); novelist Alexandre Dumas and painter Eugène Delacroix were both members. The club came to represent more than just a den of drug takers and gossips, for these men believed passionately in the purity of art and the crucial role of the artist as sole interpreter of the chaos of life. Art for art's sake -- the more refined and exotic the better -- was their creed. Anything that helped the artist to reach heightened states of perception was applauded. Somewhat later the revolutionary critic and visionary poet Charles Baudelaire (1821-67) had an apartment here, where he kept a cache of stuffed snakes and crocodiles and where he wrote a large chunk of Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil), his masterpiece. At this writing, being able to see all the gilding is a very long shot; the building is undergoing restoration until the spring of 2005 and is not generally open to the public except for special tours. COST: EUR4. Métro: Pont Marie.