Molière made fun of the bourgeois gentilhomme, the middle-class man who aspired to the class of his royal betters, but the playwright would have been in awe of Comte Moïse de Camondo, whose sense of style, grace, and refinement could have taught the courtiers at Versailles a thing or two. After making a fortune in the late 19th century, the businessman built this grand hôtel particulier (mansion) in the style of the Petit Trianon and proceeded to furnish it with some of the most exquisite furniture, boiseries, and bibelots of the mid- to late 18th century. But this promising family -- a wife, son, and daughter -- unraveled in the decades that followed. The wife ran off, and the son, Nissim, was killed in World War I. Upon Count Moïse's death, in 1935, the house and its contents were given to the state to be kept as a museum dedicated to the lost son. A few years later the daughter and her family were killed in Auschwitz. Today the wealthy matrons of Paris have made this museum their own, and it is an impeccable tribute to its founder's life, from the gleaming salons and the porcelain cabinets stuffed with Sèvres to the displayed letters of condolence. In 2003 the complete private apartments opened to the public. COST: EUR4.57. Métro: Villiers.