The Picasso museum certainly has staying power; it opened in 1985 and shows no signs of losing its immense popularity. The building itself, put up between 1656 and 1660 for financier Aubert de Fontenay. The mansion was restored by the French government as a permanent home for the pictures, sculptures, drawings, prints, ceramics, and assorted works of art given to the government by Picasso's heirs after the painter's death in 1973 in lieu of death duties. It's the largest collection of works by Picasso in the world -- none of his masterpieces, but instead "Picasso's Picassos," all works kept and sentimentally valued by Picasso himself. There are pictures from every period of his life: a grand total of 230 paintings, 1,500 drawings, and nearly 1,700 prints, as well as works by Cézanne, Joan Miró, Renoir, Braque, Degas, and Matisse. The scuffed yet palatial surroundings of the Hôtel Salé add to the pleasures of a visit. COST: EUR5.50, EUR6.70 for temporary exhibits plus permanent collection, Sun. EUR4, free 1st Sun. of month. Métro: St-Sébastien.