Decorative Arts Center. A must for those with an eye for design, the decorative arts center in the northwestern wing of the Louvre building houses three famously chic museums. The Musée de la Mode, with its archives of clothing and accessories dating back to the 18th century, usually mounts shows devoted to a single theme or designer -- needless to say, the place is a second home to Paris's enormous fashion community. The Musée des Arts Décoratifs holds furniture, tapestries, glassware, paintings, and other necessities of life from the Middle Ages through Napoléon's time and beyond -- a highlight here are the sumptuous period-style rooms. (Until mid-2005 only the medieval and Renaissance rooms will be open to the public, as the rest will be undergoing renovations.) The rotating exhibits of advertising and posters in the Musée de la Publicité compete for attention with Jean Nouvel's brash decor -- described by one Paris critic as "hi-tech miserabalism" -- combining metal-plaqued walls with exposed brickwork and faded gilding, black-lacquered parquet floors, leopard-skin pillars, and a battery of TV monitors over the bar. Most exhibits in all three museums have info in English as well as French. COST: EUR6. Métro: Palais-Royal.