Hôtel Biroll, 77 rue de Varenne, 7e. Rodin spent the last ten years of his life (1840-1917) working in the ground floor studio of this former wig maker’s mansion and convent near Les Invalides (www.musee-rodin.fr). The lovely gardens provide a marvellous backdrop for larger pieces such as Le Penseur (The Thinker), Les Bourgeois de Calais and The Three Shades (see photo).. The interior is crowded with superb sculptures in stone, bronze and clay – the smooth white marble caress of Le Baiser, the spiritual simplicity of the hands forming La Cathédrale, and life-like quality of L’Age de I’Airain, so convincing that critics accused Rodin of casting the young man from a live model. Recent renovations have expanded the collection on display and added works by other sculptors.