Musée du Jouet (Toy Museum)

Riom is a small historic town in the Puy-de-Dôme department of Auvergne, a few kilometres from Clermont-Ferrand, known for the dark stone of its old houses, which is cut from the volcanic rock of the area. The Musée du Jouet is a museum devoted to toys. Check the museum's own information for the content of the current displays.

Toys are a good way into social history. In France, the nineteenth century saw the rise of a toy industry. Porcelain-headed dolls from Paris makers such as Jumeau and Bru were exported around the world, tin toys and clockwork models spread through the shops, and later the model train became a fixture of childhood, with Meccano construction sets and electric railways appealing to boys and their fathers. After the Second World War, plastic changed everything, and the cheap mass-produced figures, cars and games of the 1950s and 1960s are now collectors' items. A toy museum typically shows this evolution, with dolls, soldiers, trains, cars, games and miniature furniture, and it often shows how the toys reflected the ideas of their day about children, gender, technology and war.

Visits are enjoyable for several generations at once. Children respond to the colours and the shapes, while parents and grandparents often recognise the playthings of their own youth, so the museum tends to be a place for conversation. Opening times depend on the season and on school holidays, with longer hours in July and August, and the museum is closed on certain public holidays, so check the schedule before you travel. Last entry is some time before closing.

Riom itself is worth an hour or two. The old centre is laid out around a few main streets of Renaissance mansions in dark stone, with a clock tower, the belfry, which offers a view over the roofs. The Église Saint-Amable and the Sainte-Chapelle, built for a medieval duke, are the main churches, and the Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle, a museum of lace, is another point of interest. A market is held several times a week.

The museum suits families, collectors and anyone who likes nostalgia, and it makes a good rainy-day stop for travellers staying in the Auvergne.