Louis Braille's birthplace (also known as the museum) is located at Coupvray, in Seine-et-Marne, a dozen kilometers southwest of Meaux.
Louis Braille (1809-1852) was born in this 18th century peasant house typical of Brie, at the bottom of the village. In 1956, it was transformed into a museum and then protected as a historical monument.
Son of a saddler, Louis Braille suffered an accident there at the age of 3 and became blind at the age of 5. In 1819, Louis Braille, who had already "invented" an alphabet in relief, left his family for the Royal Institution for the Young Blind in Paris, a school founded by Valentin Haüy in 1785. He became a teacher there at the age of 17. Soon, he perfected a system by Charles Barbier de la Serre and developed a complete alphabet, including punctuation marks, numbers and mathematical symbols and even musical notes...
However, all his life, he will have pleasure to come to spend his holidays in his family home of Coupvray.
Today, the site is managed by the World Organization for the Blind, the French Louis Braille Committee and the municipality of Coupvray, owner of the house.
The site visit allows you to discover the common room on the ground floor, a typical Brie living room, where the family lived. Next door is the workshop where part of the furniture and tools related to this craft are kept.
Upstairs, a room overlooking the garden where Louis Braille liked to come to rest has been preserved. The rest of the places present inventions related to "braille writing".
In addition, outdoors, a Garden of the Five Senses has been set up which invites visitors to explore all the senses. Each bed stimulates a specific sense (smell, taste, touch and sight) and hearing is stimulated by the flow of water and the rustle of the wind in the leaves. More than 150 varieties of plants have been chosen on purpose.
The whole is now labeled "Maison des Illustres".
From April to September: open every day except Monday and Tuesday. From October to March, also closed on Fridays (except for groups). Price: from 5 to 7 euros. Information on +33 1 60 04 82 80.
