If your children have saltwater in their veins, you may want to take them to this museum. Old ship models abound, like the galley La Réale, the Royal-Louis, the ivory Ville de Dieppe, the gorgeous Valmy, and a barge built in 1811 for Napoleon I, used to carry Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie on their visit to Brest in 1858. You'll find some souvenirs of explorer Laperouse's wreck on Vanikoro Island in 1788 as well as many documents and artifacts concerning merchant fishing and pleasure fleets, oceanography, and hydrography, with films illustrating the subjects. Thematic exhibits explain ancient wooden shipbuilding and the development of scientific instruments.