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He still has the power to excite, exhilarate — and court controversy. Picasso's long-awaited, vastly over-budget museum reopens today after five years of renovation.

Housed in the Marais's 17th-century Hotel Sale — the former home of the salt-tax collector — it's an enormous, elegant space, and Picasso's work fills it to the rafters.

I had a sneak preview. There are 5,000 pieces, illustrating the breadth of his repertoire, from early paintings to found-object sculptures, collages and shocking nudes. The collection was given to Paris in 1979 — in lieu of inheritance tax — by Picasso's heirs.

A visitor stands in front of the painting 'Woman Throwing a Stone' and the sculptures (L-R) 'Head of a Woman', 'Bust of a Woman' and 'Bust of a Woman' by Spanish painter Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Picasso's painting 'Gustave Coquiot' was one of 400 pieces open for viewing at the museum re-opening

Housed in the Marais's 17th-century Hotel Sale — the former home of the salt-tax collector — it's an enormous, elegant space, and Picasso's work fills it to the rafters

Of his masterpieces, there are studies for Les Demoiselles D'Avignon (the finished work is in New York's Museum of Modern Art) and a series of photos by his lover Dora Maar showing the artist working on Guernica. Bull's Head, made from a bicycle seat, casts an eerie shadow, and Two Women Running On A Beach is sheer joy.

The quietly shattering cubist rendering of the Sacre Coeur is here. I particularly like the striking portrait of Dora Maar in lurid greens, yellows and streaks of coral.

The attic is given over to masters, including Renoir and Cezanne, as well as Picasso's contemporaries, such as his rival Matisse. You get a lot for your money — entry is just £8 — and there's something for everyone.

The museum should inspire you to delve further into Picasso's Parisian life. He arrived here, aged 19, in 1900, for the World's Fair, where his painting of a deathbed scene was on show. You can now dine in the Mini Palais in the Beaux Arts Grand Palais, built for the event. Picasso first settled in Montmartre — as seedy and provocative now as it was then. His studio in the Bateau Lavoir ('Laundry Boat') was destroyed by fire in 1970, but you can visit the site on Place Emile Goudeau. It doesn't look much and it was squalid in Picasso's day, which suited him in his scruffy overalls.

The simplistically-titled sculpture 'The Goat' can leave tourists mesmerised

Picasso's 'Massacre in Korea;' the collection was given to Paris in 1979 — in lieu of inheritance tax — by Picasso's heirs

Visitor look at the painting 'Seated Nude'

Here he painted Les Demoiselles D'Avignon and held a party for the artist Henri Rousseau, at which the critic Andre Salmon reportedly ate a hat and a box of matches. Below and above the Bateau Lavoir are the theatres where Picasso and Georges Braque spent their evenings — Picasso was apparently ejected from the Theatre Montmartre for throwing sausages.

The Moulin Rouge, that diminutive red windmill on the Boulevard de Clichy, continues to put on a show outside and in. The Moulin de la Galette, painted by Renoir and Picasso, is now a starched-looking restaurant on Rue Lepic.

The sculpture 'Little Girl Skipping'

'The Woman with an Orange' scultpture

Visitors pass by the sculpture entitled 'Death's Head'

Directly opposite is Le Coq Rico, a warming little place that serves rotisserie chicken, chips and salad for £12, a glass of riesling for £5.50 and L'ile Flottante (floating island, one of Picasso's favourite desserts) for £8.

Behind the thronging Place du Tertre, busy with tourists day and night, is the Musee de Montmartre on attractive Rue Corot. 

The painting 'Large Nude in a Red Armchair' and the 'Three Women at the Fountain' are sure to attract attention

'The Death of Casagemas;' Picasso had developed a solid friendship with Catalan artist Casagemas

'Women in the Bathroom;' the museum will be inaugurated by President Francois Hollande

The buzz of Paris will be re-invigorated with the opening of Picasso's Museum

The museum's building, a mid-17th-century house, is the oldest in Montmartre. It overlooks the sole remaining vineyard and the Lapin Agile cabaret, where Picasso's gang caroused. It was originally a hunting lodge for King Henry IV, then a tavern frequented by gangsters. You can sip absinthe, and the show begins at 9pm.

The museum gives an impression of what Montmartre looked like at the turn of the 20th century, with landscapes and photos showing the building of the Sacre Coeur. 

There are also photos of local artists — Kees van Dongen, Juan Gris, Modigliani and Picasso, in his Bateau Lavoir studio.

The ivy-clad hotel Le Pavillon de la Reine is a ten-minute walk away from the Picasso Museum. Just off Place des Vosges, it's convenient for wassailing in the Marais and recovering from a day on your feet.

Paris is proud of Picasso — and rightly so. The city was the scene of some of his greatest work, and his life there was as colourful as his most daring palettes.