We have traveled quite a bit since we got married, but there is one place that grabbed a hold of me and makes me want to go back trip after trip. I am talking about Paris, the City of Lights. One of the things I enjoyed seeing the most was amazing collections of impressionist and post-impressionist art in the world. While the Louvre is amazing, there is one place I enjoyed more, the Musée d’Orsay. I fell in love with this museum.
It is located on the left bank of the Seine and was officially opened on December 9, 1986. It is housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900 for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography by painters such as Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. I have always loved Monet, so this was what inspired me to want to see this museum in the first place. Plus the fact it is still one of the largest art museums in Europe.
We have been there a few times, but I vividly remember our first visit in October of 1999. We walked in, paid the entrance fee, and were handed a map (in English, Merci, lol) and found out there were three floors to the museum. However, the first thing I noticed immediately was the huge clock. Of course, we had to stop and take a lot of pictures. However, on subsequent visits, photography is pretty much prohibited anywhere inside the museum 🙁 I guess I can understand, but it’s quite disappointing. I really love and appreciate art, would never use flash, and would never do anything to ruin it. It’s just sad that others have ruined it for those who do appreciate it. Either way, we still enjoy the museum.
As I said earlier, there are three levels to the Musée d’Orsay: on the ground floor, galleries are distributed on either side of the central nave, which is overlooked by the terraces of the median level, these in turn opening up into additional exhibition galleries. The top floor is installed above the lobby, which covers the length of the Quai, and continues into the highest elevations of the former hotel, over the rue de la Légion d’Honneur (formerly rue de Bellechasse). This is an amazing view. 🙂
The museum’s specific exhibition spaces and different facilities are distributed throughout the three levels. The museum restaurant is installed in the dining hall of the former hotel, the Café des Hauteurs, the bookshop, and the auditorium. On our first visit, we actually did take a break while we were there and had a great sandwich.
If you plan on visiting soon, here is some important info. First of all, be prepared to go through security. Since the terror attacks in Paris in 2015, they are very cautious. Their hours are from 9.30 am to 6 pm daily, except Mondays, late night on Thursdays until 9.45 pm with last tickets sold at 5 pm (9 pm Thursdays). Also worth noting, the Louvre (which is right across the river) is closed on Tuesday, thus the Musée d’Orsay gets a lot of visitors that would normally not be there. Just something to keep in mind when planning your visit. Here is a link to their website with more information.
Before you leave, make sure to check out the square next to the museum which displays six bronze allegorical sculptural groups in a row, originally produced for the Exposition Universelle.
