The Musée d'Orsay

Tuesday morning dawned cloudy and rainy. We watched from the tree-high windows of our apartment (love this view, the branches and leaves are practically in our rooms) as raindrops splattered on the big leaves. Still, we had places to go today so we hoped that perhaps "down" in Paris it would not be as wet.

I should also mention here another one of Cindy's great ideas. In preparation for our trip before we departed Orlando, she had seen where we could purchase week-long subway transportation tickets (Carte Orange) for one low price that would allow us unlimited travel during our stay in Paris. Those passes have been so handy as we make our way around the city and I would heartily recommend them to any visitor. Way to go, baby!

Our first stop this day was the Musée d'Orsay, a former train station that was abandoned and about to be destroyed. The French people went up in arms about the proposed destruction of what would have been a great historical building and their protests resulted in the former station being remodeled into one of the finest museums in the world.

What drew us here is the fact that Musée d'Orsay holds one of the most complete collections of Impressionism artwork, as well as an extensive gathering of one of the foremost masters of impressionistic style painting, Claude Monet. Both my mother-in-law and I are great admirers of Monet (in fact, Friday and Saturday we will be visiting Giverny and Monet's Garden), so there was no way we would miss the opportunity to enjoy such a large amount of his work while we were in Paris. And yes, for those of you who have been wondering if I was REALLY in Paris, since you haven't seen me in photos, here I am with Cindy's mom in front of the Musée d'Orsay sign outside.

And again, Cindy's suggestion that we buy the museum pass allowed us to bypass the long line of people waiting in the drizzling rain and go right into the museum. Inside, the main hall is huge. Here are 3 shots, 2 from the second level looking down and one from the fifth level looking down.

And more proof that I am indeed along for this trip:

After exploring the extraneous stuff like van Gogh, Renoir, Cezzane, Degas and Pissarro, lol, we made our way to the main section of the Monet exhibit. Here's a little video of the main room showing his works and Cindy's mom.

And below is a shot of something that just gladdens my heart tremendously. This little girl, about 7 or 8 years of age, was sitting on the floor in front of Monet's "Water Lilies", busily yet contemplatively sketching away on her own version.

Finally, we decided it was time to feed our hungry stomachs, so we took our leave of Musée d'Orsay and walked to a nice little cafe across the street in the rear of the museum to enjoy a nice lunch on the sidewalk.

Next post: A Walk Along the Seine