Paris: Musée D'Orsay

I had high expectations for Orsay, and it did not disappoint. It had more paintings than I had expected, enjoyable ones too. There were even several rooms of Art Nouveau furniture (I had not known). There was a special Edvard Munch exhibit (though extremely crowded). Another bonus was the combo ticket with L’Orangerie.

The Musée d'Orsay is located on the Seine River in the former Gare d'Orsay (train station). The interior is gorgeous being the main hall of the former station, not to mention the iconic clock from which one can see Sacre-Coeur even on a rainy day.








Some of our favorites starting with City Dance (left), Country Dance (r) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir


Le Bassin aux nymphéas, harmonie rose by Claude Monet


Femme au fichu vert by Camille Pissarro.


Dance at le Moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir


The Luncheon by Claude Monet


La Dame aux éventails by Edouard Manet


The Dance Class (left), Danseuses Bleues (r) by Edgar Degas


Portrait of the Artist with the Yellow Christ by Paul Gauguin


The Van Gogh room was busy of course.






A group of paintings of women by Pierre Bonnard.


La loge (The Box) by Pierre Bonnard


A few photos from the Art Nouveau rooms featuring works from France, Belgium, and Italy. The curved desk was amazing - the photo does not do it justice.










Evening by James Tissot


Joaquín Sorolla is one of our favorite painters. It was great to his "Return from Fishing" occupy a special spot.




Sketching class.


Special Exhibition: Edvard Munch. A Poem of Life, Love and Death.












The Cliff at Etretat after the Storm by Gustave Courbet.


La lecture and "Olympia"by Edouard Manet.




Gleaners and The Spinner by Jean-François Millet


Done. We walk home across the Seine and through our quiet neighbor.

Paris: The Louvre

Louvre had long been on our list, not having enough time during our 1990's visit to Paris. Now that we finally made it there, I am not convinced of its overall quality (whether the paintings were considered good enough to be in the Louvre, or the paintings automatically become good because they are in the Louvre). Nevertheless the sheer quantity was overwhelming. I was worn out at the end of day.

John: I'm not sure whether we conquered the Louvre or it conquered us. Our only conquest that day was to show up at The Pyramid 30 minutes after the 9:00 am opening, got in the "without having already purchased tickets" channel, and walked right into the museum, bypassing dozens (or hundreds?) of people holding timed tickets.

John continues: The Louvre museum is famous worldwide. Its treasures and architecture are known via art, history, and travel books, novels, cinema, song and stage, memes, and more. Visiting the Louvre in 2022 one finds the most famous paintings and sculptures swamped with visitors; tour groups, schoolkids, bohemians, independent travelers like us, and more. ;-)

We entered the Louvre at 9:50 am and by 10:03 were standing in the line to get close to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. 10 minutes later we were in the front row!.






That's me at the right in the blue shirt taking a photo of Venus de Milo.




Here's a group of very well behaved school kids in the vicinity of Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix.




Even on a rainy day or night, the Louvre Pyramid by I.M. Pei is a destination.


No running down the Grande Galerie of Italian Painting on this day.




Here are a few of our Louvre favorites starting with Michelangelo's The Slaves.


The Coronation of Napoleon (1807) by Jacques-Louis David.


More sculpture.




La Mort de Marat.


Self-Portrait by Albrecht Dürer.


The Lacemaker by Vermeer.


The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds by Georges de La Tour.


The artifacts from Palace of Darius in Susa in the Ancient Persia Room were amazing. The Palace at Susa is now on my list of places to visit: although, it's in Iran. :-(.