Musée d’Orsay is one of the best known museums in Paris and possibly the world. I wasn’t sure if I’d been there to see its impressionist collection on a previous visit to Paris. I looked at photos of the museum online and realised I hadn’t been there.
All the timed slots were booked on the museum’s website. Amongst the places to buy tickets, Google Maps listed my current train/hotel/tickets app: Trip.com. On the app, I could buy a general ticket, which allowed entry at any time!
After buying my usual baguette de campagne, I took the metro to the Louvre, where I had my breakfast. I sat admiring the Louvre’s pyramid then walked across the Seine to the Musée d’Orsay.
There were several queues to enter the museum. On seeing my ticket, an attendant directed me to gate 2.2. For that, there was no queue! I went straight to the front and was in the museum with minimal fuss! It seems strange that the tickets sold on the museum’s website are less flexible and more expensive than those sold elsewhere.
The Musée d’Orsay building itself is beautiful. The interior is cavernous like a cathedral.
I made my way around the museum.
Eventually, I ended up on the fifth floor, where the star of the museum, the large impressionist collection, is located.
There were quite a few Van Gogh paintings. It’s amazing how much he left behind given that he started painting late in life (about 27) and died 10 years later. Even more impressive is that the paintings he’s most famous for (swirling skies, thick paint, intense colours) were mostly produced in the last 2-3 years of his life.
I read that the Musée d’Orsay has the largest impressionist collection in the world. When I was in the US, I was surprised at how many impressionist paintings were in the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Those impressionists were prolific!
After looking at the grand restaurant and the balcony view, I headed back to my hotel. I was meeting Helene for the night train to Berlin.
