Paris // Musée d'Orsay
My very first time at Musée d'Orsay was on this trip, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. If the Louvre is The Met, then Musée d'Orsay is the MoMA; coming a close second and a definite must-see when it comes to museums.
Situated right by the Seine river, it's huge, but more manageable than the Louvre.
It's 11€ to get in, then an additional 6€ for the guided tour, which we went on. We had actually shown up the day before to go on the tour at 11:30AM, but had to ditch that plan once we got there at 11:25AM and were faced with a long line.
For some reason I didn't think the museum would be so popular, and was a little taken back by the long, snaking line to get in. Thankfully, the line moved very quickly.
Our group for the guided tour consisted of about 12 people, which is just a little too many when the museum is busy. Our tour guide kept was moving very briskly through the crowds and there were a couple of times when I lost sight of the group as we moved from room to room. Oh how I wished she had a closed umbrella held up in the air during those moments.
Everyone in the tour got a headset so it was easy to listen to her describing each masterpiece, but not so helpful when she says "we're going this way" and you can't see her.
We zig-zagged through the museum, going up and down stairs and going from room to room. With the tour lasting about an hour, we barely scratched the surface, but it's a great way to get introduced to the highlights and it's how I like to visit a museum for the first time. It's like a Cliff Notes version.
I prefer being in a museum for no longer than 2 hours. It's exhausting after that, and will usually search around for the museum cafe. I know some museum cafes better than the museum itself. There are a couple of cafes at the Musée d'Orsay and the one above is the most impressive with the giant clock. It also has a very long line to get seated. It moved at a snail's pace so we left the line in search of lunch outside the museum.
The major highlight of the tour was this view from the clock facing the Seine. It's one of the few places in the museum where you can take photos.
I found out on this tour that the Musée d'Orsay was originally a train station. Once trains got longer than the station, the building was slated to be demolished, but someone had the brilliant idea to repurpose it as a museum.
The art covered during the tour was eh -- I'm not a huge fan of Impressionism -- and I thought the layout of the art throughout the museum was awkward, but I was thoroughly charmed by the museum's architecture. I loved the little details, like how you can see people walking behind the frosted glass walkway at the ends of the building on all levels so you would catch blurred shapes moving behind a giant gold clock.
A return visit is a must, if only to enjoy the cafe.
INFO: Musée d'Orsay | 1 Rue de la Légion d'Honneur | 75007 Paris, France | 33 (0)1 40 49 48 14
ADMISSION: 11€
GUIDED TOUR: 6€
