Today was our day at the Orsay museum, one of my favorite spots in Paris. The old Gare d’ Orsay, the Orsay beaux-arts train station, was built to bring visitors to the 1900 World’s Fair, but fell into disuse over the years and instead of being torn down, was reformed as the museum. It is located on the Left Bank of the Seine.
The museum was built to bridge the gap between the works at the Louvre and the Regional National Museum of Modern Art at the Georges Pompidou Center and holds mainly French art dating from 1898 and 1900. A competition was held and the project was awarded to a female Italian architect, Gae Autenti.
Theew are remnants of the train station throughout, especially in the many huge clocks that one finds throughout the building. The visitor has space to spend time contemplating the sculptures on the ground floor. There is light throughout.
My favorite paintings are here. It was so nice to see these works in this gorgeous spot. The last time I was here, all the Renoirs were on tour in Japan. It’s nice to have them back.
The clock motif is found throughout the building, with views of the Seine and surrounding buildings.
Degas and his dancers continue to delight.
Eventually we had to sit down, have some food and fortify outselves before going on to the next show.
Ann’s dessert was the best!
After the Impressionists and post-impressionists, we saw Art Nouveau furnishings and a special exhibit on the history of French cinema.
After spending most of the day inside, we strolled through the Tuileries, down to the Place de la Concorde to the Madeleine and returned. Ann wanted to take pictures from the top of the Printemps department store and I needed to put my feet up for a while. We met at 7:00 and had a light dinner across the street at the Café Sud, a warm, welcoming and popular place.
Tomorrow we leave early for a 9:30 appointment at the Orangerie to see a David Hockney exhibition. It will be much smaller and less strenuous than the adventures of the last two days. We have early tickets because it’s a free Sunday and tickets go fast! When I ordered them from home a while back, it was the only time available. The weather is holding up, in the 50s, with no rain forecast. We’ll see what happens eith the rest of the day. Brunch? Possibly..