With an overwhelming amount of art sights to choose from in Paris, clearly this doesn’t cover it, but its a start!
On our trip, my boyfriend and I got the joint ticket that gives you access to both the Musée d’Orsay and Musée de l’Orangerie and loved these both! That’s the BILLET JUMELE ORSAY – ORANGERIE.
L’Orangerie (a converted orange tree green house) is quite small, but the panoramic water lily panel paintings by Monet were bucket-list must sees for me, and they didn’t disappoint. Aside from Monet’s works, there was a varied collection downstairs of other beautiful pieces. I’d say we spent about an hour here and made it through the entire thing (keep in mind, we got there early so we weren’t fighting crowds, which definitely saved time).
Musee d’Orsay (a converted train station) is much bigger than the L’Orangerie but again way more manageable in size than something like the Louvre. A great combination of Impressionist collections, incredible originals by Van Gogh and Picasso, and sculpture works. And the layout of the museum itself was really neat! You can definitely see how it was once a grand train station. As a big fan of painters such as Cézanne, Renoir, and Degas it was awe-inspiring to see so many originals up close. And for my boyfriend (not super interested in getting into the nitty-gritty detail of each painting) he really appreciated the mix of mediums throughout the space, incorporating everything from realism to impressionism to sculptural works. We probably spent about 2 hours here in total and felt like we at least walked through pretty much every exhibit, definitely spending more time in some over others.
For either of these museums, I recommend getting there as close to when they open as possible- with security screenings, the lines can get very long later in the day and you will spend more time in line than in the museums! Also, check the hours online when planning your itinerary. Many businesses and attractions close on Mondays or Tuesdays. Also, read the fine print around tickets. Some places offer discounts for students or individuals under 25, etc. Worth checking at least! And also, many museums are free the first Sunday of the month if you happen to be there then. Keep in mind though, you will not be the only one trying to snag a free entry (see my experience in Barcelona).
We did step inside the Louvre, but we did not go through the whole thing, so can’t give a personal recommendation here. I’ll just say it is generally appeared to always be super packed when we passed (like, lines snaking back and forth across the park outside) and you will likely wait in line again once in the museum for a moment with the Mona Lisa and other famous pieces. Living in NYC, and frequently visiting the MET Museum and guessing the experience in the Louvre would be pretty similar (very large, many hour undertaking), we were looking for something a bit smaller and more digestible on this trip. Will definitely have on my agenda for our next trip to Paris though! And obviously can’t deny, they have a world renowned collection of original pieces that people travel from all over the world to see.
We also did not get to the Rodin Sculpture museum (Musee Rodin) last trip, although many of his works can be seen in Musee D’Orsay. I’ve heard great things, and definitely plan on going next time we visit.
Whatever you choose to see, you can’t really go wrong. There is something so special about seeing these pieces in the city where so many of the artists nurtured their craft as students and revolutionary creators.
Home&Away 